Broncos Beat the Ice . . . Finally!

As a four-year Broncos broadcaster I've never said that before and it kinda feels good! Yes the Broncos ended their 11 game regular season drought after a 3-2 overtime victory last night at the Civic Center. If you were there, good on you, you were the few, the proud.

A sparse Tuesday night crowd of 1724 watched an entertaining end after the Broncos tied it up on a pretty powerplay goal from Dainel Rakos with 5:08 to play in the game. Overtime was end-to-end until David Stieler stripped the Ice defender off the puck behind Kootenay's net. He then centered for Bortis who sniped the winner on goaltender Kris Lazaruk.

The win pushes the Broncos to just a point behind the Brandon Wheat Kings in the east division, also known as the "yogurt" division (don't ask, Switzer and I came up with that one)

Man, I hope defenseman R.J Larochelle and Myles Rumsey will be ok. They both left the ice under a lot of pain after blocking shots from the point as some of Kootenay's big boppers let fly including WHL leading scorer Ben Maxwell. R.J.'s blocked shot in overtime sent him down to the ice like a ton of bricks. He laid helpless on the ice, unable to be part of the PK and unable to get the bench. It led to a frantic 4-on-2 scenario for 20 plus seconds before the play was blown down by referee Graham Skilliter.

How big was this win for Broncos Head Coach and G.M. Dean Chynoweth? Well judging by his reaction after the OT winner, BIG. Usually composed on the bench, he couldn't help but let go just a little. Good to see!

Anyways, I type this after just finishing up the 6am sportsrun here at the radio station. A late OT hockey game and an early 4:30 am wake-up call doesn't mix very well, but a Broncos win sure makes it easy to keep the energy level up.

Broncos host the red-hot Everett Silvertips Friday night, the Tips won their 9th in a row last night with a 3-1 win over Moose Jaw.

On another note, Medicine Hat Tigers super-pest Derek Dorsett has been given a one-game suspension for his check from behind on Dale Wiese Saturday night in the Hat. I remember Dorsett when he billetted at a friends place when he played for the "AAA" Legionnaires in town. What an effective player he can be when he plays within the rules . . . his game Saturday night lasted 7 seconds before he was tossed out at 19:28 of the first period.

Later,
Jon