After losing the first two games of their opening round playoff series against the host Medicine Hat Tigers over the weekend, the Swift Current Broncos are looking forward to getting back on home ice for games three and four on Tuesday and Wednesday.
“It’s awesome just using that energy to fuel ourselves, have a good start, and using them to our advantage. They are loud, they’re proud, and it’s awesome playing in front of them,” said captain Clarke Caswell.
The Broncos lost game one 4-0 and game two 6-3 in Medicine Hat to open the Western Hockey League playoffs.
“I thought we played a good overall game,” said Caswell after the weekend. “I think our starts need to be worked on a little bit, but we played with a lot of energy. I thought we played some good defence and created a lot of scoring chances. I thought our games were good, but we just wanted different outcomes.”
The playoff intensity escalated quickly in the series said Caswell.
“Yeah it’s awesome. It makes everybody play better, more energized, and just want to win a little bit more. It’s been good to see the fire in everybody and they are definitely fun games.”
The Broncos found themselves fighting from behind in the opening moments of both games.
“I think it’s just taking it shift by shift, not looking too far ahead, just getting to the first intermission or whatever, just trying to play our game and not looking too far ahead,” said Caswell.
The Broncos were unable to score a goal on nine power play opportunities in Medicine Hat.
“Yeah I think it is just getting pucks to the net and having bodies there, getting a screen on the goalie. I think just creating chaos in front of the net will help us a lot in the next few games,” said Caswell.
The Broncos captain now has 11 games of playoff experience during his three seasons in Swift Current.
“I think I’m trying to just stay even-keeled. With everybody in the room we are confident playing in the iplex, which is one of the harder places in the league to play in. We’re confident in our ability to win the games against them. We’re just really excited for Tuesday.”
