Swift Current Broncos win first of home and home against Medicine Hat Tigers

With the Swift Current Broncos in second place in the Eastern Division with 86 points heading into this game, it was a must-win situation against their old rival the Medicine Hat Tigers.

Years ago, Swift Current and Medicine Hat had one of the toughest rivalries in the WHL, but it seems to have cooled a bit in the past couple year. It was expected to be a more feisty, rough, physical game against the Tigers. With Medicine Hat in first place in the Central Division with 63 points, the Tigers should have put up more of a fight by the second period. But their push-back wouldn’t happen until the third. And by that time it was too late.

Glenn Gawdin (Darwin Knelsen)

Manny Vivieros changed up the lines for Swift Current. Up front, the big guys Beck Malenstyn and Andrew Fyten were on the wings of Glenn Gawdin. Noah King and Josh Anderson started on the blue line. Stuart Skinner returned to the Broncos net again. Jacson Alexander and Tanner Nagel sat this one out due to injuries.

Even Vivieros had noticed the issues the Broncos have had recently in the later part of their games. As he explained in this interview with Ryan Switzer before Friday’s game, “we were very lucky to win that hockey game (against the Brandon Wheat Kings)…we just didn’t play well in the 2nd and 3rd periods.” Did the home team fix their second period issues? Yes, they did. And they did it on spectacular level.

As usual, the Broncos dominated the first 20 minutes of play with good passes, generating plays, and rushing the opposition’s net. Medicine Hat tried to keep up the pace, only to be disappointed by the Swift Current defense. Colby Sissons and Noah King both did an amazing job of defending the blue line throughout the game. Sissons would also go on to play a great offensive game. James Hamblin and Mark Rassell were the Tigers biggest strength up front for the visitors, but they couldn’t seem to solve net minder Stuart Skinner. At the halfway mark of the period, after five shots on net, the Broncos would capitalize on a Tyler Steenbergen shot, with an assists to Aleksi Heponiemi. Giorgio Estephan would notch a goal a few minutes later which would change the momentum of the game. Again, the second goal was assisted by Heponiemi. The Tigers took a tripping call a while later, and 10 seconds into the power play, the home team would capitalize. Beck Malenstyn’s gritty play in front of the net would add another goal to the Swift Current tally, assists by Estephan and Artyom Minulin. With one more tripping call, and their frustrations getting the better of them, Medicine Hat would soon regret landing in the penalty box as the crowd would end up on their feet during Glenn Gawdin’s 50th goal of the season. Along with Gawdin’s goal, Heponiemi would also reach a milestone. Heponiemi earned his 100th point of the season. It was 4-0 for Swift Current after 20 minutes of play.

photo courtesy Darwin Knelsen

Even a mid-period goalie change by the Tigers and a couple of penalties by the Broncos couldn’t help Medicine Hat to get back into this game, but it gave them a little hope. With two goals by Gennaro and Malenstyn, and a score of 6-0 for the home team, Medicine Hat pulled Michael Bullion out of goal and replaced him with Kaeden Lane. Heponiemi would keep adding to his assists and Steenbergen, Minulin, and Gawdin would notch assists on the two Broncos goals as well. Maybe the team felt that Medicine Hat was spending too much time in their end, so they switched things up and Matteo Gennaro added a fifth goal for the home team. With a missed slashing call on Swift Current, the team rallied for their sixth goal of the game. Shots on goal were then in favour of the Tigers, 20-15 after 40 minutes.

The third period was when Medicine Hat struck back. Swift Current started the period by losing face-offs and Medicine Hat would break the shutout about two minutes into the period with a goal by Ryan Jevne. When Josh Anderson hit the Tigers post on the other end, the entire crowd groaned audibly. But the Medicine Hat defense held off Swift Current long enough to pot another goal and make this a 6-2 game. Skinner stopped 37 of 39 shots. Steenbergen ended up with a goal and an assist. Gawdin notched a goal and assist. Estephan finished with a goal and two assists. Malenstyn would lay claim to two Broncos goals. Gennaro also got a goal for Swift Current.

Traci’s 1 Star – Aleksi Heponiemi
With four assists in Friday’s game, Heponiemi makes an impact every night. He had a +3 rating and three shots on net as well. He’s third in points with 101 and first in assists with 77 this year. Add 30 power play assists to that tally and Heponiemi has been one of the best players this year for the Swift Current Broncos.

Swift Current seems to have fixed their second period effort and they pulled off a full 60 minutes of play. Their turnovers were less and they won more puck battles. Because of this, they earned the 6-2 win. With a 5-3 Regina Pats win over the Moose Jaw Warriors, Swift Current is now only one point behind the Warriors in the Eastern Division. They could change all that tonight as they head to Medicine Hat to take on the Tigers again.