Peewee Broncos repeat as league champions
The Swift Current Southwest Terminal used a three-goal first period to propel themselves to a second straight South Saskatchewan Peewee AA Hockey League championship with a 5-1 win over the visiting Estevan Bruins.
The Broncos had edged the Bruins 5-4 on the road to open the best-of-three series.
“We snuck one out in Estevan that was a crazy game down there, but we took the win out of there,” said coach Jason Silzer. “We came back here, really settled down. The boys just played with confidence and stuck to our game plan all game and it really worked for us. It was a really nice game.”
League scoring champion Kalan Lind scored the first two goals, while Brady Wilson and Jaydon Jessiman added a goal and an assist each. Anthony Wilson also scored and Rylan Hildebrand got the win in goal.
Daniel Ganert, Orin Olson, and Dayne Feicht each registered a pair of assists. Carter Herman and Rylan Williams added single helpers to complete the twogame sweep of the Bruins.
The Broncos had dominated the regular season with a 24-1-0 record, outscoring their opponents by a 205-48 margin.
“It feels good,” said Silzer. “It is always tough when you are the favorite because we had a really good regular season. Credit to Estevan once again, they gave us a heck of a series. The boys just came to play today. They were really calm and confident and it really showed.”
The team featured seven returnees from their 2016 championship team. “It’s really reflecting now just with their calmness on the ice and the experience really helps us for sure. There will be six or seven of these kids hopefully moving on to next year’s team, so it is bound to just continue to help the program,” noted Silzer.
Saturday, the Peewee Broncos scored four thirdperiod goals to take an early lead in their provincial semi-final series.
The Broncos trailed the host Regina Tigers 5-3 after 40 minutes before clawing back for a 7-6 win in game one of the best-of-three series.
Lind led the Broncos with three goals and an assist, followed by two goals and an assist from Ganert.
Feicht added a goal and an assist, while Rylan Silzer chipped in two assists.
Jaydon Jessiman also scored, while Rohan Priebe, Olson, Carter Herman, and Brady Wilson all added assists.