Peewee Broncos open season a step behind Wings
The Swift Current Southwest Terminal Peewee Broncos got their South Sask AA Peewee Hockey League season underway over the weekend with two home games against the Weyburn Wings
Saturday, the Peewee Broncos fell 6-1 to Weyburn. Veteran Reed Jacobson scored the only goal with assists from Ryland Hornung and Aaron Toews. Sunday, the Peewee Broncos were shutout 5-0.
“I think the kids played good,” said new head coach Todd Hornung. “We are a team that has just got together; these are basically our first two games together. They have had most of their team together for the last two years so we are a step behind right now.”
He said there were many positives from the opening weekend.
“I think we played pretty well in our own end. At times, when you have kids that are coming out of house league that are not used to the pressure as much, we have to work on some things in practice like getting pucks out quicker. It is going to take us a month or so to get gelling together as a team.”
The PeeWee Broncos feature only five veterans on their 18-player roster.
“I look at their team [Weyburn] and they have 10 guys coming back. When you can return two lines that can play together it makes a huge difference for us. It is just going to take time for us to gel as a team,” said Hornung.
Hornung is making the adjustment to coaching younger kids.
He had Western Hockey League stops as a player with Portland, Lethbridge, and Swift Current and more recently was an assistant coach with the Swift Current AAA Midget Legionnaires.“It is different,” said Hornung of coaching at the PeeWee level.
“I am used to the midget and the junior guys. It is a little more basic when you are talking… It all has to be pretty simple and taken down for the boys. They are all here to learn and I see that they all want to get better and they want to learn.
At this age you are just starting to learn the game whereas at the older ages you are teaching more systems and this is more fundamentals.
The PeeWee Broncos will be on the road this weekend when they head east for a pair of games against
the Melville Millionaires.