Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 15663
Game day thread: Swift Current Broncos @ Wheat Kings, 7:30 PM
10/15/2010 at 12:46 PM
Swift Current Broncos (4-6-0, Tie-6th in Eastern Conference)
Top scorers: Justin Dowling (2 goals, 12 assists, 14 points), Stepan Novotny (7+6=13), Cody Eakin (3+4=7), Brad Hoban (3+3=6)
Top scoring defenceman: Jordan Evans (1+3=4)
Probable starting goalie: The Broncos have leaned heavily on Mark Friesen (4-5-0, 2.72 goals against avg, 0.908 save pct) with him having played all but 21 minutes of their season thus far. A betting man would choose for that trend to continue, however he's going to have to get a night off at some point!
Manitobans: Lucas Froese (Grunthal), Cody Eakin (Winnipeg), Matt Franczyk (Winnipeg), Mark Friesen (Winkler)
Brandon Wheat Kings (4-4-0, Tie-6th in Eastern Conference )
Top scorers: Mark Stone (4 goals, 7 assists, 11 points), Brenden Walker (4+3=7), David Toews (3+3=6, injured), Wheaton King (2+4=6)
Top scoring defenceman: Darren Bestland (2+3=5)
Probable starting goalie: If the 3-man rotation holds, we'll see Ty Rimmer (2-1-0 record, 2.34 goals against average, 0.916 save pct) make his first home start of the season. Regardless, all three figure to see their share of action over the upcoming road trip.
The Wheat Kings take on the Swift Current Broncos tonight in their last home game for three weeks.
Coming into this season, Swift Current was expected to have one of the more offensive teams in the league. Despite the presense of star forward Cody Eakin, the team has not lived up to those expectations to-date... having scored just 23 goals in their first ten games. That includes a “struggling” Eakin, who has just 3 goals and 7 points in 7 games since being sent back from Washington Capitals' training camp. Having not seen the Broncos, one can only guess... but I'm guessing that the lack of offense from their defense (Just 1 goal and 10 combined points) may also have something to do with it.
Tonight should mark the Wheat Kings debut of newly acquired Centre Dominick Favreau.
I'll have scratches and lineups 30-45 mins before game time. Would be great to hear others' thoughts on the matchup pre and post-game.