The Great WHL Journey #9: Swift Current Broncos

Yet, despite all odds, the Broncos survived. Now, 58 years later, Swift Current has three WHL titles, the same number as Saskatoon, Regina, and Moose Jaw combined, and they are one of three active franchises to have never lost in the WHL Final. There’s no question that the Broncos are truly a unique franchise in the WHL, and I wanted to see firsthand what made them so special in a world striving towards bigger and better things.

Broncos History

Hockey has long been a popular pastime in Saskatchewan. When the rivers froze over, there wasn’t much else for farmers to do but to light a bonfire and throw on some skates. Since the early 1900s, people have been playing hockey on the Swift Current Creek, and the sport proved so popular that a covered arena was built in 1909, and the city’s first indoor rink was opened in 1921. However, few teams reached the pinnacle of competition. One of the only ones was the senior-level Swift Current Indians, who won the Allan Cup in 1931-32 and the 1942 provincial championship.

However, the lack of competition prevented smaller prairie markets from developing strong and, more importantly, profitable hockey programs. By the 1960s, junior hockey was on the verge of extinction in the prairies, so a group of owners banded together to form the Canadian Major Junior Hockey League (CMJHL) in 1966. Despite a rocky start, the league unveiled plans to expand from seven to 12 teams in its second season. Interest was at an all-time high because, despite the resistance, people saw the need for top-tier junior hockey in the prairies, and the CMJHL was making it happen.

Although the CMJHL was most interested in putting new teams in the big centres of Manitoba and Alberta, the very rural Swift Current team proved too promising to turn away. They had a brand-new arena and a dedicated fan base itching for top-tier junior hockey to return to their small town. To mark the occasion, Swift Current dubbed their new team the Broncos, a reference to the long history of rodeo in the city. The bucking bronco logo may even be an ode to Cream Puff, the toughest bronco from the first Dominion Day rodeo in 1938. And, just like a horse in the stocks, the Broncos were itching to start, so they began touring around the prairies playing exhibition games against other junior clubs.

Unfortunately, the preparation didn’t create better results. It took six years before the Broncos won their first playoff series, beating the Flin Flon Bombers in 1973-74 to face the Regina Pats in the second round. That series was overshadowed by Dave ‘Tiger’ Williams, who jumped into the stands to shut up an obnoxious fan in game five. The benches cleared, the police were called, and assault charges were handed out after the game, but were later reduced to fines.

According to owner Bill Burton, the 45-minute ordeal could have been prevented if Regina’s Exhibition Stadium had plexiglass installed around the penalty and player boxes and refused to return if a game seven was needed, saying, “Regina has to have the poorest facilities, the worst policed arena and more drunks per 100 fans than any other arena in Western Canada.” (from ‘Pats Eliminate Problem,’ Brandon Sun, pg. 10 – 22/04/1974).

But Burton may not have been entirely honest with his statement. Everyone knew he had been in financial trouble in 1967, leading to rumours that the team was looking to move, but few knew how close he was to pulling the plug. Demanding the series return to Swift Current may have been a desperate attempt to drum up some much-needed ticket sales. But the series didn’t need a game seven, as the Pats beat the Broncos 4-1 in game six. Two weeks later, on May 6, 1974, Burton confirmed the team was heading to Lethbridge’s brand-new Canada Games Sportsplex.

The SJHL quickly filled the void left by the WHL, adopting the Broncos moniker and even winning the 1975 league title, but it wasn’t the same. No one was satisfied with the second-tier league, and tickets weren’t selling. They rebranded as the Indians in 1984, once again bringing back an old name with a storied history, but that didn’t draw fans back, either. People missed the WHL.

That meant there was only one thing to do. John Rittinger, the SJHL Broncos president and local engineer, began selling shares and season tickets for a WHL team in the 1980s, amassing $250,000 in shares from nearly 200 investors. That was enough to start targeting teams in financial trouble. Over the years, Kelowna, Calgary, New Westminster, Victoria, and Brandon were all subject to Rittinger’s rabid pursuit of a WHL team. He came impossibly close to purchasing the Seattle Breakers, Winnipeg Warriors, and, ironically, the Pats, but for one reason or another, they all fell through.

But when the Lethbridge Broncos began having financial issues, Rittinger saw a chance to bring Swift Current’s team home, and on April 11, 1986, he finally did it. However, years of hard work were almost destroyed nearly eight months later. On Dec. 30, 1986, the team bus hit a patch of wet snow on a road trip to Regina, careening into the ditch and killing four players: 20-year-old rookie Trent Kresse, Swift Current local Scott Kruger and fan-favourite award recipient Chris Mantyka, both 19 years old, and 16-year-old Brent Ruff, the younger brother of future NHL coach Lindy Ruff.

It was one of the darkest days in league history, and many sought to help the small city in any way possible. But the players banded together and committed to finishing the season without help from the other clubs. “We had a long talk about what we wanted to do moving forward,” said former Bronco Dan Lambert. “We decided that the players who were killed would have wanted us to keep playing. We all had the same dream and they wouldn’t want us to quit on those dreams.” (from “‘Why not me?’: Survivor’s guilt and the cruel trick of what-ifs in tragedies such as the Humboldt crash,” National Post – 9/4/2018).

By 1988-89, the Broncos were the best team in the WHL. Led by survivors Tim Tisdale, Bob Wilkie, and Peter Soberlak, and joined by Scott’s younger brothers, Darren and Trevor Kruger, Swift Current lost just 16 times in the regular season, then went undefeated in the playoffs to claim their first WHL championship. At the Memorial Cup, they lost just one game before claiming that, too. Four years later, the Broncos returned as WHL champs. Finally, after years of pain and struggle, Swift Current proved it could create a world-class development program. All it needed was a viable league and a refusal to give up when things got tough.

Franchise Leaders:

• Most Points (Total): Todd Holt (1989-94) – 423
• Most Points (Season): Jason Krywulak (1992-93) – 162
• Most Goals (Season): Jason Krywulak (1992-93) – 81
• Most Games Played: Todd Sceviour (1983-88) – 348
• Most Wins (Total): Kyle Moir (2002-07) – 90
• Most Wins (Season): Trevor Kruger (1988-89) – 47
• Honoured Numbers: #8 Trent Kresse, #9 Scott Kruger, #11 Brent Ruff, #22 Chris Mantyka
• Highest Drafted Players: Ron Sutter*, 4^th (Philadelphia, 1982); Rich Sutter*, 10^th (Pittsburgh, 1982); Randy Moller*, 11^th (Quebec, 1981); Tyler Wright, 12^th (Edmonton, 1991)
  *members of the Lethbridge Broncos when drafted

InnovationPlex

The InnovationPlex began life as the Centennial Civic Centre in 1967, although the project started in 1950. The Citizens’ Rink, constructed in 1921, was beginning to show its age, and the city wanted a state-of-the-art replacement that could draw people into the small prairie community. As Elaine Jacobs wrote in the Jan 25 1967 Regina Leader-Post, “in an effort to halt the gradual, but constant exodus from Swift Current of many of the younger residents, and to attract more persons to the city…it became apparent that steps had to be taken to provide adequate facilities for recreation and entertainment in order to meet the ever growing demand for services of this type.”

The people of Swift Current were very on board for the $750,000 project, quickly raising 20% of the costs through public subscriptions after a city-wide vote was held on the matter in 1964. Three years later, they had their new rink. For over 40 years, the 2235-seat Civic Centre was the premier hockey rink in Swift Current, but just like its predecessor, it was beginning to show its age. Two serious storms in 1975 and 1976 severely damaged the building, with the former knocking out a wall and the latter removing a portion of the roof. Those storms likely didn’t help the deteriorating Citizens’ Rink, either, as it was declared structurally unsound in 1976 and torn down a year later.

To help push the Civic Centre, along with other small city arenas, into the modern era, the Saskatchewan government approved a $100 million project. “The City and residents of Swift Current have demonstrated, through community initiative and financial planning, that the civic centre is essential to the vibrancy of the region,” said Youth and Recreation Minister Glenn Hagel ahead of the project, mirroring the original 1967 sentiments. Swift Current was given $14 million of that fund, which added a curling rink, corporate and press boxes, new dressing rooms, a social hall, a 12,000 square foot lobby, and nearly 700 more seats to the aging building.

Even with the increased capacity, InnovationPlex is still the smallest arena in the WHL, seating just 2879 people and fitting up to 3239 fans with standing room. Squeezing so many seats into an already undersized space made for some cramped quarters; after about a period and a half, my limited leg room caused my knees to start to ache. Like Prince Albert, picking up a standing ticket probably isn’t as bad as it sounds.

But the limited size gave the arena an old-school experience. Sitting down in the blue and green plastic seats suddenly took me back to watching games with my dad and uncle in the old Medicine Hat Arena. Later, when I walked down to stretch during the second intermission, I felt like I was watching a minor hockey game at my local arena. It was nostalgic and familiar, even though this was my first time in the building. It’s something that I haven’t experienced in the bigger arenas across the league, and while having all the extras is great, Swift Current proved that you don’t need all that to have a good time.

Food and Extras

Summary

• Tickets – $27
• Hat – $40-45
• Jersey – $130
• Puck – $8

Swift Current is one of those places that I’ve always driven through, but rarely stopped. That’s the curse of being a highway town – it’s merely a pitstop before the actual destination. But I firmly believe that every town has something interesting to offer, and I wanted to find out what that was.

Thankfully, I have a friend who grew up just outside of the city, and she had a few recommendations for me to check out. The first was the Nightjar Dining Company. Tucked downtown in an unassuming building beside an Indian restaurant, the menu was intriguing enough for us to check it out, but the food surpassed our expectations. We stopped there for brunch before checking into our hotel, and it is definitely worth a visit if you have time. She also recommended The Sputtergotch Toy Company, which was another unexpectedly charming business in downtown Swift Current, offering almost anything you could want in the way of toys and games. Another place worth stopping.

But the one place I wanted to see before the game was more sombre. Situated a few kilometres west of Swift Current is the Four Broncos Memorial, which was built and unveiled on the 30th anniversary of the crash in 2017. It commemorates the four players who lost their lives in 1986 near the place where it happened, and several WHL teams have paid their respects at the site before playing the Broncos. It took us just five minutes to reach after leaving the city proper, but on the day in 1986, the bus took nearly half an hour to reach the same spot. It’s a sobering reminder that tragedy can strike so close to home, and an important stop in my journey to understand the uniqueness of Swift Current.

While the selection around Swift Current was a pleasant surprise, the offerings inside the Broncos arena were more of what I expected from the small city. The one concession stand sold fried rink burgers, crispy fries that reminded me of Costco, taco-in-a-bag, chicken fingers, and several other typical options for an arena, but at a cheaper price than most others I’ve seen. The best deal was the $10 burger meal deal, including a drink and fries, which was only offered from 6-7:00 pm. The burger wasn’t anything special, but there was a fresh topping bar with lettuce, tomato, pickle, and onion, plus the typical condiments. Not even Saskatoon has such a robust selection.

The team shop was similar, featuring many of the typical options like shirts, sweaters, jerseys, and hats, featuring interesting patterns and designs, but not a lot of unique items. However, a couple jumped out at me. The team reuses old and broken sticks by turning them into a BBQ tool set for about $50, or a snow brush for around $20. But I went with a $30 signed set of hockey cards from last season, featuring NHL prospects Clarke Caswell and Peyton Kettles, which I’ve never seen anywhere else. Team cards are common among junior teams, and they also sold an unsigned version for $10, but an autograph is a neat way to connect fans to players, and it seemed like too good an opportunity to pass up.

Oct 10, 2025 – Swift Current Broncos vs. Saskatoon Blades

I never planned to leave Swift Current as my last stop in Saskatchewan, but it was one of the more difficult places to get to from Saskatoon. Sitting nearly three hours south, it’s too far for a day trip, especially if that includes an evening hockey game, but it’s also not big enough to plan a vacation there. It’s a highway town – you drive through it going somewhere else. But, with Thanksgiving at my parents’ farm in southern Alberta this year, it seemed like the perfect opportunity to cross another team off my Great WHL Journey.

It should have been a good year to watch the Broncos. After winning the 2018 Ed Chynoweth Cup, they were looking at fighting for another deep playoff run in 2025-26 before the NCAA changed its eligibility rules. Several of the Broncos’ core members jumped on the opportunity to join bigger college programs south of the border. Those were the players expected to lead the team this season, and without them, Swift Current was forced to kick off their rebuild earlier than anticipated. Now, it was a reminder of how much of an impact one simple change had on the smaller markets across the WHL.

With that in mind, it was fitting to see the Broncos face the Saskatoon Blades. Not only had the Blades not lost anyone to the NCAA in 2025-26, but they were able to bring back every eligible player from last season’s roster, giving them a great opportunity to build on last season’s record that nearly saw them secure first place in the East Division before a late slump forced them into sixth. When it came to the NCAA, it was a battle of the haves and have-nots.

Despite the mismatch, the Broncos entered the game with tenacity, leading to an early lead on a power-play goal from Anthony Wilson. Swift Current was fast and energetic, trying risky plays for big payoffs, and Saskatoon’s goalie Ethan McCallum had to make some big saves to keep the Blades in it. Yet the crowd wasn’t that into it. Early in the game, the in-arena host came on the screen and said, “I hear you’re the loudest arena in the WHL. What do you have to say about that?”

The response: a single, half-hearted ‘woo,’ followed by dead silence.

Then the Broncos began struggling with passing and turnovers, giving the Blades a chance to catch up and take the lead. A couple of fans behind me were quite vocal about their team’s struggles. Now, I am well acquainted with fans’ frustration when their team is doing poorly, but usually that comes out as it’s everyone else’s fault. These fans, though, were actively critiquing their own team. It was refreshingly honest from the home crowd, even if the home team was souring the mood in the building.

The energy eventually picked up later in the game, but it was too late for the home team. The young Broncos were outworked and outsmarted for the last 40 minutes, and the Blades took home the 4-1 road win. Of the nine WHL Journey games I have seen so far, Saskatoon has won four of them.

Still, for 2075 people, InnovationPlex was abnormally quiet. The Art Hauser Centre in Prince Albert holds about 100 more fans, yet it was one of the most intense buildings I’ve been in so far. But that’s pretty typical for Swift Current, according to Shawn Mullin. Originally from Ottawa, the former Broncos play-by-play voice had to adapt to how Swift Current handled things.

“There’s a different level of passion,” said Mullin in a phone interview. ‘When it’s playoff time, they can be as loud as anywhere, but during the regular season, it tends to be a more analytical fan base. I remember when we went on trips through the northern U.S. with the Broncos, and I found those crowds to be more, I don’t want to say blindly enthusiastic, but kind of threw themselves into the game. Whereas I found in the prairie markets, there’s a lot more coaches in the stands, breaking down the power play, asking ‘Why is this guy out in this situation?’ and ‘What’s the coach doing with the players on the bench?’ They’re a more analytical fanbase, typically.”

There’s a good reason why Swift Current is that way. Fans have had to embrace a different approach to their team than other centres. They fought to bring back their beloved team after losing it to Lethbridge, dealt with the tragedy of the 1986 bus crash, and had to come to grips with realizing that their head coach during that time was Graham James, who was found guilty of sexually assaulting players in 1997 and again in 2015. It not only shaped the team, but the city around it, and the ripples are still felt to this day.

“I can’t really speak to what it was like, but I’ve talked to a lot of people, and it’s a ‘Where were you when this happened’ moment,” said Mullin regarding the bus crash. “There was a dark cloud that hovered over the team for a long time, and they didn’t like to talk about it. When I was first getting here, it felt like that was still a cloud hovering over the franchise a little bit.”

But, over time, the Broncos began to embrace their history. According to Mullin, the city made conscious efforts to better vet and train people working with kids, which was developed alongside Sheldon Kennedy, who was abused by James during his time with the Broncos and was awarded the Order of Canada in 2014 for his work in supporting abuse victims. As for the crash, it’s still very much on the city’s mind; when I was at the game, they were advertising a new documentary, Sideways, which focuses on bus crash survivor Bob Wilkie, and was set to screen on Oct. 13 at the arena.

“Over the years, they’ve taken a different approach to it,” added Mullin. “I think they’ve taken a different approach to it, not to forget what’s happened, but to celebrate the achievement of those young men who were able to overcome the tragedy and become maybe the greatest junior hockey team to ever play in 1989, celebrate the four young men who were lost, but at the same time, learning from the lessons from what happened with Graham James, taking a more direct approach with facing that time and the goods and bads of it, the triumph and tragedy of it, has allowed the team move out of that dark cloud, I think.”

But there are other challenges beyond Swift Current’s complicated history. Being the smallest market means that the team simply has far less money and resources than other teams, and as a community-owned team, eking out a profit is no easy task. The prairies are surprisingly cold, especially for kids unused to that level of exposure. Then there’s the issue of Swift Current’s lack of an airport.

“One thing that (former Broncos general manager and head coach) Mark Lamb used to talk about all the time that was a big challenge from a recruiting standpoint is that we don’t have an airport,” explained Mullin. “If my kid’s playing in Swift, I have to fly to Regina, rent a car, and drive two-and-a-half hours each way. It does make a difference.” That also impacts visibility for scouts. There are no television deals, so top prospects like Peyton Kettles have to be seen in person, but scouts can’t simply fly in, see a game, then go off to the next stop. All of those things make it just a little bit trickier to play and thrive in Swift Current.

But there are also some unique benefits to playing in the middle of the Saskatchewan prairies. “I expected to be here two, three, four years and then take the next step in my career,” admitted Mullin, “but then I came out here, got married, had a kid, got divorced, and am still here 15 years later. When I talk about the benefits, it’s a very good place to raise a family because it’s small but has all the basics that you need, it’s very easy to travel around the community because it’s kind of designed very simply, and it’s very safe.”

“From a hockey standpoint, I think of the players that are here, they’re five minutes at any time from any of their teammates. Teams in markets like this tend to be close; they spend a lot of time together socially and bond in a different way, and it’s easier to keep them out of trouble.”

Even the weather can be a benefit in its own strange way. “When you’re in big cities like Ottawa, Toronto, or Vancouver, you don’t understand that feeling of being in a prairie rink in the middle of January when it’s minus-30,” said Mullin, who spent his childhood in one of the most densely populated places in Canada. “It’s not this brand-new heated building. Some of the smaller prairie markets, where it looks more like a barn, and the heaters make noise, there’s just something quaint; it feels like you’re in the heritage of the sport when you’re in places like that.”

I think that’s why hockey continues to survive in places like Swift Current and with the Broncos. Yes, they lack some of the amenities that people have come to expect from hockey centres, like airports, well-stocked shopping malls, and a thriving nightlife. But when you actually give yourself a chance to experience the small prairie towns, they will show you a glimpse of what things used to be, and that purity is hard not to appreciate. That’s even more true when you see a young hockey player working their way up the ranks in these small towns.

It’s why Mullin still writes about the Broncos on Swift Current Online, broadcasts minor hockey games on HN Live, and talks about junior hockey on the WHL Unfiltered podcast. “There’s something more sincere and optimistic and raw about the kid that’s dreaming, and chasing that dream, and imagining what’s possible every single game, versus once you get there and you’re making millions of dollars and you’re on magazine covers and all that stuff,” he said. “There are stories as they come up through the ranks chasing that dream that never get old.”

To me, it can all be boiled down to one simple word – hope. The fans never gave up hope that their team would one day return after leaving for Lethbridge, and they remained hopeful that better days were coming after the horrific bus accident. Now, the Broncos hope their young team will continue to grow in a city where the opportunities might seem limited. Life might be tough in prairie towns like Swift Current, but as the world changes around them, hope keeps them looking ahead to brighter days, no matter what comes.