In his second game with the Humboldt Broncos this season, new acquired, Hayden Dunford, earned his first shutout in a 4-0 win against the Yorkton Terriers on Nov. 26. (Submitted photo/Becky Zimmer)

By Becky Zimmer

Green and Gold in November

Broncos cap off challenging month with win at home

Nov 27, 2022 | 10:24 AM

The Humboldt Broncos recovered some Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League ground on Saturday night to cap off November action with a W against the Yorkton Terriers.

This concluded a 3-4-1 month for the green and gold after kicking off the month with an unsuccessful southern road trip.

Between three games in Weyburn and Estevan at the beginning of the month, the Broncos were outscored 16-4. Head coach, Scott Barney, chalked it up to illness and injury for the losses as every night they were short a player and making call-ups to fill the roster.

“The guys were exhausted, almost like walking zombies around with guys feeling sick and throwing up on the bench during games and guys getting injured,” Barney told northeastNOW.

After a much-needed break and getting the guys back to fighting shape, back-to-back wins against the Notre Dame Hounds put some more spring in their step before an OT loss to the Mustangs and a 4-1 loss to Flin Flon on home ice last weekend.

Riderville

Shades of 2007

12h ago

Inflation

Rent inflation to slow in the next few years, Desjardins predicts

Nov 14, 2024

Fire in Nipawin area

Fire destroys house in R.M. of Torch River

Nov 14, 2024

Tensions were running high facing off against the Terriers, but the Broncos held tight to a 4-0 win with goals from Alec Saretzky, Sam Marburg, Maddox Amaral, and Midget AAA call up, Jeter Korte. The win also gave newly acquired Hayden Dunford a shutout for only his second time in the Broncos net.

Dunford joined the green and gold for the first time in their loss against the Bombers after playing for the Merritt Centennials of the British Columbia Hockey League.

Sharing in both the loss and the shutout within his first week in Humboldt, Dunford told northeastNOW his fellow players, the coaches and his new billets have made the transition easy for him.

“It’s just a really good culture in the dressing room and it was an easy transition for me.”

With 29 shots fired from the Terriers in his first SJHL shutout, and another 25/28 shots saved against the Bombers, Barney said Dunford has been put to the test this past week.

“(The shutout), it gives him some confidence actually going forward here too, right, and that’s always a good thing when that happens.”

Offensively, the Broncos are looking at a 23-goal differential so far this season with 21 goals to 26 goals against this month alone.

Cage Newans currently holds the top skater spot on the team with 10 goals, 15 assists, and 25 points in 24 games, followed by fellow forwards Lucas Ceccarelli and Tim Kim with 22 and 21 points respectively.

Among the top dozen players, only three have more goals than they do assists, which Barney said is just a show of the depth of the offense.

“We’ve tried to spread out the lines and put a physical presence on each line and it’s good when you can have different lines scoring. We had that earlier in the year and we made some different adjustments and I think it’s paying off here.”

Taking a look at the overall standings, the Broncos are still in a strong position in the SJHL as Humboldt, along with Melfort, Flin Flon, La Ronge, and Estevan all sit within six points of each other with the Broncos sitting in third place behind the Bombers and the runaway Battlefords North Stars.

Barney said those games in particular are ones they are going to have to be ready for as they are almost like four-point games; two points forward but two points back for their opponent.

The Broncos will alternate between on the road and back home in December until the team breaks for Christmas with home games against Notre Dame, La Ronge, and Weyburn being broken up with trips to Weyburn, Melville, and Kindersley.

—

becky.zimmer@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @bex_zim