Tuesday, March 18, 2008

Broncos Awards Banquet a Hit

Broncos Captain Zack Smith delivered a fun and entertaining speech and then took home four awards at the Broncos Awards Banquet last night inside the new Credit Union I-plex auditorium.

Nights like these are always fun as the entire Broncos family gathers including players, coaches, billets, volunteers and fans. It really gives you a sense of this club being our team. It really drives home how important junior hockey is to this city and the fans. The Broncos do a great job of putting the personal touch on the event.

It also served as a great playoff rally as players and fans alike prepare for the first round series with Regina.

Here's a list of the award winners. I hope to have pictures posted later today.

1. TOP SCORER
Winner - Zack Smith

2. FANS MOST POPULAR
Winner – Dale Weise

3. MOST IMPROVED PLAYER
Winner – Matt Tassone

4. CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARDS
Winner – Dale Weise

5. ROOKIE OF THE YEAR
Winner – Cody Eakin

6. LEADERSHIP AND MATURITY AWARD
Winner – Bretton Stamler

7. TOP DEFENCEMAN AWARD
Winner – Michael Wilson

8. TOP DESIRE AND SPORTSMANSHIP AWARD
Winner – Cody Eakin

9. HUMANITARIAN OF THE YEAR
Winner – Levi Nelson

10. KING OF THE ROAD
Winner: Zack Smith

11. MOST SPORTSMANLIKE PLAYER
Winner – David Stieler

12. SCHOLASTIC AWARD
Winner – Geordie Wudrick

13. THREE STAR AWARD
Winners: 3rd –Dale Weise
2ndKeegan Dansereau
1st – Travis Yonkman

14. COACHES AWARD
Winner – Bretton Stamler

15. PLAYERS MOST POPULAR PLAYER
Winner – Zack Smith

16. MOST VALUABLE PLAYER
Winner – Zack Smith

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Voice of the Pats Rod Pedersen had my on his Sportsline show last night on 620 CKRM. Broncos Head Coach and G.M. Dean Chynoweth was out of town for family reasons so I stepped in for a quick chat.

Rod asked how our fans are reacting to another 1st round series with the Regina Pats. In the tail end of my response I added they were excited because "if they're lucky they may get some Bronco highlights on CTV Regina". A tongue-in-cheek delivered statement which is getting some play over on Rod's blog today.

The WHL panel along with Rod, Chris Hodges, and Kelly Remple shifted their focus to why the Regina Pats are hated by the rest of Saskatchewan, more specifically, southern Saskatchewan. I think they defintely did a good job of breaking down a few of the reasons. You can check it out for yourself at www.rodpedersen.com .

Even the Leaderpost wrote an article about Regina being the "Evil Empire". Not sure if they are relishing in that role our trying to shed some light on the subject. You can be the judge for yourself.

The Sportsline crew went on to talk about the Broncos motivational tactic last year of pinning up a scathing Leaderpost article in the dressing room following game one of the series. Rod Vanstone of the LP (who does a great job and is one of my favorites... love his sarcasm), pretty much called the series over after a 4-0 Pats win in game one. Pats enforcer Myles Stoesz taunting the Broncos as they left the ice no doubt added to extra motivation for game two if I recall.

Remple, from the Sportsline panel didn't think much of the LP pin-up job from Dean Chynoweth...but in the end it worked. I remember Myles Rumsey coming up to me after the game two win asking where Rob Vanstone was with fire in his eyes.

By the way Rob apparently has some sort of bold series prediction in today's edition. We will have to see what that's all about.

Just saw a flat tire on my SUV this morning... I better go attend to that...

Enjoy the weather, the playoffs are here.

Jon

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hey Keener ! Maybe you can answer this question. I see that you made the remark about CTV giving the Broncos some highlights...which i completely agree with by the way...but what about this "WHL SASKATCHEWAN" program that is on access. I mean, it WOULD be a good show if the Blades didn't suck, as it seems to always be about them. It is as if they make the trip from Saskatoon, to PA and then back to Saskatoon where they slop their show together. Maybe i missed something but I have tried and tried to watch that show to see info on Regina, Moose Jaw and the Broncos and there is barely anything EVER !!!

Now over to SHAW !! If they really want to step up and cover games, why not wait and see who is actually doing well during the season. how PAINFUL is it to see ANOTHER Blades game or Tigers game. Especially when you have Regina and Swift Current fighting it out that night!! I hate the fact that they book their games based on city and to some degree, the results from last year. sort of boring television if you ask me.

Anyway, maybe you know the answers to these that trouble me ! haha cause I don't !

Jon Keen said...

Jeez, you have me stumped on that one corey. There used to be that WHL Rinkside show where they would profile a different team every week.

I've never even seen this WHL Saskatchewan show.

I agree with the Shaw coverage. Usually it's based on what games are most convenient to do. I don't think they have a large budget to take a mobile into some other city and have the crew stay the night. Convenience usually wins out in the end.

Anonymous said...

Corey - I am a Pats fan and I share some of your concerns. I might have an answer to your question. Shaw is the cable provider in Saskatoon and Accesscommunication is the provider in Regina. Maybe Shaw is sending a message. As a part of the WHL contract, Shaw should have to give equal number of games to every Canada based WHL team. At least as much as possible. I can't begin to remember how may Red Deer or Saskatoon games were televised. It was basically crap hockey. The East division had great matchups almost every night but we had to watch Saskatoon/PA.

The Pats get a ton of coverage here mainly because there are three TV stations and several radio. The fans of SC and MJ are consumers as well, so why don't you put some pressure on the station(s) to do a weekly feature on the Broncos, then the Warriors etc. The fans in Regina are often kept in the dark about things going with your team. It would be a nice change to get some inside info.