The regular season is over. Playoffs are about to begin.
The Humboldt Broncos wrapped up their regular season with a make-up game in LaRonge last night. Sitting in third place in the Bauer conference, the Broncos will take on the second-place Melfort Mustangs in the first round of playoffs, which begin next week.
Not only does this match-up promise to be good hockey and a healthy rivalry between the teams, it's great for travel, as Melfort and Humboldt are so close. The teams are hoping this will mean fans going back and forth between the two centres for games, noted Broncos head coach Dean Brockman.
Brockman indicated he was pretty happy with the way his team has been playing since some massive trades were made just prior to the January 10 deadline. Just one 20-year-old remained in the green and gold once the wheeling and dealing was done, leaving the Broncos with plenty of youth on their roster.
"I'm pretty happy with all of our efforts," Brockman noted. "They all seem to have bought in (to the team-first concept)...
"The guys have worked pretty hard to get us to the place we need to be," Brockman stated. "Obviously, we have some work ahead of us," he added, "but it will be good to get some of these young guys in a best-of-seven.... We're not that flashy of a team, but if we work hard, anything can happen."
It's been a team effort as well, Brockman noted. Goaltender Andrew Bodnarchuk, the one 20-year-old left on the team, has played a lot better since the trades, but for the most part, not one player has stood out.
"They've all really kind of stepped it up," said Brockman. "Not one guy has been dominant."
The trades did shake up the team, something Brockman thinks is a good thing. Since the beginning of the season, the focus of many has been on next year, he indicated, when Humboldt will host the 2012 RBC Cup. Everyone knew, from the beginning of the season, that something would happen with trades this year - they just didn't know what.
Now that that part of the season is over, Brockman said "it's been refreshing to be in the moment with these guys, for them and myself."
Melfort will be a tough team to face in the first round, there's no denying it.
"Obviously, (the Mustangs) have loaded up for this year," Brockman said.
The depth of the Melfort roster is their greatest strength, he indicated.
"They're a more experienced team (and have been) building towards winning (the league) this year," Brockman noted.
"We're going to really have to work extremely hard to compete with them."
For their part, the Broncos have a strong work ethic, as well as youthful energy on their side.
"We're an unknown, with this young team. Our youth is going to have to carry us, for sure," he added.
The key, Brockman feels, will be to work hard, keep the team on an even keel, and hopefully get a win early in the series to give the Broncos confidence and show that they can compete.
The Broncos definitely have hard workers on their team this year.
"That gets contagious," Brockman noted. "If you're not working hard, you look out of place."
The team this season is almost completely different than the one that headed into the elimination round in 2010. There are just a handful of players who have been with the Broncos longer than this season.
That, Brockman said, makes a lot of difference.
However, he added, he knew it was going to take some time, once those trades went through, to get that team chemistry.
Frankly, having this nearly all-new team will take the pressure off the individual player to come through, and put more emphasis on playing as a team, Brockman hopes.
Those players who have playoff experience with the Broncos and with other teams can then lend the benefits of that experience to the younger players, without feeling the pressure to be the players to come through in a pinch.
The team will have nine days after the close of the regular season to prepare for playoffs. They will have a little time off, Brockman noted, but they'll get back to work well before their first game in Melfort on March 4.
When they come back to Humboldt for the subsequent games in the series, Brockman is hoping the rink will be full.
"Hopefully we'll have really good crowds right from the start," he said. "Hopefully people support us."
