The Humboldt Broncos' Matthew Perkins contributed four out of nine of the goals in the two wins the Broncos had this week. (Becky Zimmer/northeastNOW Staff)
Breaking away to first place

Winning streak continues; Broncos now first in the league

Oct 31, 2021 | 11:26 AM

Following six straight wins for the Humboldt Broncos, they have now overtaken the Flin Flon Bombers as the top team of the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League (SJHL).

In their first 16 regular season games, the Broncos accumulated 24 points which is enough for first place over the Bombers’ 24 points in 17 regular season games. The Estevan Bruins and the Melfort Mustangs follow close behind with 21 points a piece.

The Broncos continued their streak with two wins this week; a 5-1 win over the Battlefords North Stars on Oct. 29 and a 4-3 hometown win over the Weyburn Red Wings on Oct. 30.

Bronco forward, Matthew Perkins, played a big role in the wins with four out of nine goals coming off his stick, including a hat trick in North Battleford.

With a busy week coming up, Perkins told northeastNOW they have to drive the first and third periods the same way they drove the second period against the Red Wings.

“They had one shot on [goalie Rayce Ramsay]. So yeah, that was one of our better periods we played all year and we gotta find a way to string that together for 60 minutes,” he said.

Speaking of shots on goal, the Broncos outshot both teams during the past two games with 36 shots on goal to Battlefords’ 25 and 44 shots to Weyburn’s 20.

That has been a trend this season with 62 shots for and 39 shots against in the Broncos’ last 16 games.

Perkins said they had a few post and crossbar shots against Weyburn, including two himself, but the team kept battling back for the win.

“To be a good team, we gotta be able to fight through that stuff.”

Perkins added another four points to his scoring total as he now sits sixth in the team standings with seven goals and seven assists over the last 15 games.

The past six wins have not been a surprise as three of the top four scorers of the SJHL are wearing the green and gold.

Logan Kurki remains at the top of the team and league scoring board, adding another goal and two assist on Saturday to bring his total up to 10 goals and 14 assists in 13 games.

Connor McGrath is sitting at number two both in the league and on the Broncos leaderboard with eight goals and 16 assists in 16 games, including one goal and one assist on Saturday.

Alec Saretzky also added to his total with a goal and two assists during Friday’s game and another assist on Saturday. He now sits third in team standings and fourth in the league with 12 goals and eight assists in his last 15 games.

The Broncos wins also gave a few other plays reason to celebrate. Rookie defenceman Quinn Myles scored his first Broncos goal of his SJHL career on a Humboldt power play on Friday and defenceman Cody Hough his second goal this season on home ice on Saturday, also on the power play

Broncos goalie, Rayce Ramsay, saved 24/25 shots on goal on Friday and 17/20 on Saturday.

Following a relaxing week of only two games, the Broncos have a busy week ahead as they welcome the Kindersley Klippers to home ice on Nov. 2 followed by a trip down south to take on Weyburn on Nov. 5 and Estevan on Nov. 6 and Nov. 7.

becky.zimmer@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @bex_zim

View Comments