Brockman Awarded for FIne Job With Broncos!

SJHL COACH OF THE YEAR

Winner: Dean Brockman, Humboldt Broncos

Brockman is the first SJHL coach ever to win the award, outright, in back to back years. Bob Beatty won in 2002-03 and in 2003-04, but he had to share it in ’02-03 with Don Chesney. Brockman led the 2007-08 Broncos to an unbelievable 48-9-0-and-1 record, besting last year’s 41-14-0-and-3. Humboldt enters the SJHL playoffs ranked number one in the CJAHL. This season, the Broncos finished first overall in the SJHL for the second year in a row despite losing their two top scoring forwards (Brady Heintz and Tyler Feakes), MVP netminder (Nathan Heinen), and top defenseman (Blair Wourms) from a year ago. The Broncos have also had to find a way to replace their heart and soul player from last season (Colin Wilson). This year’s version of the Broncos has been unstoppable since Brockman identified areas of need on December 1st and added defenseman Tanner Vandesype and forward Ed Gale from the Notre Dame Hounds as well as getting 1989 born forward Shawn Hunter in a steal from Alberta a few days later. Humboldt has had an SJHL season long winning streak of 16 games earlier in the year and just like last season, Brockman has managed to integrate a significant amount of youth into the program, hopefully ensuring a competitive club for years to come (goalie Andrew Bodnarchuk, defensemen Mitchell Peeke and Mitchell Stretch, forwards Hunter, Dane Lindskog, and Taylor Pillar to name a few). While votes for SJHL Coach Of The Year tend to be based on where a team finishes when compared to what the expectation level is at the beginning of the hockey season, consider that while the Broncos were expected to contend for the SJHL championship, they were hardly a shoe-in to run away with the Itech Conference and possibly approach 50 wins. In a league dominated by parity, the 2007-08 Humboldt Broncos are a special group. Brockman’s career coaching record in Humboldt is 132-73-5-and-13, including an incredible 89-23-0-and-4 record in the last two years.

Runners-up: Dwight McMillan, Weyburn Red Wings; Darrell Mann, Melfort Mustangs.