After an excellent win over the Weyburn Red Wings on Feb. 10, the Humboldt Broncos and their fans had some fun at the annual player shootout.
After the Broncos’ home game against the Red Wings the night prior, fans were encouraged to bid on the Broncos player or coach they felt was going to do the best in their shootout the next night. The goalies were also bid on for save percentage with three percentages up for grabs, 0-.750, .751-.850 and .851-1.000.
Each save percentage could be bid on for each goalie with the winner based on the percentage of shots they keep out of the net.
The Broncos were able to raise approximately $18,000-$19,000, up from the $15,450 raised last year.
Logan Hunter and Morgan Gobeil took home the distinction of being the highest bid shooters at $1,000 each, while Conner Lukan and Jaxon Joseph settled in at $950 each.
Broncos head coach Darcy Haugan was pleased with the support the community showed.
In addition to the community a lot of the credit for the support, goes to the families and billet families, notes Haugan.
“It’s just the fabric of really our hockey team, that’s the backbone of it. Without parents sacrificing throughout the minor hockey days and even now with their boys being here, it’s a sacrifice for them. It does cost financially with what they’re trying to do,” he noted.
“And with the billets as well, they open up their home and the billet cost doesn’t hardly cover the cost for them to live there but they do it out of the goodness of their heart and their love of this team and this community, and so we can’t say enough good things about billets and parents.”
Each player was given two shots, one against each goalie and was required to score one goal to avoid being eliminated. If the player scored they moved onto the next round and the players and coaches kept shooting until only a first, second and third place finisher were left standing.
The winner of the event was Broncos rookie Logan Hunter, who upset two time defending champion Haugan, with second place going to defenseman Xavier Labelle, and third place to defenseman Stephen Wack.
Hunter called it awesome to win, and joked about having bragging rights over his teammates.
“My billet brother, Xavier, actually came second so he’ll be hearing it for a bit,” he laughed.
“It was a fun event, the crowd was in it and there was a lot of laughs so that was huge.”
With the Broncos in the midst of a playoff race, the players seemed to be having fun with the shootout as players broke out various props including Stephen Wack wearing a pink cowboy hat, Kaleb Dahlgren a cape and sunglasses, Brayden Camrud a ponytail and sunglasses, and Bryce Fiske a yellow straw hat, among others.
Haugan notes that that is one of the great things about the shootout is it allows the players to have fun and spend some time with their family and billets.
“Everything in hockey is about wins and losses for the most part but I honestly believe it’s about these types of moments. You have your family down, and I’ve got my boy on the bench cheering you on and you get to have some fun with this game.”
Of course, there was a little competition going on and Haugan joked with two of the three remaining shooters being defensemen he might have to reconsider his shootout lineup.
“We have a lot of fun with it. If only Wack could wear that pink cowboy hat during a game, I’d put him in there for sure.”
The shootout is a fundraiser for the club with the proceeds from the shootout helping to cover costs accumulated throughout the season.
The fun was important, but so was the fundraiser, with Haugan noting one of the hardest parts of running a junior hockey team being the need for additional cash flow.
“You start off with a lot of cash at the start and it disintegrates real fast and so you need different ways. (I’m) not going to lie. It’s a struggle for us to make ends meet here… you do need cash and we need more than what we’re getting.
This is a big fundraiser for us and we need this to continue to be successful.”
