It's pretty sad when the visiting team gets more cheers than the hometown boys at a hockey rink in Saskatchewan. It's even sadder when that happens in Humboldt, home of what has been, over the past seven years, arguably the best Junior A team in Saskatchewan.
The Broncos have won consistently under the guidance of Dean Brockman, the man voted the best coach in the SJHL again this year. They won their way all the way to the RBC Cup last year, even though they could have lost out early and rested until the big tournament as they automatically had a berth as the host team.
And they've won their way to the top of the league this year, consistently outplaying pretty much every other team they've come across.
But fans still aren't coming out to the arena to see them.
Last Friday night, in front of what was reportedly a very small, very quiet hometown audience, the Broncos fell to the visiting Melfort Mustangs in the first game of their playoff run. The cheers in the arena that night mostly came from visiting Melfort fans, who were there to support their own boys.
Those who came out from this area, supposedly to support the home team, were pretty quiet, even when the Broncos were doing things right and deserved a few whoops and hollers.
The Broncos did better the next night, winning in Melfort in front of a crowd of 800. I'm not sure how many there were Broncos' fans, but I hope there were at least a few in the stands.
Even more, I hope that this week, more people make their way to the Elgar Petersen Arena to see the green and gold take on their northern rivals.
They play on Friday, in Game 5 of their best-of-seven series, and it would be great to see a full rink - not just for the boys on the ice, but for those in the stands. It's a way better hockey experience when there are over 1,000 people in the barn, all making noise, cheering those boys on. There's nothing worse than a quiet rink, for fans or for players.
A full barn gives players that extra oomph they need in the playoffs, they've told me in the past. It gets their blood running.
Some of you will remember that game in 2008, when Humboldt was playing Kindersley in Game 7 of the league final, and fans were hanging from the rafters of the arena. You could hardly move in the arena that night, which wasn't so good if you needed to get anywhere, but the atmosphere really couldn't have been better. Kindersley fans were there, throwing octopi (or something similarly gross) on the ice when their boys scored. There were security guards everywhere, and even RCMP stationed around the building, but nothing really bad happened.
In fact, something really good happened. The Broncos won the league championship, claiming it in front of an arena filled with fans still screaming their support.
Talk to any Broncos' fan who was there that night - it was one to be remembered.
And there could be another of those ahead, another of those not-to-be-missed hockey games. And if you don't want to miss it, get your butt down to the rink on Friday, and for the rest of the playoffs.
Let's hop on that bandwagon, even if we are a little late.
