If there's one thing that makes coaches' blood boil, it's lack of effort.
They can handle unlucky breaks or times when their team is simply overmatched, but losing because you didn't show up to play? That's another story altogether.
On that basis, Dean Brockman was an unhappy man after his Humboldt Broncos dropped a 6-4 decision to the Nipawin Hawks on Oct. 4 at the Elgar Petersen Arena.
Sitting with the assistant coaches in his office after the game, Brockman lamented what he saw as his team's lack of focus and preparation.
"I didn't think we competed very hard in the first period and you can't take a period off and expect to win," Brockman said.
The Broncos were simply outworked in the first period and found themselves down 3-1 after the first 20 minutes, though Brockman couldn't say for sure what the reason was.
"It could be the players not coming in mentally ready or maybe something we need to do as a staff," he said.
The second period saw the home side come out with much more energy. After two quick goals by Cody Pettapiece and Logan Sproule at the end of the period the Broncos were down only 4-3 and had finally gotten the crowd behind them. A third period goal by Austin Duzan, his second of the game, tied things up to complete the comeback, but the good vibes were short-lived.
With less than five minutes remaining, Sproule, normally a steady defenceman, skated out from behind his own net with the puck, unaware of the Hawks player behind him. Sproule was stripped of the puck and Tayler Balog beat Broncos goalie Cade Spencer for what turned out to be the game-winning goal. It was a devastating mistake by Sproule, the veteran blue liner.
"In the third you're going to have some anxious moments but we shouldn't have a 20-year-old give up the puck in the last three minutes of the game," Brockman said. "That's just not a good play, but it happens and we have to move on."
Sproule, who had scored a goal earlier, chalked the mistake up as a one-in-a-million occurrence.
"I've made that play a million times and it's worked fine, but today it just didn't happen," he said.
"Unfortunately stuff like that happens every once in a while," he continued. "Hopefully we can look past it and move on to the next game."
Brockman was also looking forward to the next game, hoping the team's effort problems would fade as the season progresses.
"I'd rather be only playing 20 minutes now," he said. "If we're only playing 20 minutes 50 games from now, we're probably in trouble."
Less than 48 hours later the Broncos got a chance to show their best effort when they hosted the Estevan Bruins on Oct. 6.
After a scoreless first period both teams found the back of the net twice in the second period, with Humboldt's goals coming from Duzan and Ryan Aubertin. Even with a relatively strong start, Brockman wasn't happy with the sustained level of effort from his side.
"We're not completing things," he said. "What I mean by that is we're good for 25 or 30 seconds of a shift, but about 10 seconds of that shift isn't quality."
Those 10 seconds are where, according to Brockman, the Broncos get themselves in trouble. On a team still struggling to find its way, the older players have also tried to take too much responsibility.
"I appreciate they're trying to get us back in it, but they have to stay within the parameters of the game," Brockman said.
The first ten minutes of the third period were quiet, but the floodgates opened for Estevan down the stretch, as they scored three goals in the last seven minutes. Stuart Symenuk interrupted the Bruins' onslaught with a goal of his own, but the damage had already been done. The Bruins skated out of town with a 5-3 win, with Tyler Ross taking the loss in net for the Broncos.
Humboldt's record is now even at 3-3 as Brockman continues to mix and match lines in hopes of finding the perfect chemistry.
On the injury front, right-winger Cody Pongracz missed the games against Nipawin and Estevan with an upper body injury but isn't expected to miss much more time.
The Broncos' next home game is against the Nipawin Hawks on Oct. 12, with the puck drop scheduled for 7:30. They will then host the La Ronge Ice Wolves on Oct. 15 at 7.
