The Broncos ruined the homecoming of Cody Pettapiece in a 4-2 win on Dec. 8 over his new team, the Weyburn Red Wings.
Less than two weeks after a trade that sent him to Weyburn and Kyle Oleniuk to Humboldt, Pettapiece was back at the Elgar Petersen Arena, albeit in the red-and-white threads of the Red Wings. He started on the blue line for Weyburn, while Oleniuk started at centre on a line with Jarrett Fontaine and Gray Marr for his new team.
The tilt between the division-leading Broncos and struggling Red Wings was a physical one to start until Weyburn opened the scoring on a goal from Brian Farkas, with Pettapiece picking up an assist and the first of two points on the night. Ryan Aubertin scored his team-leading eleventh goal of the season to tie the game at one entering the first intermission.
Humboldt took the lead less than a minute into the second period when Oleniuk scored his first goal in a Broncos uniform on a pass from Marr. Weyburn leveled the score at two near the end of the period when Pettapiece scored on the power play for his second point of the night.
Despite the even score, the Broncos had outshot the Red Wings 24-13 through two periods. That margin would only increase in a dominant third period that saw Humboldt score twice and outshoot Weyburn 21-6. David Miazga scored the game-winning goal just over a minute into the final frame, while Marr potted an empty-netter to seal the win with four seconds left. Cade Spencer was in net and stopped 17 of 19 shots for the win.
"We didn't give them much," said assistant coach Brayden Klimosko. "They scored once on a 5-on-3 and that's not really anybody's fault."
The final score probably flattered the Red Wings, as Humboldt had several great chances and even hit a couple posts.
"A couple of those go in and it's out of reach for them," said head coach Dean Brockman.
The victory kept the Broncos one point ahead of the Kindersley Klippers in the Kramer Division and continued Humboldt's stellar play of late. The team has only one regulation loss in its last 10 games and seems to be hitting its stride despite a lack of star power; there are no Broncos in the top 10 in SJHL scoring and the team's high scorer is a defenceman, David Stumborg, who has 23 points on the year. It's a recipe for success that relies on stellar goaltending and a balanced attack that goes at least three lines deep.
"We don't have one guy that we look to for scoring," Klimosko said. "We need everyone going because we have a balanced approach."
"That's how we always are, we don't rely on marquee guys," Brockman said. "When you play as many guys as we do, there are sacrifices to be made on the part of the players."
Next up for the Broncos is a home-and-home series with the Notre Dame Hounds before a three-game home stand. The teams will play tonight at 7 p.m. in Humboldt and on Dec. 13 at 7:30 p.m. at Notre Dame.
The three home games will give the Broncos a chance for extended success, as they come against struggling teams from Weyburn, Melfort and Flin Flon. It will be tempting for the team to look at those games and see near-automatic wins, but it's Brockman's job to ensure they don't.
"We can't win four games in one night," he said. "Our practices will be indicative of that and we also have to be careful about guys thinking ahead to the Christmas break."
If the Broncos play up to the high standard they've established over the past month, they'll likely head into Christmas atop the Kramer Division and with real aspirations at top spot in the entire SJHL.
