The annual west-coast road trip has always been tough for the Swift Current Broncos and this year was no exception. The team had a 0-5 record through the BC Division over the past couple of weeks but there is a positive side.
October 16
At the beginning of the B.C. road trip, the Broncos looked a little slower than normal with a lack of energy that left some of us assuming the travel days were taking their toll. And then Matthew Stanley and Alec Zawatsky were thrown out of the team’s first game of the road trip against the Vancouver Giants. They did not return until the third game of the trip, against Kamloops. With a 6-2 loss to the Giants, it was a tough start for the Swift Current team.
October 17
In the second game, Isaac Poulter was in net while Zawatsky and Stanley remained sidelined due to their suspensions. Kiviniemi and Owen Blocker (first of the season) scored the two Bronco goals, but the team still came up short in a 5-2 loss against the Victoria Royals.
October 19
The third game took place against the Kamloops Blazers and, although there still wasn’t a win, the Swift Current Broncos looked a little more like a team instead of individual players. Zawatsky opened the scoring early, but the Blazers tied it up in the second period. Kiviniemi got the go-ahead goal, but a bit of bad luck struck the Broncos as a puck went off Noah King and into their own net to tie the game 2-2. Kamloops took the lead early in the third period as the Broncos faltered, but Max Patterson tied the game again. Swift Current put up a good fight against the Blazers but just couldn’t finish it as Kamloops buried two more goals including an empty netter to finalize the game with a 5-3 score.
October 21
Game number four of the trip, against the Prince George Cougars was a good game for the Swift Current team. Again, Hofer held his ground with 37 saves on 40 shots while the Broncos earned 31 shots on the Cougars net. The third period wasn’t a highlight of the game as the Swift Current team started to look a little tired, but they kept up the pace through the first 40 minutes. Tanner Nagel earned the only goal for the Broncos (his second of the season), but Swift Current couldn’t hold on in the third period, surrendering two goals for a final score of 3-1.
October 23
Tuesday was the last game of the road trip. Swift Current took on the Kelowna Rockets in a final thriller of a game for the Broncos. Adam Foote, the newly appointed bench boss for Kelowna, made his debut in what would be the best game for the Broncos. But a called off goal and two posts for Swift Current would be the determining factor in the Rockets win. In spite of the loss, the Broncos kept pace with Kelowna almost the entire game and showed that they had the power to win, but the lack of puck luck led to a close 3-2 decision.
Throughout the entire trip out west, one thing was unchanging – Joel Hofer. He made 65 saves on 71 shots in the first game and remained consistent throughout the west-coast games. So far this season, he has been the backbone of this struggling team through the rebuild. He leads the league in saves.
The theme throughout the B.C. road trip had been, simply, progress. The first game looked a lot like a bunch of individual players doing their own thing on the ice and it turned into personal and collective progress. They were more cohesive and began to refine their individual skills. If this development remains continuous, we could see an entirely different team by the end of the season.
The Swift Current Broncos return home to host former Broncos defenseman, Sahvan Khaira, and the Everett Silvertips on Saturday, October 27th and then head to Regina to take on the Pats on Sunday.
