Saturday, February 17, 2007

So Far So Good

It's Saturday afternoon, I just had lunch with my friend Switzer and now it's into the gameday routine as the Broncos get set to battle the ailing Saskatoon Blades tonight in seven hours.

It was a fun night at the Civic Center as the boys played a solid team game en-route to the 4-1 win to jump back into 3rd spot in the east division - a point better than Prince Albert. All the Bronco parents were in attendance for "parents weekend", more on that in a second.

Is there any way we can play the Raiders 14 times a season rather than 8? They always seem to rescue the Broncos in tough times. As was the case last Friday night when the Broncos ended a six game slide with a 3-2 win.

The line of Bortis/Stieler/McAvoy and the Leavold/Nelson/Schenderling trio each scored twice in the victory, all six players had two points apiece. Kyle Moir was solid making 27 saves and did a great job with the rebound control.

Great job Levi Nelson. He stuck to the plan and played a solid game for his team and was rewarded with the 3rd star for his efforts. That's the Levi that can really help the team.

It was an odd game with four separate 5-on-3 situations. The Raiders lone goal came on a 5-on-3 for over two minutes after three consecutive Bronco penalties. The Broncos finished 1/10 on the powerplay.

The game also featured four fights including a pair from rookie Phil Gervais. Grant Toulmin's first ever WHL scrap just happened to be against WHL penalty minute leader Mike Gauthier. He did fine. He knew who he was up against and did his best to get in close. Trading blows wouldn't have been a very viable option.

After the game was a fantastic parents/players social. Isn't it funny how these events are always much better after a Bronco win? I love talking to the parents, they are so appreciative of the games on the radio/Internet and always have some nice things to say. Ryan and I thank-you. It's honor to broadcast the games into your living room. Janet Postma (our biggest fan!) it was good to see you last night again. Thanks for the pep talk. I;m sorry I can never get your daughters straight. Big Bob Molle, Darrel Moir (and his Stampeder trash talk, haha), Gloria and Darryl Rumsey, Brian Leavold, Jackie Larochelle, Kody Nelson, Nick Toulmin, plus Miroslav and Audrina Rakos - thanks for all saying hi. It was awesome to talk to the Rakos family all the way from the Czech Republic. It's there first visit to Canada and by all accounts they are enjoying themselves . . . minus the cold weather. Miroslav even offered me his "hockey horn". He has this noisemaker that is famous in Europe. You know when you watch a game from the World Juniors from overseas and you hear that constant duck-call like sound in the crowd? This is where it comes from. Miroslav and Audrina truly benefit from the WHL webcasts. They go to bed at night, set the alarm clock for 2:30am, then getup and watch their son play a live game from their computer. They go back to bed after and then off to work in the morning. That's awesome.

Ryan is going to post something on the Broncos parents. You can click the link on the right hand side to check that out Switzer's Blog.

How good was fill-in public address announcer Gordie Cameron last night!? He's the best rodeo announcer there is and he just added Broncos PA announcer to the list. His energy level and crisp, professional voice just makes you get into the game. Broncos are 1-0 with Gordie. I hope he's there tonight. Maybe I'll go over a few name pronunciations with him pre-game tonight but nonetheless did a great job.

It's the Saskatoon Blades tonight. A Broncos win would pretty much eliminate the Blades from catching them in the standings. The Blades are hurting on the blue line. With injuries to Joe Logan, Teigan Zahn, and Bohdan Vishnak they have a virtual MASH unit in place. They've called up some "AAA" midget help and have moved Colton Gillies back to help out. The Broncos have to take advantage of this and pound their back-end tonight.

We're on the air at 7pm with the Big Show, 7:30 play-by-play.

See you tonight,
Jon

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

It is nice to see all the parents in town and what a show the guys put on for them last night. Tonight I know the guys will be pumped again and will come out hitting tonight. See you there.

Jon Keen said...

Joel, I missed you after the game last night at BP's. Your crew was there but you were absent. Are you hiding? haha.

Anonymous said...

No im not hidding I have to go to Saskatoon next week and with the store getting close to complete I have alot to get done before I leave.

Anonymous said...

Well, the only good thing that happened tonight Jonny, was me getting my cellphone pretty much figured out. That's awesome...I can now start working on getting your number, so I can get inside info on road trips. Don't worry about the bantam draft. Brian Leavold already told me his number, and said he'd have me caught up on all the draft and prospect news before you get there!! HAHAHAHAHA!! That's about the only thing I can think of. Otherwise, I think it's all goaltending tonight. I was SOOOOO embarassed!!! I hope they get it figured out. We need a spark. And the fans need to keep coming. Good night!

Big Ern

P.S. Hey, also got the complete virus off my PC for a cost of $80. Pretty awesome, eh? LOL