Dubyk To Start Against Mustangs Tonight

It will be a battle of 2 struggling teams on our CK750 radio broadcast tonight. The Humboldt Broncos and Melfort Mustangs will tangle at the Northern Palace. The Mustangs have lost 5 of their last 6 games while the Broncos have lost 4 of their last 5. Both teams lost last night as Melfort dropped a 7-1 decision to Nipawin and Humboldt a 5-4 score to Battlefords.

Melfort has been alternating their goaltending this season with the exception of opening weekend. Expect Jesse Ehnisz to be in between the pipes this evening as Jesse Wilkins played in Nipawin last night. The Broncos have alternated Matt Hrynkiw and Tyler Marble every game until last night where Marble started his 2nd straight. That will change tonight. Former Moose Jaw Warrior Deven Dubyk gets his first start of the season in a Bronco uniform. Dubyk was not dressed last night as Marble started with Hrynkiw playing the role of back up. Tonight, Marble won’t dress and Hrynkiw will once again be the backup.

Melfort is 1-4 at home this season while Humboldt is 0-4 on the road. It will be the first of 6 meetings this season. Here is a look at tonight’s match up:

Record
Melfort: 2-6-0-1 (6th in Bauer Conference)
Humboldt: 4-5-0-0 (T-4th in Bauer Conference)

Goals Per Game
Melfort: 1.89 (12th)
Humboldt: 4.67 (4th)

Goals Against Per Game
Melfort: 4.11 (12th)
Humboldt: 3.11 (3rd)

Shots Per Game
Melfort: 25.67 (10th)
Humboldt: 33.33 (5th)

Shots Against Per Game
Melfort: 37.00 (12th)
Humboldt: 23.78 (1st)

Power Play
Melfort: 10.2% (11th)
Humboldt: 21.6% (6th)

Penalty Kill
Melfort: 75.4% (11th)
Humboldt: 79.3% (5th)

Last Year’s Head To Head Record
Melfort: 4-2-0-0
Humboldt: 2-4-0-0
* Note: Humboldt was actually 3-3-0-0 after Melfort had a win taken away for using an ineligible player.

How To Listen
Radio: CK750
Internet: www.ck750.com
TV: Saskatel Max Ch. 858 (audio only)

Tonight’s pre-game show starts at 7:15, play by play at 7:30 from “The Palace” in Melfort.

Broncos Staying Close-Mouthed About Goaltending

Humboldt Broncos coach & GM Dean Brockman has always kept as much out of the public eye as possible. From the start of training camp to their final game in the playoffs, injuries are rarely specified (and when they are, not always accurately). Everything is lower-body or upper-body, even early on in the season. The term “flu” gets used a lot even if it is actually an injury or a player is being benched. When Dean brings a player in, it is usually on the hush-hush. He doesn’t like bringing too much attention to the team or giving another team an advantage of preparing too early. Dean has asked me quite a few times not to mention players coming over in trades etc. It’s how he rolls. The same can be said for goaltender Deven Dubyk. He has been dropped by the Moose Jaw Warriors and officially cleared waivers a couple days ago so he is back in Humboldt for a second time. He didn’t get a chance to play the first time around but that should change shortly. I asked Dean yesterday if Dubyk would be playing tonight and he said he’s only practiced once so he’ll have to assess the situation today. In fact, as of the time I’m writing this, he’s still not listed on the team’s roster on the website.

In Humboldt’s 4 road losses this season, they outplayed their opponents in 3 of the games. It’s not a secret that the oppositions goaltending has outplayed Humboldt’s in those 4 losses. I’m sure Matt and Tyler would admit that the road games haven’t been their best. Brockman is looking to shore that position up with the 20 year old.

Dubyk is a native of Minitonas, Manitoba and played parts of 4 seasons in the WHL with Moose Jaw and Medicine Hat. He appeared in just 3 games this season and sported a 2-1 record with a 4.00 GAA and .900 save percentage. He also had a short stint with the Swan Valley Stampeders of the MJHL before that. The 6’2″ 170 pounder brings WHL experience but primarily as a back up. It will be interesting to see how he does at this level.

In another move, Humboldt has brought in 17 year old centre Dylan Fluter from the Tri-City Americans. Fluter played for the Battlefords Stars of the SMAAAHL last year where he was 3rd in scoring on the team with 11 goals and 19 assists in 42 games. Dean said the move was necessitated because of all the injuries to his team early on. Fluter picked up an assist in his first game with the Green & Gold on Wednesday in their 7-2 victory over Kindersley.

Humboldt will look to stay perfect at home when they face the 2nd place Battlefords North Stars tonight. It is the first meeting of the season between the 2 clubs. The Broncos currently trail the North Stars by 3 points in the standings and have 1 game in hand. Game time is 7:30 at the Elgar Peterson Arena.

Hawks To Don Pink Jerseys Tonight

There will be a new look to an old rivalry tonight at the Cage. The Nipawin Hawks will wear pink jerseys this evenng when they host the Melfort Mustangs. They will be raising awareness as well as money for a great cause. After the game, the jerseys will be auctioned off with all money raised going towards breast cancer research and support. It’s being dubbed as, “Pink Out The Rink” night and fans are also encouraged to show support by wearing pink. Sponsors for this event are “Joelle’s Hair Design”, “Your Dollar Store With More”, “Honeywood Vet Clinic” and “Flowers ‘N Things Step By Step.”

The 2 teams met back on September 23rd at the Palace with the Hawks coming away with a 5-2 victory. Melfort has made quite a few changes lately and are a different team from when they last saw each other. Melfort is coming off their first home win and second victory overall on Wednesday. Nipawin comes into the game riding a 4-game winning streak and are 8-1 overall. The Mustangs are 2-5-0-1. Melfort’s line up will look familiar to Hawk fans with 3 players on it that played for the Black & Gold last year. Brendan Tash, Pearce Gourley and Steven Jean will all be suited up tonight.

Huskies Have Outside Shot At First

It’s been an up and down season for the U of S Huskies who hit the bye week at 3-2, tied for 2nd place with the UBC Thunderbirds. On Monday and Tuesday, the Dogs had what Brian Towriss called, “Good practices” and they also got their team picture taken. Tuesday also featured a scrimmage with some of the younger players who don’t get to travel with the team. B.T. held a simualted game on Wednesday where there was no contact and the purpose was more for conditioning than anything else.

The bye comes at a pretty good time for the Huskies and all teams considering it’s the mid-point for teams that are planning on playing 10 or 11 games (with playoffs) this season. Obviously from an injury standpoint, the Green & White probably could have used a bye a couple of weeks ago. Remember these players have been going hard since late August while trying to keep their academics up.

The Huskies offence certainly looked better last game. I asked B.T. about the improvement and he said, “We narrowed the package a little bit, concentrated on execution and really emphasized getting the ball out on time, plus getting Ben Coakwell back to provide us with a little more speed in our run game. It was better, we can be better yet, that’s what we have to continue to work towards.”

The Huskies still have a shot at 1st place in Canada West but they need some help. The Calgary Dino’s, despite all their changes this season, are 5-0. The Dino’s have to play in Saskatchewan and UBC and will be at home to Manitoba so they have the tougher schedule. We’ll have a better idea of whether the Huskies have a shot at 1st place after the Calgary game next Friday. Obviously it’s a must-win. Calgary has been able to remain healthy this year, something the Dogs have not been able to do. B.T. said, “Big game for us after the bye this weekend. If we can win that one, we can stay in touch with 1st and put a pretty good leg up on 2nd. If we don’t win that, we’re kinda right back in the hunt and have to get after the last 2 weeks to secure a playoff spot.”

Some good news for the Green & White is they are expecting to get both Luke Thiel and Kit Hillis back into the lineup for next weekend’s game. They were both lost in Week 3 against Manitoba. Thiel will be playing with a cast so he probably won’t be available for returning kicks but will be in the secondary.

Nipawin Hawks In Unfamiliar Territory

The Nipawin Hawks fast start has not gone unnoticed by the rest of Canada. In the latest CJHL rankings which came out yesterday, the Black & Gold are ranked 13th in the country. It’s been awhile since we’ve been able to say that. But a 7-1 start will open some eyes. They beat the Humboldt Broncos 5-4 on Saturday to even that head-to-head series at 1 game apiece.

The Hawks will look ahead to tonight now as they play the 2nd game of their 4-game homestand against the Battlefords North Stars. This is another team who has started out of the gate quickly and in fact, haven’t lost on the road yet this season going 3-0. The biggest difference I see with Battlefords is their defensive play. They were a run and gun team the past few years under Ken Pearson whereas this year with a new coach are more defensive minded. In fact, they have the best goals against average in the league up until this point.

The Hawks meanwhile are perfect at home at 4-0. The 2 teams met last Friday in North Battleford with Nipawin coming away with a 6-4 victory. Let’s take a closer look at how the 2 teams compare:

Record
Nipawin: 7-1 (1st place in Bauer Conference)
Battlefords: 5-2 (3rd place in Bauer Conference)

Goals Per Game
Nipawin: 4.63 (2nd)
Battlefords: 3.29 (7th)

Goals Against Per Game
Nipawin: 2.88 (2nd)
Battlefords: 2.71 (1st)

Shots Per Game
Nipawin: 32.38 (8th)
Battlefords: 35.86 (1st)

Power Play
Nipawin: 29.4% (T-1st)
Battlefords: 16.2% (9th)

Penalty Kill
Nipawin: 82.5% (4th)
Battlefords: 83.3% (3rd)

Head To Head
Nipawin: 1-0-0-0
Battlefords: 0-1-0-0

CJVR/CK750 will be on hand at tonight’s game helping out with the 50/50. Gametime is 7:30 at the Cage.

Red Hot Hawks Host Broncos Tonight

The Nipawin Hawks have made believers out of a lot people early on. They improved to 6-1 on the season last night with a 6-4 win over the Battlefords North Stars. I wasn’t at the game as I was in Saskatoon doing the Huskies broadcast but the Black & Gold are proving to be a serious contender this year. They are first overall in the SJHL. Rookie Tad Kozun continues his quick start to the season as he opened the scoring in the first period. Justin Waskewitch led the way with 2 goals and Davis Jones stopped 35 pucks for his 5th straight win to start the year.

The Humboldt Broncos on the other hand have not yet found their identity. They have a lot of talent but the vast number of new players are still getting acquainted with playing with each other. Lines are being juggled to find the right chemistry. There’s no doubt that once things are finalized, they will also be near the top of the league. The Green & Gold are coming off a pair of losses on their recent road trip to Estevan and Weyburn. Neil Landry leads the team in scoring despite missing a game earlier in the season because of a suspension. The team is 3-0 at home but just 0-3 on the road.

Here is a preview of tonight’s game:

Record
Nipawin: 6-1 (1st in Bauer Conference)
Humboldt: 3-3 (4th in Bauer Conference)

Goals Per Game
Nipawin: 4.57 (2nd)
Humboldt: 4.50 (3rd)

Goals Against Per Game
Nipawin: 2.71 (2nd)
Humboldt: 2.67 (1st)

Shots Per Game
Nipawin: 33.00 (5th)
Humboldt: 31.67 (8th)

Shots Against Per Game
Nipawin: 31.29 (7th)
Humboldt: 22.00 (1st)

Power Play
Nipawin: 29.0% (2nd)
Humboldt: 17.9% (7th)

Penalty Kill
Nipawin: 85.7% (3rd)
Humboldt: 81.8% (7th)

Last Year’s Head To Head Record
Nipawin: 2-5-0-0
Humboldt: 5-2-0-0

How To Listen
Radio: CK750
Internet: www.ck750.com
TV: Saskatel Max Ch. 858 (audio only)

Tonight’s pre-game show starts at 7:15, play by play at 7:30 from “The Cage” in Nipawin.

Huskies Grab Share Of Second Place

The 9th ranked U of S Huskies beat the UBC Thunderbirds 36-33 last night in front of over 6000 fans at Griffiths Stadium. Starting QB Trent Peterson was replaced by Jahlani Gilbert-Knorren after hurting his throwing hand late in the 2nd quarter. Gilbert Knorren threw for 187 yards for the rest of the game and rushed for 66 more and 2 TD’s. The Dogs trailed 11-2 at the end of the first half. The only UBC TD in the first half came on a drive that started at the Huskies 1 yard line after a Trent Peterson interception. QB Billy Greene got into the end zone on his 2nd attempt. The star of the night belonged to Huskies running back Ben Coakwell who retured from injury. He carried the ball 20 times for 205 yards and 2 TD’s. Jeff Moore was the leading receiver with 6 catches for 70 yards while Garrett Burgess hauled in 5 and Rory Kohlert 4. The win improves Saskatchewan’s record to 3-2 heading into the bye weekend. It also gave head coach Brian Towriss his 170th win of his career to make him the CIS all-time winningest coach. Towriss’ record stands at 170-95-1. UBC falls to 3-2 as they trail the Calgary Dino’s who are 4-0 and play tomorrow against winless Alberta. The Dogs next game is October 14th when they host the Dino’s at Griffiths Stadium.