In his second season, Corey Dambrauskas has emerged as an important contributor on the Humboldt Broncos blue line.
“With Corey, you know what you are getting,” Humboldt head coach Darcy Haugan said. “He wears his heart on his sleeve.”
Last week Dambrauskas and the Broncos went 1-1. As of Nov. 15, they were 7-13-2-1 in the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League. Haugan emphasized the team is striving to get better and be more consistent shift after shift.
Last season as a rookie, Dambrauskas, a Calgary product, was fighting to earn playing time and adjust to the Junior A level. When asked about the biggest adjustment he had to make, Dambrauskas wrote in an text interview, “Not knowing if
you’re in the lineup every game made me realize that you have to work as hard as you can to stay in the lineup and you have to play your best when you have the chance of playing!”
Through 22 games this season, the 6-foot-1, 161-pound defenceman has two goals, eight points, and 29 penalty minutes. He is on pace to surpass the three goals, 12 points, and 30 penalty minutes he posted in 42 games last season.
“I’ve been successful because of hard work day in and day out,” Dambrauskas wrote. “I always work as hard as I can.”
Haugan has been impressed with the 19-year-old’s work ethic.
“He plays hard and he competes hard,” said the head coach, who stated Dambrauskas has earned a role on the power play and can play in all situations. “He just has a real love for the game.”
Dambrauskas, who is an important leader as an assistant captain, has certainly enjoyed being part of the Broncos.
“The best part of playing with the Broncos is the community support and just being able to put that jersey on every week is my honour,” he wrote.
This Week
The Broncos are on the road this week. They were slated to play in Estevan on Nov. 17. The next night they are in Wilcox to take on the Notre Dame Hounds. The Humboldt squad then has a rare weekend off. Their next contest is in Kindersley on Nov. 25. The Broncos don’t play at the Elgar Petersen Arena until Nov. 27.
Last Week
A positive as of late for the Broncos has been their improved ability to generate offence. In the team’s last six games, they have scored at least three goals in five of them. This has improved Humboldt’s goals per game average to 2.47.
Defenceman Greg Moro leads the team with 15 points, while Daniel McKitrick, who has missed eight games, has a team-high seven goals.
The Broncos led 3-1 heading into the third period on Nov. 13 and went on to post a 4-3 victory over the Flin Flon Bombers at the Elgar Petersen Arena. The victory snapped a two-game losing streak.
“It was good for our team to hold on for the win,” Haugan said, noting that in the previous game Humboldt fell in the final minute to Melville.
The head coach was pleased with the effort against the Bonmbers.
“We battled hard. We played hard. We competed.”
Humboldt defenceman Connor Swystun scored his second goal of the season to give his team a 1-0 lead in the first period. In the second session, Logan Schatz and Moro lit the lamp for the Broncos, while Alex Smith scored for Flin Flon. In
the third period, the teams traded goals with Rock Ruschkowski scoring for the Broncos and Joel Kocur getting a goal for the Bombers.
Brett Clark made 23 saves to earn the win for Humboldt. For Flin Flon, Brenden Newton started and made 20 saves, before giving way to Zac Robidoux, who stopped both shots he faced. Trevor Posch had two assists.
The Broncos fell 9-3 to the Kindersley Klippers at the Elgar Petersen Arena on Nov. 15. The visiting Klippers were able to score on three of their five power-play opportunities.
“We couldn’t get any momentum and anytime we tried to do something we were pulling the puck out of the back of our net,” Haugan said.
Clark made three saves on five shots before Brett Friesen came on in relief. Friesen stopped 26 of the 33 shots he faced. Posch, Andrew Thompson, and captain Anthony Kapelke scored for Humboldt. Thompson got his marker while the Broncos were shorthanded.
Landon Gross scored five goals and recorded seven points for Kindersley. Carson Pickett scored twice, while Daniell Lange and Austin Calladine had singles. Nathan Hargrave made 32 saves.
Catching Up With
Matt Hrynkiw (2010-2013) has grabbed the national spotlight. The walk-on from Saskatoon has stepped in for the University of North Dakota’s two scholarship goalie and helped the historic hockey program remain competitive. As of Nov. 15, the 5-foot-9, 190-pounder had an 8-1-1 record with 1.81 goals against average and a .920 save percentage.
“Matt has elevated his game through the course of his time here at UND,” head coach Brad Berry wrote in an email interview. “His attention to detail and preparation make him successful. He now has been given an opportunity and he is making the best of it. His success has been one of the reasons for our start this year.”
On Nov. 16 UND was ranked No. 4 in both the USCHO.com NCAA Division I Men’s Poll and the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine Men’s College Hockey Poll.
In his first two seasons at UND, Hrynkiw did not see any action in any regulation contests. He had played less than 10 minutes in exhibition games. However, he was working hard in practice and in the classroom. The mechanical engineering major is a two-time All-National Collegiate Hockey Conference Academic Team.
