The Humboldt Broncos are a Canadian junior "A" ice hockey team from Humboldt, Saskatchewan. Established in 1970, the Broncos play in the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League. The Broncos have won the SJHL ten times (1972, 1973, 1986, 1987, 1989, 2003, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2012) while winning the ANAVET Cup seven times to advance to the Centennial Cup (the national championship of junior A ice hockey), which they have won on two occasions in 2003 and 2008.
The Broncos were established in 1970 by a group of local organizers. The team was originally affiliated with the Swift Current Broncos of the Western Hockey League, who supplied the team with team name, jerseys and some players. They also had a close affiliation that year with St Peter's College in nearby Muenster.[1] The Broncos originally played at the Leo Parker Arena and then move into the new Elgar Petersen Arena since 1980, which has a capacity of 1,800.[2] The team also won the 2003 and 2008 Royal Bank Cup (Canadian Junior A championship). The team's mascot is a horse named SlapShot. The team colors are green, gold black and white.
The Broncos are the most successful team in SJHL history, having won the league championship ten times, the Anavet Cup/Canalta Cup seven times, and the Royal Bank Cup twice.
In very early years under the guidance of Coach Dr. Terry Henning and GM Dr. Gerry Rooney in 1971–72, the Broncos defeated the Melville Millionaires in 5 games to win their first SJHL Championship and then went on to defeat the Dauphin Kings in 6 games to win the Anavet/Canalta Cup (Sk vs Man); eventually losing in 5 games to the Red Deer Rustlers in the Centennial Cup West Final. In 1972–73, the Broncos again were again Saskatchewan provincial Junior A champions. The Broncos were eliminated by Portage La Prairie in the controversial SK-MB cup playoffs.
The Humboldt Broncos won the league championship in 2007, defeating the Melville Millionaires 4 games to 1. The Broncos lost the Anavet Cup to the MJHL's Selkirk Steelers 4 games to 3. Game 7 was won by the Steelers 4–3 in quadruple overtime. Dean Brockman was voted Coach of the Year in 2007, 2008, and 2009.
The Humboldt Broncos won the league/Royal Bank championship twice, in 2003 and as well in 2008, defeating the Kindersley Klippers 4 games to 3. The Broncos won the Anavet Cup defeating the MJHL's Portage Terriers 4 games to 0. The last two games of the series were shutouts for the Broncos. The Broncos won the Royal Bank Cup against the AJHL's Camrose Kodiaks the final score: 1–0.
The Humboldt Broncos won the league championship in 2009 defeating the Melville Millionaires 4 games to 1. The Broncos won the Anavet Cup defeating the Portage Terriers (MJHL) 4 games to 3. The last 2 games were won in overtime at Portage. The Broncos lost in the Royal Bank Cup final by a 2–0 score to the Vernon VipersBCHL.
The Broncos won the SJHL championship in 2011–12 defeating the Weyburn Red Wings in six games. They went on to beat the Portage Terriers (MJHL) in seven games to win the last Anavet Cup Championship before losing to the Woodstock Slammers (MIJHL) on home ice in the 2012 RBC Cup semi-final 4–3 in overtime.
In 2012–13 the Broncos made it back to the SJHL finals where they lost to the Yorkton Terriers in six games losing 4–3 in the sixth game.
After the 2013–14 season longtime head coach Dean Brockman left the team to take a job as an assistant coach with the Saskatoon Blades of the Western Hockey League. The Broncos eventually hired Ryan Smith (who was the head coach of the Selkirk Steelers of the MJHL) as head coach.
In 2014–15, the Broncos lost to the Weyburn Red Wings in four games in the first round. After the season Smith left the team to take an assistant coaching position with the Swift Current Broncos of the Western Hockey League. The Broncos eventually hired Darcy Haugen (who was the head coach of The Peace River Navigators of the Alberta Junior B League and a former assistant coach with the Estevan Bruins) as head coach.
In 2015–16, the Broncos missed the playoffs for the first time since the 1979–80 season, marking the end of a playoff streak longer than the Detroit Red Wings' then active streak of 25 years.
In 2016–17, the Broncos finished 5th overall in the SJHL Standings but were swept by the Nipawin Hawks in the opening round of the SJHL playoffs.
In 2018, the Broncos had advanced to the SJHL semi-finals, but were trailing in the series against the Nipawin Hawks by 3–1 heading into Game 5 on April 6.[3][4] En route to the game, the Broncos' team bus collided with a semi-truck[5] on Highway 35 near Armley; the local RCMP reported 16 fatalities as a result of the accident, and the game was cancelled.[6][7] The victims included 10 players, two coaches, a statistician, a broadcaster, the bus driver, and an athletic therapist. The remaining passengers, 13 players, received injuries, most of them serious.[8] The president of the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League, Bill Chow, has described the incident as tragic, heart-breaking, the league's "worst nightmare."[9]
In their first game of the 2018–19 season following the crash, the Broncos lost to the team they had been playing in the finals, the Nipawin Hawks, by a score of 2–1. The game had pre-game and post-game ceremonies for all members involved in the crash.[11] The Broncos qualified for the playoffs that season, but were eliminated in the second round.
The Broncos were in a position to qualify for the playoffs in the 2019–20 season, but the remainder of the season was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[12]
^ 1st SJHL. In the 1971–72 season, teams played 1- and 2-point games, with teams playing between 42 and 44 games each. Teams could win a maximum of 8 points against another team during the season, so if they played the other team only 4 times, all games were two-point games, if they played each other 6 times, however, 4 of the games had a value of one point each, the other two games being worth 2 points each. Humboldt, Melville and Prince Albert all ended up with 32–12 records, but Humboldt won more two-point games and as a result ended with 53 points compared to 51 for Melville and Prince Albert.
^On the way to a semifinal game, the Broncos bus collided with a transport truck, killing 16 people.
Nipawin Hawks were leading Humboldt Broncos 3-games-to-1 when the fatal Broncos bus crash occurred on April 6, 2018 on their way to Game 5.
Retired numbers
On September 12, 2018, all the uniform numbers of the 29 players/coaches/support staff involved in the April 6, 2018 bus crash were retired by the team.
