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M.L. Broncos enter team for provincial senior ‘A’ championships

Jan 24, 2017 | 4:00 PM

Meadow Lake senior hockey will once again be competing in provincial ‘A’ championships following a four-year hiatus.

Team manager for the senior Broncos, Glen Dennis said there was some interest between players such as DJ King, Cullen and Zane Morin and others towards entering a team.

“We weren’t going to do it this year, we didn’t think we had the time to put it together. About a month before the deadline we decided we do have the time to put it together and we did,” he said. “How we’re going to fare this year I’m not sure, but it’ll be a learning curve for next year for sure.”

Coaching the team will be Darryl Worms, who is also the head coach of the Broncos as well. He said coaching staff built the team primarily off the Broncos original team, while trying to stay as local as possible with the remainder of the roster.

Worms added everyone on the roster, with the exception of Tyson Getzinger and Brett Oliphant, who played their minor hockey in Meadow Lake.

Worms said he isn’t sure who will form the leadership group in terms of captaincy and alternate status as of yet.

“There’s several leaders in that room, there’s no doubt about that,” he said, adding the team will be discussing it as a group in the coming weeks.

The first round of the senior ‘A’ provincials has the Broncos going up against the Wilkie Outlaws with the first game scheduled for Feb. 4 in Meadow Lake.

Worms added the matchup will be tough as both Wilkie and Meadow Lake won their league last year and are favorites to repeat this season.

“Wilkie always has a good team, they’re well-rounded, well-coached and always have a good system in place, so they’ll be a tough match-up for sure,” Worms said. 

For provincials, the Broncos are playing out of the Meadow Lake and District Arena, due to the rink having more seating availability.

The last time Meadow Lake entered a senior team in provincials was in 2013-14 when the Stampeders entered a team. The last time a provincial championship was won by a Meadow Lake team was in 2007-08, when the team won hosting the championship tournament.

The roster for the Broncos provincial team consists of one former NHL player, a few ex-WHL players, Junior A and B players and members from the Broncos roster.

Forming the goaltending duo is Rick Dallyn, a three-time goaltender of the year in the Beaver Lakes Hockey League and past member of Meadow Lake provincial squads. Jared Lafond, a former member of the Stampeders ‘AA’ midget team, who went on to play four years of Junior B in the Prairie Junior Hockey League and in St. Paul, Alta. is the second goalie.

In terms of skaters, there’s Broncos captain Taylor Arnold, Broncos leading point scorer Ashton McIntyre, Les Ludwig, Logan Pethick and Harris Cameron.

Tyson Getzinger, one of the imports on the roster, calls Lashburn home. He played one year of Junior A with the Battlefords North Stars, another year with the La Ronge Ice Wolves and a third season with the Nipawin Hawks.

The second import, Brett Oliphant from Lloydminster played five seasons in the OHL between the Barrie Colts, Sarnia Sting and Mississauga IceDogs. He then played another five seasons with the University of Windsor.

The third and final import, Ryan Corrigal from North Battleford, played one season of Junior A with the La Ronge Ice Wolves.

Playing four seasons in the WHL followed by three years in the AHL and seven in the NHL with time spent on two occasions in the ECHL, DJ King is suiting up for the Broncos.

Brothers Cullen and Zane Morin will form a defensive threat for the team. Cullen played four years for the Red Deer Rebels, then five years at Acadia University. Zane meanwhile, was drafted by the Saskatoon Blades and played a few games with the team, but spent the majority of his time in the SJHL and MJHL.  

Brandyn Wasyliw played four Junior A games followed by four seasons in Junior B hockey.

Jordan Oystrick was drafted by the Red Deer Rebels but never played, instead played Midget ‘AAA’ hockey in Regina.

Kihisis Derocher played in scattered games across three seasons in Junior B

Koby Vidal is a recent graduate of the Midget ‘AA’ Stampeders. Another Vidal, his brother Matt, is also a recent graduate of the Stamps and will join the Broncos roster. 

Rounding out the Broncos provincial roster is Brent Pevach, Mitch Paramchuk, Adam Merasty, Brody Brooks, Morgan Esau, John Iron and Calvin Fiddler.

 

Colton Swiderski is a news and sports reporter for meadowlakeNOW, paNOW and battlefordsNOW.com. He can be reached at cswiderski@jpbg.ca or tweet him @coltonswiderski.