The Bombers and Broncos will face off Friday night in the first game of their SJHL semifinal series. What's going to happen? Who should fans look out for? Here is our series preview.
Both teams may be playing for a spot in the Centennial Cup in this series - if Estevan wins their series with Yorkton, the winner of the Bombers/Broncos series will not only move to the SJHL final, but also qualify for the national title tournament. There is much to play for over the coming weeks.
Games 1 and 2 will be played in Humboldt Friday and Saturday before a one-week break - the Broncos will honour the anniversary of the team's infamous fatal bus crash April 6 before the series continues with Games 3 and 4 in Flin Flon April 8 and 9. If needed, Game 5 will be in Humboldt April 12, with a possible Game 6 in Flin Flon April 15. If a Game 7 is required, it will be played April 17 - two and a half weeks after the start of the series - in Humboldt.
All games in Humboldt will start at 7:30 p.m. Saskatchewan time, which is 8:30 p.m. Manitoba time. Home games for Flin Flon will start at 7:30 p.m. local time, 6:30 p.m. Saskatchewan time.
Through the four regular season games between Flin Flon and Humboldt, both teams won twice and lost twice. - the Bombers picked up five points to the Broncos' four, due to one of Humboldt's wins coming in a shootout. Flin Flon outscored the Broncos in those games - 16 goals to 14 - though since then, the Broncos have picked up forward Jerzy Orchard, one of the team's top first round performers.
Broncos
Through the first round, the Broncos' top six forwards have been humming, especially Connor McGrath. The SJHL's leading regular season scorer and a Ferris State Univ. commit, the 18-year-old had eight points, all assists, through six games. Alex Morozoff had seven points, while Cage Newans had six - Rhett Gibson and Orchard had five.
Humboldt also has an X-factor in goalie Rayce Ramsay, who played more minutes and games than any other SJHL goalie by a distant margin this year. Ramsay spent about six and a half hours in the crease more than any other goalie in the league, playing 50 of the Broncos' 58 games and ending the year with a 41-9 record. Ramsay now holds the SJHL record for most wins in a single season.
Whether Ramsay plays the way he did in the regular season remains to be seen. Through the first round, Ramsay gave up on average an extra goal per game (1.98 GAA in the regular season, 3.03 in the first round) and saw his save percentage drop (.930 in the regular season, .899 in the first round).
The Broncos boast more players with either major junior experience or upcoming scholarships than those who don't. McGrath and linemate Matthew Perkins are both NCAA Division I bound for next season, while forward Braiden Koran is going to USports' Ontario Tech next season. Goalie Rayce Ramsay is also going the USports route next season, joining the Univ. of Toronto Varsity Blues. James Form, Morozoff, Newans and Orchard are all WHL alumni, while defender Reilly McKinnon will be going to SUNY-Canton in the NCAA Division III next season.
Humboldt's powerplay may be a difference maker - through the first round, the Broncos were clicking on almost a third of their chances with a man or more advantage. By comparison, the Bombers converted only 12 per cent of their powerplays, the worst mark in the league among the four teams that advanced.
Expect a healthy dose of the rough stuff, too - Humboldt had three players clear 100 penalty minutes this season, two of whom - Newans and Samuel Marberg - are expected to play in Game 1 Friday night. A pair of Bombers did the same, with Matt Raymond and Brett Wieschorster clearing that threshold and Drew Kuzma coming close with 97.
The two teams had frequent physical clashes in their four games this season, with both Cole Vardy and Matt Egan injured by Broncos in a Nov. 28 battle at the Elgar Petersen Arena. Both Vardy and Egan will play in this series.
Flin Flon
The Bombers got offence in unexpected places against the Stars, with depth players coming up huge in Flin Flon's upset six-game win. Gabriel Shipper put up eight points on the series, including four points in Games 5 and 6, leading the way for the Bombers - Shipper and McGrath are both tied for the rookie scoring lead through one series.
Rylan Thiessen also finished the series with eight points. No defenceman put up more points in the first round than Thiessen. Wieschorster and Jaxon Martens hit six points each, while Jacob Vockler scored four goals, including the OT winner in Game 4 and the eventual series winner in Game 6.
Like it has been all season, offence has been a community commodity for Flin Flon. Ten different Bombers scored in their series.
Neither team brings good recent results on the penalty kill into this series, but the Bombers' PK was slightly better in the first round. The Bombers went 73.7 per cent on killing off penalties, better than Humboldt's 69.4 per cent.
The Whitney Forum advantage will be crucial for the Bombers, who won all three games they played at home in their first round series. In Humboldt, an average of 881 fans showed up for the Broncos' three home games - by contrast, the Bombers averaged 1,084 fans a night in their three home games, including 1,350 people in the stands for the clincher in Game 6. Only Affinity Place in Estevan - which has a larger capacity than the Forum - has had more fans in the building than the Forum so far.
The Bombers have needed that home ice advantage this season. In the regular season, the Bombers went 21-6-1-1 at the Forum, racking up 44 points, while things changed on the road, where the Bombers couldn't clear .500 on the year - the Bombers only had 27 points away from home and went 13-15-1-0.
An extra boost could come for Flin Flon if Cole Duperreault slots back into the lineup. The 19-year-old forward, who has sat the past several weeks with an injury, may enter the series at some point, bringing with him his regular season totals of 18 goals and 39 points.
