A night after letting a three-goal lead slip away to the Battlefords North Stars, the Humboldt Broncos weren’t about to let the same thing happen again in their own rink.
The Broncos, who were dressing a more veteran squad than they had at the Civic Centre Tuesday, jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the first period and never looked back as they cruised to an 8-2 triumph Wednesday at the Elgar Petersen Arena.
Cole Young was the leader on offence for the Broncos as he scored a hat trick and picked up an assist.
Logan Schatz found the back of the net twice and dished out a helper, while Derek Patter and Stephan Wack had a goal and an assist each.
Teddy Prior also scored for the hosts, who had two assist nights from Matts Thielemann, Conner Lukan and Matthieu Gomercic.
Mike Curran and Ryan Rothenburger replied for the North Stars, who are now 2-2 in exhibition play.
With roster moves expected to be made Thursday, two more players joined the team in Humboldt as Prince George, B.C. forwards Matthias Urbanski and Dean Whitcomb were both in the lineup.
Urbanski, 18, had 25 points last season in 44 games with the North Okanagan Knights and the Sicamous Eagles of the Kooteany International Junior Hockey League.
Whitcomb, who is also 18, played for the Knights last year and had 37 points in 45 games.
The North Stars will return to action Friday at the Civic Centre as they’ll take on the Kindersley Klippers at 7:30 p.m.
That meeting will mark the first game of the pre-season for the Klippers, who will host the North Stars in Kindersley Saturday.
Wednesday SJHL Recap
Dawson Atamanchuk and former North Stars forward Jeremy Velazquez both had three-point nights for the Weyburn Red Wings as they picked up a dominating 7-1 win over the Manitoba Junior Hockey League’s Waywayseecappo Wolverines.
Atamanchuk had two goals and an assist in the win, while Velazquez scored once and helped to set up both of Atamanchuk’s markers.
Noah Wozney had a goal and an assist for the Red Wings, with Devon Becker, Tyran Brown and Landon Walters also finding the back of the net.
Adam Withers had the lone goal for the Wolverines.
A late first period goal by Damian Bentz proved to be the difference for the Melville Millionaires as they edged the Notre Dame Hounds by a score of 2-1 in Wednesday’s other contest.
Troy Williams had the other goal for the Millionaires, while Gavin Lawrie replied for the Hounds.
There are no pre-season games slated for Thursday, after a contest between the La Ronge Ice Wolves and the Flin Flon Bombers at the Whitney Forum was postponed.
That means that the Ice Wolves, who are coming off a six-win season, will have played no tune-up games prior the start of the regular season next week.
Friday will be a busy night in the SJHL with five other games on the schedule besides the matchup between the Klippers and North Stars.
Two of those games will be interleague affairs with the MJHL as the Yorkton Terriers will visit the Dauphin Kings and the OCN Blizzard will take on the host Flin Flon Bombers.
The other matchups will see the Weyburn Red Wings visiting the Estevan Bruins, the Melfort Mustangs battling the Humboldt Broncos and the Nipawin Hawks going up against the Melville Millionaires.
