Teddy Bears Fly; Bruins Fall 5-1 To Humboldt

It was another memorable ‘Teddy Bear Toss’ night at Affinity Place, but unfortunately ended with a loss for the Power Dodge Estevan Bruins on Thursday.

The Humboldt Broncos completed a season-sweep of the Bruins with a 5-1 victory on American Thanksgiving.

The Broncos opened the scoring in the 1st period as Derek Patter ripped a shot top corner past Bruins’ goaltender Grant Boldt to make it 1-0 at the 4:41. Less than two minutes later at the 6:14, Drew Warkentine scored to make it 2-0 after 20 minutes of play.

The Bruins would get a goal back early in the 2nd period, and on American Thanksgiving it would appropriately enough be a forward from Bismarck, North Dakota getting the honour.

Isaiah Thomas pounded away at a loose puck in the crease until eventually it snuck under Broncos’ goaltender Dane Dow, triggering the Teddy Bear Toss at the 3:08 mark. Tyson Manz and TJ Irey assisted on the goal, with hundreds of stuffed animals flying over the boards and onto the ice in support of the local Salvation Army’s Christmas campaign.

After a delay to clean the ice, play would resume with the score staying at 2-1 until late in the frame. At 18:29, Warkentine would get his second of the game to restore Humboldt’s two-goal lead heading into the final period of play.

The Broncos’ added to their lead early in the 3rd period, with Patter scoring his second of the game while shorthanded at 4:44 to make it 4-1. Then Brayden Camrud scored on a Broncos powerplay at 10:50 to extend the lead to 5-1, which ended up as the final score.

Grant Boldt (18/23) was tagged with the loss, with Dane Dow (42/43) turning in another solid performance for Humboldt.

Estevan (0/5) was shutout on the powerplay, while Humboldt went (1/3) on the man advantage and had a shorthanded goal.

The second largest crowd of the season took in the Teddy Bear Toss (1,386), with the Certified Energy Services 50/50 jackpot ended up at $4,055.

The Bruins will have the weekend off, and hit the road for four games in five nights starting on Tuesday, November 27th against the Nipawin Hawks.