JUNIOR HOCKEY
Humboldt has always embraced junior hockey and the Humboldt Indians of the 1940s and 1950s were well known and respected in that era. In 1971 the franchise was on the move again and landed in New Westminster B.C. In 1981 the Edmonton Oilers purchased the New Westminster Bruins and moved them to Kamloops. After being out of junior hockey for a number of years a group of local hockey
enthusiasts took the Swift Current Broncos up on their offer of an affiliation between the Western Canada Hockey League Broncos and a new entry in the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League. Originally the team was a joint effort with St. Swift Current provided Bronco sweaters and the name Humboldt - St. Peter’s Broncos was struck. The Broncos tasted immediate success in advancing to the league final in their first year (1970/71) before losing to the Weyburn Red Wings. The following season the Broncos won their first SJHL championship and were then subjected to their first taste of thuggery, also known as the Manitoba champion Dauphin Kings. The Broncos battled their way through to win their first Anavet Cup trophy, emblematic of the champion of Manitoba/Saskatchewan Junior A hockey. They lost the western final to the Alberta Champion Red Deer Rustlers. The Broncos went on to win their second straight league championship in 1972/73 and again came up against a team from the Manitoba Junior Hockey League. So vicious were the tactics of the Portage La Prairie Terriers that Coach Terry Henning and General Manager Gerry Rooney pulled the Broncos off the ice and out of the series, despite threats of lengthy suspensions from the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association. After an investigation the suspensions were lifted and a move was made to clean up junior hockey. The Broncos went through a long drought before winning another league title in 1985/86. The Broncos dominated the league posting a 56-4 regular season record. They won the league championship in a thrilling 7th game showdown with Gerry James and the Estevan Bruins, in front of an absolutely jam packed Uniplex.
1986/87 was a hugely successful season for the Bronco organization as they hosted the Centennial Cup. Bronco fans were treated to some great hockey as the Broncos had an extremely talented team, led by Bill McDougall, who set a league scoring record 83 goals and 104 assists for 187 points. The record still stands 19 years later. The team was guaranteed a berth in the Centennial Cup tournament as host, but won the league title and defeated the Manitoba reps before meeting the Richmond Sockeyes, who would eventually break the hearts of Bronco fans by winning the Centennial Cup final against the Broncos. With the experience gained in hosting the Centennial Cup tournament the Bronco organization decided to go international during the 1988/89 season. They put on an international tournament involving teams from Sweden, Czechoslovakia, the United States and the host Broncos. The tournament was played over the Christmas break. Later that season the Broncos won their 3rd league title in 4 years and again got past Manitoba only to lose to Vernon, B.C. in the Western Final. Humboldt had to settle for North Division pennants in 1990, 1991 and 1999. After a move to the South Division the Broncos won a south pennant in 2002, losing a heartbreaking final to Kindersley. The previous loss must have strengthened the resolve of the Broncos, as the 2002/03 season was the crowning achievement for the organization. They won the league championship and advanced against the heavily favoured Manitoba Champion OCN Blizzard of The Pas. The Broncos beat the Blizzard and advanced to the Royal Bank Cup (previously the Centennial Cup) tournament in Charlottetown, PEI. Again the Broncos surprised the experts who had virtually conceded the Cup to the Alberta Champion Camrose Kodiaks. The Broncos won in a thrilling final against Camrose and Humboldt finally had their national championship. For Head Coach Bob Beatty and Assistant Coach/General Manager Dean Brockman it was the culmination of a long-term plan that seemingly was derailed when Humboldt lost out in their bid to play host to the Royal Bank Cup. The championship was especially sweet for Humboldt natives Joey Eaton, Orrin Hergott, Craig Olynick and Russell Gehlen. Olynick returned to his hometown to play his final year of junior hockey after 4 years with Seattle of the WHL. For Eaton - who had won the Air Canada Cup Canadian Championship with the Tisdale Trojans the previous year - it marked his second national championship in 2 years. The year following the Royal Bank Cup championship the Broncos finished first overall but lost out in the semi finals. The 04/05 and 05/06 Broncos seasons were of rebuilding – finishing 4th and 5th respectively – a bright spot in the 04/05 season was a thrilling come from behind playoff series victory over the eventual Royal Bank Cup Champion Weyburn Red Wings – trailing the series 3 games to none the Humboldt Broncos stormed back to win 4 straight on some strong goaltending from rookie goalie Nathan Heinen. The Red Wings were hosting the RBC that year so automatically had a spot in the tournament – they just had a few months off to get prepared after the early exit from the playoffs at the hands of the upstart Broncos. The Broncos returned to glory in the 06/07 season – finishing first overall in the SJHL and winning the Credential Cup defeating the Melville Millionaires before losing the Anavet Cup to the Selkirk Steelers. The Anavet went to 7 games – the Broncos losing the 7th game in a quadruple overtime heartbreaker. Coming so close, but not capturing the Anavet did not sit well at all with the Broncos; particularly for the 15 returning players. They set their 07/08 season goal high right off the start. They declared early on to end the season with less than 10 regular season losses. The Broncos wrapped the season with a remarkable 48-9-0-1 record. Four of their losses came in November and one in early December which spurred Dean to make a few changes. He wheeled and dealed managing to land Eddie Gale and Tanner Vandesype from Notre Dame as well as Shawn Hunter from Drayton Valley, AB. These moves proved to be huge as the team stormed through the remainder of the season with only one more loss. Led by Taylor Nelson, the Broncos steamrolled the opposition through the early rounds of the SJHL playoffs to meet the Kindersley Klippers in the SJHL Credential Cup final. The Klippers were not at all prepared to roll over to the Broncos who were looking for the repeat provincial title. The Klippers jumped out to an early series lead surprising the Broncos and putting them on their heels. The Broncos had to go into Kindersley to win game 6 and then return to Humboldt for the sudden death game 7. The Broncos didn’t disappoint the capacity crowd back in Humboldt and shattered the Klippers dream for a Cinderella finish to their season. The Broncos then chose not to take their foot off the gas and rolled over the Portage Terriers to take the Anavet cup in 4 straight games. The Broncos were off to the Royal Bank Cup for the second time in 5 years. Hosted in Cornwall, Ontario the entire week was an exciting rollercoaster for the Broncos, losing two of five games on their way to meet the Camrose Kodiaks in the TSN televised final on Sunday, May 13. Five years to the day after the Broncos had beaten out the Kodiaks in the national final in Charlottetown, PEI. The game was a defensive battle with the goaltenders stealing the show at both ends of the ice. On a powerplay 17 minutes into the first period, Eddie Gale scored the game’s lone goal. How big did the trade deadline moves made back in December seem now? This goal was 1 of only 5 that the Kodiaks allowed in the entire 6 games during the tournament. That is all Taylor Nelson required as he made that goal stand up as the winner with a 31-save shutout performance as the Broncos claimed the 2008 RBC Cup with a 1-0 win over the Camrose Kodiaks. Taylor’s biggest save came with one second on the clock on a penalty kill with 6 attackers. The Camrose sniper, Joe Colborne, let a rifle shot go from deep in the slot which Nellie picked cleanly with his trapper. “The save the ripped the hearts out of the Kodiaks”. The Broncos claimed the Royal Bank Cup for their second national title in 5 years. This year will prove to be an exciting year for the Broncos - we are the host city for the 2012 RBC Cup - the National Tournament. Coach Brockman is putting together a team capable of taking us all the way. Make sure you get your season tickets early to be part of YOUR team that is going to make history this season!
