It was valiant effort from captain Holden Knights and the La Ronge Ice Wolves but it wouldn't be enough to beat the Humboldt Broncos in game one of round one of the SJHL playoffs. (Becky Zimmer/larongeNOW Staff)

By Becky Zimmer

On the prowl for the win

Hard effort for Ice Wolves comes up short in game one loss to Broncos

Mar 19, 2022 | 11:31 AM

Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League playoffs are officially underway with the La Ronge Ice Wolves in Humboldt last night for game one of the series.

It was a hard loss for the Ice Wolves as they took advantage of a coasting Broncos team in the second to come back from trailing the Broncos 3-1 in the first to take the lead 4-3 as the buzzer sounded on the second.

Head coach Kevin Kaminski told larongeNOW some bad calls in the third didn’t help them as they could not pull ahead in the third after the Broncos tied up the score.

“I really think the reffing cost us the game tonight. Let the boys finish it or let the boys decide with a couple of cheap calls and then there’s no calls on the other side of the puck either. We don’t need to change anything, I think the only thing we got to do is you know, we got to play a full 60 against this team.”

Xavier Cannon was a rock for the team, stopping 40 out of 45 shots fired his way. Even with the Ice Wolves taking the loss, Kaminski said Cannon played hard and made some key saves.

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While a slow start in the first didn’t help, captain Holden Knights said they played a hard game and dominated the second and third periods.

“I think we just have to bring that for a full 60 tomorrow,” Knights told larongeNOW. Going into game two tonight, Knights said they have to bury their chances.

Knights kicked off the scoring early in the first period with a pass at the blue from Kole Christensson saw Knights driving the puck in the zone with a one-on-one against Broncos goalie Rayce Ramsay.

The Broncos were quick to answer back with goals from Braiden Koran, Alex Morozoff and Rhett Gibson making it 3-1 as the buzzer sounded on the first period.

The second period would be all Ice Wolves as Knights and Mkyllan Couture would take advantage of some power play opportunities, including Knights burying the puck on a 5-3 advantage. Couture was quick to tie it up shortly after as the power play continued for the Ice Wolves. Brandon Della Paolera found the back of the net with a short-handed goal on the Ice Wolves penalty kill to make it 4-3 at the end of second.

However that would be all they could manage as a rebound behind Cannon would provide a backdoor opportunity for Alec Saretzky with just two minutes left in the game. While the Ice Wolves would pull Cannon for the man advantage, it wouldn’t be enough as the Broncos buried the empty netter for a 6-4 win to take game one.

In other SJHL action, three of the league’s top four teams would take the W with the Battlefords and Melfort beating out Flin Flon and Yorkton.

The underdog Notre Dame Hounds took the W against the first place Estevan Bruins.

The Broncos and Ice Wolves will once again meet tonight for game two with puck drop at the EPA set for 7:30.

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becky.zimmer@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @bex_zim