It was a strong start to a historic season of hockey.
The Humboldt Broncos won their first game of the 2011-12 season over the Notre Dame Hounds September 17.
The home game, which attracted over 900 people to the Elgar Petersen Arena, saw the Broncos come out to a strong start and never take their foot off the gas.
With the Broncos' net safely guarded by veteran Matt Hrynkiw, the Broncos came out flying, scoring three unanswered goals in the first period.
Team captain Taylor Johnson got the first point of the regular season at 4:18 of the first, assisted by Adam Antkowiak and Logan Sproule.
Goal two came on a power play at 10:27, scored by Adam Zbitniff, another veteran from last season. Joey Davis and William Plourde were credited with the assists.
Goal three at 13:16 also came off Zbitniff's stick, this time from Neil Landry.
Up 3-0, the Broncos added three more points before the end of the second period.
Josh Roach, another returning player from last season, got his first point of the season on a power play at 3:13 of the second, assisted by Davies.
Zbitniff got his hattrick with a point at 5:59, assisted by Nathan Hudema and goalie Hrynkiw.
Landry got a goal of his own right off the faceoff at 7:05 of the second, assisted by Davies.
The final goal came in the third, scored by recent acquisition Andrew Johnston at 19:56, assisted by Kameren Ballas and Sproule.
Johnston was playing in his first game as a Bronco after 小蓝视频 acquired from the Flin Flon Bombers this summer.
At Humboldt's end of the ice, Hrynkiw only had to make 19 saves to record his first shut-out this year. The Broncos, meanwhile, leveled 39 shots on goal at both Notre Dame goalies.
The game was surprisingly rough for one between these two teams. Boarding, roughing and hooking penalties were all handed out in the first period.
A fight broke out between Broncos Neil Landry and Adam Zbitniff and Hounds James Dombowsky and Blaine Thomson late in the second. Both Landry and Dombowsky got five minutes for fighting and game misconducts. Zbitniff was given a two-minute minor for goalie interferences and a five minute major for fighting, while Thomson got five for fighting, two for instigating and a game misconduct.
Things settled down in the third, with just five penalties total.
Stars of the game were all Broncos - Hrynkiw, Zbitniff and Davies.
Bronco head coach Dean Brockman felt his team played "okay" in that first match of the season.
"I think we caught a few breaks, and some goals that maybe shouldn't have went in, went in. But we controlled our emotion. We did okay."
It was a good starting point for the season, he felt.
"It's a learning process, to get to where we want to be," he said.
The Broncos' second game of the regular season, however, did not go as well. Played in Wilcox, the Broncos fell to the home team Notre Dame Hounds 3-1.
Notre Dame scored first halfway through the first period, then again near the end of the second. They scored again halfway through the third on a power play.
The Broncos' lone goal of the game came at 15:41 of the third, on a power play. Ryan Marshall was responsible for the point, assisted by Andrew Johnston.
Penalties were fewer in this contest than they had been the night before. Humboldt still served 10 minors, while the Hounds had eight.
Humboldt was one for six on the power play, while Notre Dame was one for nine.
All three stars of the night were members of the Notre Dame Hounds.
When you beat a team by a large margin the night before, you think you can take the easy way out, Brockman said as explanation for the loss.
"I think we took it," he noted.
Anybody can beat anybody at this point in the season, Brockman explained. His team wasn't ready for that, and it showed.
"It was a total team effort," he said of the loss. "It was a good lesson to learn right off the bat. Hopefully we learned it and can move forward."
