They may have been missing a few on the bench, but the Broncos were able to claim victory anyway.
The Humboldt Broncos went up against the Weyburn Red Wings on October 29, without head coach Dean Brockman behind the bench, and without defenceman Josh Roach and forward Riley Kieser.
All three were at the Team Canada West evaluation camp in Langley, BC, Brockman as an assistant coach, and the players among 34 vying for a chance to play for western Canada in the World Junior A Challenge. Cuts will be made November 3, and the tournament will start November 7.
Though the players may have been missing their fearless leader and their teammates, they didn't let it show.
Led by assistant coaches Murray Brookbank and Tim Klimosko, the Broncos skated hard in the first period, though they were unable to answer the goal scored by the Red Wings at 16:31 on Humboldt goaltender Matt Hrynkiw.
In the second, the Broncos tied the game with a goal at the 11-minute mark, scored by Cody Pettapiece, and assisted by Andrew Johnston and Matthew Backhouse.
Humboldt scored their winning goal at 11:44 of the third, thanks to Johnston, assisted by Adam Antkowiak and Taylor Johnson.
That was it for scoring, with Humboldt coming out on top of a 2-1 score.
There were a few more penalties in this game than has been usual lately, but not many.
A fight broke out in the first period between Bronco Chase Wharton and Red Wing Carter Struthers. Both got five minutes for fighting.
Both teams failed to score on the power play. The Broncos were zero for four, while the Wings were zero for three.
Humboldt did outshoot Weyburn 32 to 26, and all three stars of the game were Broncos - Johnston, Johnson and Pettapiece.
Four hundred and thirty-five people attended the game at the Elgar Petersen Arena.
