BRONCOS’ FINISH RIVALS THAT OF LAST YEAR’S PATS
Despite going 0-3 at Memorial Cup, tired Swift Current lost each game by one goal
The cowbells tolled for the Swift Current Broncos, whose exit from the 2018 Memorial Cup was followed by talk of injuries and fatigue.
The host Regina Pats, who did not have to endure the rigours of an extended WHL playoff run, eliminated Swift Current from the CHL’s championship tournament Wednesday by registering a 6-5 victory at the Brandt Centre.
Listening to Broncos head coach and director of player personnel Manny Viveiros detail his team’s injuries — such as Tyler Steenbergen’s concussion, Artyom Minulin’s twice-dislocated shoulder, and Glenn Gawdin’s separated shoulder — the mind flashed back to just over a year ago.
In May of 2017, the Pats were in a comparable situation, lamenting the end of a landmark season — which included a franchise-record 52 victories — and referencing key players who, like Gawdin, endured unimaginable pain because the alternative wasn’t even remotely conceivable.
By the time the Pats and Seattle Thunderbirds shook hands after Game 6 of the 2017 final, the Regina team was a battered bunch.
Star forwards Adam Brooks, Austin Wagner and Nick Henry were playing hurt. WHL playerof-the-year Sam Steel, who logged even more key minutes than usual due to personnel shortages at centre, was largely spent.
So were the Thunderbirds, come to think of it, who proceeded to lose all three of their games at the Memorial Cup while being outscored 18-3.
The Broncos’ 0-for-3 performance at the tournament was infinitely more respectable. Even though Swift Current was “running on fumes at the end,” in the words of Viveiros, the Broncos lost all three of their games by one goal.
The end came in their 101st meaningful game of the 201718 season. Regina, meanwhile, was looking ahead to Friday’s semifinal against the Hamilton Bulldogs while using the past as petroleum.
The past, in this case, included losses to Seattle (last year) and Swift Current (in the first round of this year’s playoffs). Leading up to Wednesday’s game, several Pats players had voiced their desire to exact revenge on the Broncos.
“They sort of said that,” Pats head coach and general manager John Paddock acknowledged after the tournament’s first sellout crowd — 6,484 — had left the building.
“I think for us as coaches and the team and the guys who were here last year — Sam, Jake (Leschyshyn), even though he didn’t play, (Josh) Mahura — we felt we should have won the league last year and that we were shortchanged.
“I think this has been smouldering in these guys for a year. We were told that we were the best team, but sometimes the best teams don’t win. We were told that after this series (against Swift Current) and we were told that last year. So I think they had something to prove for over a year.”
Steel, for his part, has proven why he is one of the premier junior-age players on the planet.
After the preliminary round, he leads the Memorial Cup in scoring (with 11 points in three games).
Steel has produced nine points, all courtesy of assists, over the past two contests. Wednesday’s five-assist gem tied a tournament single-game record.
“The stage ...,” Paddock said. “What more could you ask of him on national television and in the last game of the round robin at the Memorial Cup?”
Looking refreshed, Steel is playing his best hockey at the best possible time — something that was impossible under last year’s adverse circumstances.
“It’s good to chip in,” Steel, invariably modest, said in a classic understatement. “We got the win. That’s the most important thing.”
Steel sparkled alongside
Henry and Cameron Hebig, who have combined for 23 points (including nine goals) over three games.
Henry took over the tournament’s goal-scoring lead (five) on Wednesday when he scored a hat trick.
A year ago, Henry was awaiting surgery to repair a torn labrum, having played through the injury in the latter stages of a stellar rookie season.
Just like Henry refused to give up last year, the same can be said of the Broncos — as admirable a team as you will find in any sport, in any league.
After goals by Henry and
Bryce Platt fattened Regina’s third-period lead to 5-2, the Broncos countered with backto-back tallies (by Aleksi Heponiemi and Giorgio Estephan) to pare the deficit to one.
Regina’s Libor Hajek countered to put the Pats up 6-4 with 1:37 left in the game. But, again, Swift Current would not buckle. Gawdin scored with 49.5 seconds left to bring his team to within one goal.
“Those last five minutes felt like an hour,” said a relieved Pats goaltender, Max Paddock.
Ultimately, the Pats had several candidates for man of the hour, such as Steel and Henry.
However, given Swift Current’s proximity to Regina, both teams’ fans showered their players with well-deserved applause as they left the ice.
“I was very proud of them and the way they responded, being down,” Viveiros said of his players. “Hats off to Regina and the remaining teams that are in the tournament. They all deserve to be there.”
And after last year, the Pats deserve it a little bit more.
I was very proud of them and the way they responded, being down. Hats off to Regina and the remaining teams that are in the tournament.