The summer is winding down and that means the boys of winter will soon be back on the ice.
After losing to the Nipawin Hawks in a four game sweep in the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League quarterfinal playoff series the Humboldt Broncos wasted little time reworking their roster.
It was a busy offseason for the Broncos as they received Sam-Jaxon Visscher at the draft, thanks to a previous trade with the Whitecourt Wolverines, and made five additional moves over the summer.
With the Broncos carrying 12, 1997 born players, four more than the league maximum, part of the offseason was spent whittling down on the number of 20-year-old players.
“(It’s) a by product of the rebuilding process that we started two years ago when we brought in every 18 year old we could find. And so we had to move some of those guys out but we were able to find them good homes and we’re grateful for everything they did for us,” noted head coach and general manager Darcy Haugan.
The Broncos first moved out Josh Roberts, sending him to the Cochrane Crunch of the Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League in exchange for defenseman Quinn Robelle, and a player development fee.
Just one week later, the Broncos moved Laramie Kostelansky to the Maritime Hockey League’s Yarmouth Mariners, in exchange for a player development fee, and finally just over two weeks later the Broncos sent Dawson Atamanchuk to the Weyburn Red Wings in exchange for a 2018 fifth round pick and a player development fee.
In the midst of dealing a trio of 20 year old forwards out, the Broncos added 20-year-old forward Kaleb Dahlgren in a deal with the Notre Dame Hounds that sent a player development fee the other way, and 19-year-old forward Derek Patter and a 2018 sixth round pick from the La Ronge Ice Wolves for a 2018 fourth round pick and a player development fee.
Haugan noted they felt they needed to bring in a couple of experienced forwards to provide some leadership for the younger players expected to crack the lineup.
“We have some really good young recruits coming in, some young kids, but we felt we needed to beef up our veteran presence up front to give them some guidance.”
Dahlgren is somebody that Haugan says brings a lot of great characteristics to a hockey club, including leadership, versatility, desire, hunger, and attention to detail.
“He’s a competitor, there’s just so many good things that I like about Kaleb, that I’ve admired about his game… if we’re going to take the next step he’s going to play a big part as far as being part of our leadership group.”
Patter provides the Broncos with some added depth at the centre ice position, and is someone who always stands out when Haugan watches him play, he says.
“Derek is a versatile forward, he’s real quick, competes hard… He had a rough year last year with La Ronge obviously with as much losing as they did but he’s a competitor, he’s won in bantams, he’s a good kid as well so we’re looking forward to that fresh blood in our lineup.”
The Broncos head into the season with approximately eight roster spots available, with six graduating, two moving on to school including Michael Korol, and Trent Huitema, and another in Carter Seminuk electing not to return this season, which Haugan hopes will make for a competitive camp.
The Broncos did change up the style of the camp this year, says Haugan, who notes they elected to go with a younger camp.
“Last year we wanted to improve the competitiveness of camp, this year we’re really trying to get a read on our younger guys and some of our list players to hopefully strengthen the depth of our prospect list.”
With the Broncos having a number of spots to fill, and looking to incorporate some of the younger players into the lineup, it will be imperative for the 20-year-old players on the team to be leaders this season, says Haugan.
“What we’re really trying to focus on with our returning guys is we don’t need to be good, we need to be great this year, we really do everybody included… We have to take a step as an organization, as a team and that starts with our veteran group.”
Broncos training camp will feature a little over 100 players, and six teams, with two being prospects teams with players born between 2001 and 2003, and four being teams consisting of players born between 1997 and 2001.
Camp will kick off Aug. 31 and will wrap up with a top prospects game at 4:00 p.m. on Sept. 2, and the Green and Gold Game to follow at 6:30 p.m.
The Broncos also announced that they have hired a second assistant coach, as Business Manager Chris Beaudry, will be taking on the position of assistant coach as well.
Beaudry steps behind the bench with a wealth of experience, having served as head coach of the Naicam Vikings senior team for six seasons, as well as serving as general manager of the Carrot River Thunder in the Prairie Junior Hockey League for one season before joining the Ontario Hockey League’s Mississauga Steelheads as an analytics tracker.
“We are extremely happy to be adding Chris to our coaching staff,” said head coach and general manager Darcy Haugan in a press release sent out by the team.
“His dedication, passion and work ethic are going to make Chris a valuable member of our coaching staff.”
Beaudry will be in charge of the analytics and video programs and will assist with daily practices.
