Bruno is a local hotbed for broomball, and they proved it again over the weekend hosting the 2018 Midget Provicinal Championships for both boys and girls Feb. 23-25.
The tournament featured nine teams from five communities including Bruno, Debden, Odessa, Big River, and Aberdeen.
Being able to host the tournament in Bruno is great for the growth of the sport in the community, noted Saskatchewan Broomball Association delegate Ray Bender, who also serves as coach of the senior Axemen.
“I know just walking through the crowd during the weekend and you walk passed some little kids telling their mom ‘hey mom, I’m going to play broomball next year’ and they might have only been 7, 8 years old and they sit there watching it. It’s good exposure for the kids to see that.”
Of course, it is also good exposure for the players on the ice, says Bender, who notes some of these kids may only have one or two provincials under their belts prior to this year.
“To play it at home is always nice.”
The big winners were Debden who claimed the girls championship with a 1-0 win over the Bruno T-Birds, and the boys title with a 5-2 overtime win over the Bruno Axemen.
The girls final was a closely contested affair between two evenly matched teams, with Debden finding the back of the net early in the second half before hanging on for the win.
The boys final featured significantly more goals than the girls final, and it did not take long as Debden scored the game’s opening goal just a few minutes in.
Debden extended their lead early in the second half.
Bruno then got to work, scoring once on a breakaway, and another on a point shot to tie the score at two.
The game remained tied into the overtime, which is played 4-on-4 without goalies for five minutes, with the teams able to score as many times as possible.
The Axemen had the first great chance in overtime but a giveaway led to Debden’s first overtime goal.
That goal seemed to deflate the Axemen as they gave up two more to lose 5-2.
Both finals were played in front of raucous crowds, which was great to see, says Bender.
“It seemed like the whole town was out this weekend and the rink was busy all weekend and it’s just good for the whole community. It’s nice to see all the other teams come to the provincial.”
The two finals followed a trend, which saw the final six games of the tournament decided by one goal, with four of them going to overtime.
Bender notes the way the tournament finished is a great indication of how even the teams really are.
“As an observer all weekend I’ve noticed that the fact that you don’t play a lot of games during the year the more games they played all weekend the better it got.”
Bender would like to thank everyone for their support throughout the weekend.
“(We) hope to see them at our tournaments next year and maybe at provincials if we grab another one.”
