It will be a New Year's present for all those hockey fans in the area.
The Humboldt Broncos will be playing the Swedish national Under-17 hockey team in a special game in Humboldt on January 1, announced Broncos board president Bob Johnston on December 2.
The Humboldt Broncos organization has been working on putting this game, and others in the province, together for the past few months, but kept a tight lid on details until last week.
It all started when Broncos head coach Dean Brockman was contacted by a friend setting up a Canadian tour for the Under-17 Swedish team.
Hockey Canada puts together an Under-17 championship tournament every year, Johnston explained, and Team Sweden had already booked their flights to Winnipeg to attend that tournament when they found out they were not invited this year.
They decided to head to Canada anyway and asked Darren Rodney in British Columbia, who has set up tours like this before, to set up a tour for them.
As Rodney knew Brockman through the coaching fraternity, he asked if the Humboldt Broncos would be interested in taking on this young Swedish team.
The Broncos jumped on the idea because of the opportunity it offered to not only make some money for the team, but also just to hold a game like this in Humboldt, Brockman indicated.
"It was a way to bring in something different," Johnston concurred.
The Broncos then took on the task of getting other Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League teams on board.
"It's been in process for probably two months," Johnston said of setting up the tour. "Just getting teams invited and committed, and arranging everything like buses and hotels."
Team Sweden will actually be based out of Humboldt during their Saskatchewan tour. The 22 players and seven staff will be arriving on December 26 before heading up to Flin Flon on December 28 to play the Bombers on December 29.
On December 30, they will take on the LaRonge Ice Wolves, then they'll travel back to Humboldt and, on the first of January, will play the Humboldt Broncos.
Their last game of the tour will be on January 3 in North Battleford against the Battlefords North Stars.
The SJHL is the only league this team will be playing in while they are in Canada, and all the SJHL teams chosen for the tour are enthusiastic about the upcoming games, Johnston noted.
Will it be good hockey?
"Oh, yeah," Johnston grinned. "It's going to be very competitive hockey."
Sweden will be sending the 22 best under-17 hockey players in their country.
"They are going to be highly skilled," Johnston said, as this is the team that will be playing in the IIHF World Junior Championships in the future.
Sweden has put out some stellar hockey players who once played with the Under-17 national team, including Nicklas BäckstrÖm, now a goaltender for the Minnesota Wild, Loui Eriksson, who is now with the Dallas Stars, and Victor Hedman, a defenseman with the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Those on the team this year will likely be draft picks and future players in the National Hockey League (NHL) and Western Hockey League (WHL).
"They all want to be on this team. It's their stepping stone to get into the WHL and drafted," Johnston said of Team Sweden. "We can expect to see some scouts here.
"They'll be good," Johnston said simply.
But the Humboldt Broncos, he feels, will be able to compete against them.
"It will be a fast game. We have a quick team and they'll have a quick team," said Johnston. "We should see a lot of scoring chances both ways."
"I've never been involved in coaching against a team at this level... from an international standpoint," Brockman said, and he feels it will be good for his players, who will be newly back from their Christmas break when they take on team Sweden.
What are the Broncos doing to prepare for this game?
"We haven't gotten that far yet," Brockman smiled. "We're still worrying about the next game (we play)."
As to what his team will be facing during this New Year' Day game, Brockman indicated they will be going into the contest blind, having never played this team or any team like it before.
"We'll have to adjust on the fly," he said.
Generally, looking at the international game, it's about speed and skill, and they move the puck well, Brockman noted, and that's what they'll be focusing their preparations on.
"I hope it should be fairly entertaining for everyone," Brockman stated of the game.
"I think it will be pretty cool," Johnston said. "We'll get to see some other skill levels."
Not only do the Broncos hope this event showcases some good hockey, they also want to bring in some money for the organization at the same time.
"We're hoping it's going to be a fund-raiser for us," Johnston said.
That means they have to recoup the money they had to lay out for this game, and make some additional money. And that means people need to buy tickets.
The team wants this event to build on the success of the international under-20 game held in Humboldt in December 2009. The crowd for that game nearly filled the Elgar Petersen Arena, and the Broncos want to see the same kind of crowd at this game.
"We're hoping for a full rink," Johnston said. "If we can get 1,500, we'll consider it very successful."
To encourage people to come out to this game, the tickets have been made pretty affordable - just $10 per ticket for season ticket holders, and $15 for everyone else.
Preparations for the game are still underway. A time for the game has yet to be set, and the organization is still looking for sponsors.
