Broncos face yet another must-win game
Team has toppled rival Pats nine times this season ... and they have to do it again
The last team standing after the WHL playoffs could be the first team knocked out of the 2018 Memorial Cup.
To avoid early elimination and force a tiebreaker game on Thursday, the Swift Current Broncos will have to win their first game of the tournament in Wednesday’s round-robin finale against the host Regina Pats.
No pressure.
“We’ve been in a lot of mustwin games,” noted Broncos forward Tanner Nagel. “There’s not a doubt in my mind that we can win. We have to win and we’re going to do everything in our power to win.”
The WHL champions have already beaten Regina nine times this season (five in the regular season and four during the playoffs).
They went the distance in that first-round series, ending it with a 3-2 win in Game 7.
“Obviously we’ve seen each other lots this year,” said Broncos head coach Manny Viveiros. “They’re a real good hockey team and they’re very capable of winning this thing. We know we have to somehow raise our level to have a chance to win.”
The Broncos were close but no cigar in their first two games, beginning with a 4-3 overtime loss to the Acadie-Bathurst Titan. They also lost 2-1 to the Hamilton Bulldogs, who might have run away with the game if not for a spectacular 54-save performance by goalie Stuart Skinner.
Despite Skinner’s best efforts, Swift Current has an 0-2 record and is down to its last chance.
“Either we come out and play the way I know we can play or else we’re going to be packing our bags,” said Skinner. “That would for sure be the toughest thing I’ve ever gone through.”
The Broncos have struggled since they lost Tyler Steenbergen, who was checked awkwardly into the boards early in the second period versus Acadie-Bathurst. Viveiros continues to call him a “game-time decision” while rumours swirl that the 19-year-old sniper is out with a serious collarbone injury.
“Tyler is a special player at the junior level,” said Viveiros. “He’s a kid that we sorely miss but there’s nothing we can do about it.”
Nothing except give the Pats everything they have left on Wednesday.
It’ll be Swift Current’s 29th game of the post-season — the most of any team in the Memorial Cup field and 19 more than the well-rested Pats.
“It’s a Game 7 for us,” said veteran winger Beck Malenstyn, who replaced Steenbergen on the top line Monday. “We know we have to win this hockey game if we want a chance to win this tournament. That’s what we came here to do.
“The rivalry (with Regina) is only going to be enhanced in this game and we have to be excited for that. It shouldn’t be hard at all to be up for it. We’re going to find juice that maybe we’ve been missing in those last two games and really come after them.”