Broncos edged out of playoff spot by Prince Albert
The Swift Current Broncos narrowly missed the Western Hockey League playoffs by two points after losing their final four games of the regular season.
Their playoff hopes took a near fatal blow on Friday with a 4-1 loss to the visiting Prince Albert Raiders. Special teams played a major role as the Raiders scored twice on the power play to hand the Broncos a loss to conclude the regular season.
The Raiders pulled even with the Broncos in the standings with 59 points for the eighth and final Eastern Conference playoff spot.
The Raiders opened the scoring with a power play goal from Sloan Stannic 6:17 into regulation when his centering feed bounced off two Broncos and into the net.
The Broncos tied the game 27 seconds into the second period when Cole Nagy snapped home his 14th goal from the slot. The Raiders tied the game four minutes later with a Carson Latimer goal and then added a power play goal from Vladislav Shilo for a 3-1 lead after two periods.
Evan Herman scored into an empty net to close the scoring.
Isaac Poulter took the loss with 24 saves.
“I thought we had a good push early and then weathered a push back, a couple bounces,” said Head Coach Devan Praught. “I thought we started the second period great after bit of a slower end to the first period. Being down one, and for us to respond early in the second was excellent. Then there was a couple chances both ways and I thought Isaac did a great job, a big save on a breakaway in the first period and some big saves to start the second period.
Then we didn’t get one and they were able to find one, then the scoring on the power play was the backbreaker with the third goal of the game. Proud of the guys, there was no quit, created a lot of opportunities, hit the post early in the third and some other quality chances. Another one of those games where we just were a little bit snake bitten and couldn’t score.”
The Raiders clinched the playoff spot on Saturday when they defeated the visiting Brandon Wheat Kings 5-1.
“It’s always difficult when you invest the time that you have with the group and knowing that the group won’t be together ever again and competing,” admitted Praught. “It’s always difficult to see it end. We were relying a little bit too much on the out of town scoreboard at the end here, although we felt we played pretty good hockey, especially in three of the final four, it just didn’t go our way.”
The Broncos may not have made the playoffs, but they did gain plenty of experience in playoff-like games down the stretch.
“I think it’s invaluable for our group. It’s a tough league to win in and you have to respect how much tougher it gets down the stretch. You live in the here and now in a hockey season and obviously it’s disappointing having been in the situation we were not able to find a win in our last four games. But it’s the same group of guys that won six of the previous seven and really created that chance as well. There’s a way to find some positives in all of it, but it is always difficult when a season comes to an end for a group.”
Praught said there were plenty of positives to take from the season.
“I think there was an internal belief in our room right from the start of the year. It took some results, it took some growing pains early coming out of that 0-7-3 stretch after our first two wins to really believe that we could hold a lead, that we could do a job late in a game, that we could come back when we’re down. I think our experience throughout the season fostered more of that confidence in our group. We believed going into every game that we had an opportunity to win and we were there to compete with high energy. I’m proud of the guys for doing that night in and night out. We came out on the other end of it, often times we were pulling the goalie late or giving ourselves an opportunity. The guys had the no quit mentality all season.”
The Broncos had finished with a .292 win percentage in the 202021 Hub Season in Regina. They improved to a .434 winning percentage with the youngest roster in the WHL this season.
“Internally our expectations were higher than anyone gave us credit for in any of the preseason ranking or any of that that came out. I think throughout the journey of the year the guys did a job that were able to feed that confidence and were able to know that we belonged there, that we belonged in game 68 to be able to play for the opportunity to play for the playoffs. Unfortunately it didn’t go our way, but hats off to the guys for giving us that chance.”
In the final game of the season the Broncos had 10 17-year-olds and three 16-year-olds in the line-up.
“I think as a group we are just looking for the maturity of everyone just as an investment this summer. For young athletes it’s so important what they do away from the rink now, that we don’t just come in next year thinking that we’re going to have results next year, that we come in ready to work for them,” said Praught.
The Broncos finished 13th in the WHL on the penalty kill at 78.5 percent. The power play unit was 20th at 15.9 percent, an area that Praught said will need to improve next season.
“We as a staff will always sit back and analyze things, where we did things right, where we did things wrong. Right away I thought our penalty kill did a good job throughout the course of the season, especially down the stretch, although the last game it hurt us a little bit. The power play is an area we seemed to fight with all year. I think a part of it was a little bit of youth and guys being in that situation and hopefully
the experiences they had this year will give them more of an idea of what it takes to be successful on the power play night in and night out.”
The Broncos will look to return to the playoffs next season for the first time since the league title in 2018.
“I think there’s a lot of excitement around our
group. We’re graduating three quality men in Eric Van Impe, Cole Nagy, and Isaac Poulter that are great teammates and great people first and foremost. We have a great opportunity with our team to really take a step forward next year and that’s going to be the challenge for us and that’s exciting no question,” said Praught.
The WHL Prospects Draft is set for May 19.
“It’s an exciting time of year with the draft coming up as well, so just familiarizing myself with the prospects that we have in house and also the ones for the coming draft here,” said Praught.
Praught said he will continue to learn about the league as well.
“We’re going to have playoff series just down the highway and some opportunities to get into some rinks and watch some of the playoff hockey at this level, not going as a fan myself, but as someone who works in the league. Just studying the game. You can always get better so every opportunity you have to work at
that and put together a season plan… There was a lot of growth and opportunities this year my first time going at it as a head coach. It’s just a real good opportunity now to reflect on everything, take in as much information as we can, and start to put together a plan to execute in the fall to maximize the group.”