The Bombers and Broncos resume their rivalry tonight at the Elgar Peterson Arena for games 1 and 2 of the North Division Final. The Broncos took care of the Melfort Mustangs in 5, and the Bombers beat Nipawin in a very emotional 6 game series.
After dropping game 1 against the Mustangs the Broncos won 4 straight outscoring the Melfort 22-9. Flin Flon put up lots of offence outscoring Nipawin 29 to 15 in 6 games.
The Broncos are led by Joey Davies in these playoffs who has 8 goals so far in 5 games. Logan Sproule has also been red hot picking up 9 assists.
The Bombers are led by late season additions Jason Wark who has 7 points 3 goals and 4 assists, and Andy Blanke who has 6 points 3 goals and 3 assists.
The season series was even at 3-3 with the Bombers picking up 2 wins at home and 1 at the Elgar Peterson Arena. The Bombers outscored the Broncos 17-14 in the 6 regular season meetings.
Humboldt are the defending champs for a reason , they just never seem to beat themselves and are so good defensively. The Broncos only gave up 120 goals this season which was first overall to go along with the league's best penalty kill at 88.3%
Flin Flon was very good on both sides of the coin, their 143 goals against was 4th overall and the Bombers 198 goals for was second best in the SJHL. The Bombers also sported the second best PP at 21% and PK at 85.4%.
This series is too close to call as both these teams are very similar. Both teams can score, both are physical, have great leadership and are well balanced with 4 decent lines. Mike Reagan's team also showed great mental toughness against Nipawin by staying focussed and not getting sucked into playing Nipawin's shenanigans when things were not going their way.
This series is going to be a lot of fun to call and I fully expect it to go 6 or 7 games, with 2 really deep talented teams. Josh Roach the SJHL Defensemen of the year had 5 points against his former club this season and is really looking forward to playing his former club who he averaged a point a game for in last year's championship run.
Both teams have great goaltending with Devin Buffalo in fine form with a 922 save %. Matt Hrynkiw the SJHL'S best goalie this past season is at .912. Buffalo was a lot buisier in the opening series seeing 70 more shots fired his way in just one extra game.
Don't forget all the action on CFAR-590 and flinflononline.com starting with tonight's Murray GM Coach's Show at 8:15 MB time.
series breakdown
Game 1 Friday Mar 22- In Humboldt- 8:30 MB time
Game 2 Saturday Mar 23- In Humboldt-8:30 MB time
Game 3 Tuesday Mar 26- Flin Flon 7:30 MB time
Game 4 Wednesday Mar 27 Flin Flon 7:30 MB time
Game 5 Friday Mar 29 Humboldt 8:30 MB time (if nec)
Game 6 Sunday Mar 31 Flin Flon 7:30 MB time (if nec)
Game 7 Tuesday April 2 Humboldt 8:30 MB time (if nec)
Yours in hockey
Rob Hart
