It was an interesting week for the Humboldt Broncos.The Humboldt Broncos Junior A hockey team played the Estevan Bruins on September 30 at the Elgar Petersen Arena. It was a tough game for both teams, right from the start. Scoring started offquickly, with Bronco Dylan Fluter getting the first goal of the game at 5:09 of the first, assisted by Jon Lawrence and Braeden Laroque. It was quickly followed with a second goal by Bronco Cody Pongracz at 5:30, assisted by Joe Davies and David Miazga. The Bruins tried to catch up later in the period, with Bruin Tyler Paslawski sneaking the puck past Bronco goaltender Matt Hrynkiw at 19:34. After the first period, the game slowed down, with neither team getting the puck past the goaltenders. The first period was also busy on the penalty front, with four penalties for Humboldt and two penalties for Estevan.During the first period, Bronco Rhett Blackmur received a game misconduct and was ejected from the game, after checking another player from behind, which almost caused a fight between the two players.After a tense first period, the boys slowed down, with only two penalties each in the second period and two penalties for the Broncos in the third. The Broncos won the game 2-1 and outshot the Bruins 37-32. Although the Broncos won their only game at home last week, the road was not kind to them as they suffered a loss in Kindersley on Tuesday, then another in Yorkton on Friday. Humboldt led in the first two periods of their game against the Kindersley Klippers on September 25. Ryan Aubertin scored at 16:21 to put Humboldt up 1-0 - assists went to Dylan Fluter and Adam Antkowiak. Jon Lawrence put Humboldt up 2-0 with a goal at 19:13, assisted by Austin Hall and Antkowiak. There was no scoring in the second, byt the Klippers came out flying in the third, scoring their first goal at 4:33, with a second 10 minutes later to tie the game. Despite a couple of power plays for both teams in the third, neither could break the tie, forcing the game into overtime. With just 45 seconds left in that overtime period, one of the Klippers managed to get thepuck past Bronco goalie Matt Hrynkiw to take the game 3-2. Three nights later, the Broncos were in Yorkton. This time, they had to play catch-up with a powerful Terriers squad. Yorkton got off to a good start with a goal in the first, and another at 13:07 of the second. Humboldt got on the board with a power play goal by Adam Zbitniff at 15:05 of the second, assisted by David Stumborg and Logan Sproule, but Yorkton got another before the buzzer, making it a 3-1 game going into the third. The Broncos got the game to 3-2 with a goal by David Miazga, assisted by Neil Landry and Zbitniff at 14:45 of the third, and another Bronco goal at 17:06, this time by Joe Davies, brought the game to a 3-3 tie. In the final minute, the Terriers managed a fourth goal, and then a fifth at 19:31, thanks to an empty net. The game ended with the Terriers up 5-3. The Broncos were one for five on the power play, while the Terriers were one for one. Matt Hrynkiw blocked 20 of the 25 shots on goal made by the Terriers, while his teammates made 37 shots on the Yorkton net, scoring three times. Despite the losses four Broncos were chosen to attend the selection camp for Team Canada West at the World Junior A Challenge - Cody Pettapiece, Ryan Aubertin, Dylan Fluter and Cody Pongracz.The camp was held in Humboldt starting October 1.
