The 2007-2008 Humboldt Broncos left a mark on the Canadian Junior A hockey world and on June 24 they will leave their mark in the Humboldt and District Sports Hall of Fame as the latest team inductees.
Dean Brockman, 2007-2008 Broncos head coach, noted he felt very fortunate to know this team was being inducted.
“Wow, has time flied,” he laughed.
“I think certainly there’s a lot of great inductees there already and it certainly is an honour to be amongst them.”
The Broncos enjoyed a terrific season as they captured the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League’s regular season and playoff crowns, the Anavet cup and the Royal Bank Cup as the National Junior A champions.
The Broncos enjoyed a terrific regular season as they lost more than one game in a row just once when they went on a four game skid in late November but rattled off winning streaks of four, eight, 12 and 16 during the season, including a stretch of 28 wins in 29 games to close out the season.
Their incredible run, which saw them win their final 12 games of the regular season propelled them to an easy victory in the SJHL regular season standings as they finished 17 points clear of the second place Weyburn Red Wings.
The Broncos were boasted the regular season’s top ranked offense, which saw the team have six players score at least 40 points, and the league’s top ranked defense, lead by goaltender Taylor Nelson, who set a trio of league records
including most shutouts in a season with seven, most career shutouts with ten, and lowest goals against average at 1.74.
Come playoff time the Broncos continued rolling as they finished the Preliminary Round Robin 2-0-1 to claim the top spot and take on the Nipawin Hawks in the quarterfinals.
Against the Hawks the Broncos continued rolling as they took an early three games to none lead before closing the series out in five games.
In the semi-finals the Broncos wasted little time dispatching the Flin Flon Bombers as they swept them aside four games to none, lead by Nelson who set his fourth SJHL record as he held the Bombers scoreless for the final 224 minutes and 14 seconds of the series, allowing just one goal in the four game sweep.
The league final did not get off to the greatest start for the Broncos as they dropped the first two games of the series and three of the first four to dig themselves a 3-1 series hole against the Kindersley Klippers, who finished 30 points behind the Broncos in the regular season standings.
They refused to quit and were rewarded as they came back to win the final three games of the series punctuated by an incredible 8-2 blasting of the Klippers in game seven.
The win booked the Broncos as spot in the Anavet Cup as they looked to make amends for a devastating game seven loss in quadruple overtime the year before against the Selkirk Steelers.
This time there would be no game seven, not even a six or a five as the Broncos jumped on the Portage Terriers early and rolled to a four game sweep, booking their spot in the RBC Cup.
After blitzing the host Cornwall Colts in the first game of the round robin 7-0, the Broncos ran into some trouble losing 2-1 to the Camrose Kodiaks and 7-6 to the Oakville Blades setting up a do-or-die matchup against the Pictou County Weeks Crushers in the final round robin contest, which the Broncos won 4-1.
In their semi-final the Broncos took on the same Colts team they routed earlier in the tournament and did it again winning 6-1 setting up a rematch with the Camrose Kodiaks, five years to the day after the Broncos beat the Kodiaks for their first and only other RBC Cup.
In a heart stopping championship game the Broncos took home the National Championship thanks to a 1-0 victory and an incredible last second save from Nelson.
Brockman says looking back on the season the moment that stands out most to him was actually coming home from the tournament.
“The next day leaving and everybody getting stopped at the security because they had their medals in their carry on bags. Then for me it really kind of sunk in.”
Looking back on the season Brockman says it was tough at the time to pinpoint the exact moment he knew this team was a National championship caliber team, but says he could feel it right from the moment they lost to Selkirk in quadruple overtime of game seven of the 2007 Anavet Cup.
“Just seeing the disappointment on their face and then just seeing the following fall when the guys came back. I really knew that they wanted to make a difference and you could just see that they wanted to finish the job. And there was times where you just knew that this team was going to come through for you.”
A lot of championship caliber teams have something special about them and Brockman says for this team it was their resiliency.
“It’s not like we didn’t go untested. We were tested on several occasions and they just were resilient and they always just really knew what was at stake at all times. And when things were bleak they rose to the occasion and overcame a lot of those obstacles.”
Brockman admitted there was a lot of optimism coming into that season and as the wins piled up the expectations grew for this team, but said it was always channeled in a positive direction, noting he preached to his players that the pressure was a good thing and now they just had to seize the moment.
“You always have expectations of being successful and then when you are successful it’s just you want to move on to the next chapter… we had set those expectations fairly high and when you reach them there is a level of satisfaction but then it’s what is the next accomplishment.”
The level of expectation did not just come from the players but also the city, noted Brockman, who said it made for a fun atmosphere.
“Just looking back on all of it, it was just a little bit surreal at times because people, I don’t think they expected you to win but they knew that if everything went well there was a real good chance you were going to win. And I think really the community support was tremendous,” he said.
“There was signs in all the buildings, the rink was packed, people were always wishing you good luck. It didn’t matter where you went in the community everybody was talking about you.”
For local teams looking to follow in the Broncos’ footsteps Brockman says the most important thing they need to remember is that the work never stops.
“You’ve got to continue to push through and work hard and you have to believe in things that you sent out to do and you can’t waiver from that belief. You just set your aspirations and goals and follow the path that leads you there.”
The 2007-2008 Broncos will become the second Broncos team to be immortalized in the hall, joining the 2002-2003 team, the only other Broncos team to win a Royal Bank Cup.
The Broncos, along with Kelly Bates, Brad Lauer, Jerome Engele, and Wendy Toye will all be inducted into the hall at this year’s induction ceremony on June 24.
Tickets are available now for the “Night of Champions” ceremony, with the opening reception starting at 5:00 p.m and are available in advance only.
They can be purchased at HSA Chartered Professional Accountants, Uptown Barber Shop, and Thrifty Market for $35 each.
Click the links to read more about Engele, Bates, Lauer, and Toye.
