Wednesday

Gregg Drinnan has posted what's becoming his annual "WHL Power Brokers" poll of the most influential people in the WHL.

Interesting to see Broncos Head Coach / GM Dean Chynoweth jump seven spots from 21st to 14th.

Only one media representative on the list which is Vancouver's Dan Russell - a long time promoter/broadcaster of the league. Gregg left himself off the list again but everyone knows who he is and what he's saying on a daily basis. You can read about it here.

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I had a chance yesterday to swing by practice and get some thoughts on the Broncos/Tigers playoff series. Here's a skim of what's being talked about.

"Goaltending and special teams. If you look at the impact that powerplays and penalty kills have had on hockey games throughout the season it's a very important part of the game. We saw last year with a hot goalie how it can change the momentum in a game. Those are two of the areas that will be real critical in this series." - Dean Chynoweth on two keys of the series

"We match-up real well against them. We both like to move our feet, chip pucks in... they are a fast team and I think we are too. If we match the work ethic I think we will get a series win here."- F Cody Eakin

For the 2nd straight year D John Negrin will play a shutdown role against the Tigers top line. Last year the Kootenay Ice defeated the Tigers in the opening round of playoffs. Negrin says they have to play a certain way against the Tigers top unit.

"They are three very talented players (Ennis, Vey, Bosch), very shifty and quick. Obviously Ennis is one of the top scorers in the league. Last year I was paired against them with Ian Barteaux and one thing that worked is that we were pretty physical with them and played well defensively. We didn't take too many chances, played a real strong, structured defensive game. If we can do that I think it well help a lot."

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I caught the CTV sports out of Regina last night. Lee Jones had a good take on the Broncos and their playoff chances. It was a good story and featured interviews with Dean, Cody Eakin, and Geordie Wudrick (and his playoff beard).

Hopefully we will see a lot of CTV Regina in our building the next few weeks as the Broncos are the only southern Saskatchewan team in the post-season.

There has been five camera spot requests for the opening round series against the Tigers.

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Speaking of media, Geordie Wudrick made an appearance this morning on all three of our radio stations.

Geordie was in to talk about the playoff series ahead and some of the events surrounding the series like the fan bus and playoff BBQ.

We then had some fun... Geordie did one of the Eagle sportscasts and did a great job. I'll look to try and post the audio.

Breakfast Boys co-host Chance Duperreault was ready to sign Wuddy to a long-term radio station deal. We were willing to offer Geordie a very lucrative four-figure contract. He's going to get back to us.

Thanks for Geordie for sitting in this morning.

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Locally tonight, the Swift Current "AAA" Diamond Energy Wildcats host Prince Albert in the final round of the SFMAAAHL playoffs. Local publicity hound Terry Pavely wants you to know that face-off is at 7:45pm at Fairview West.

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There's a story below I posted last night on Saskatchewan's WHL playoff slump. What do you think?


Jon