The Bruno Broomball Axemen have won three national titles, and countless provincial championships in the past fifteen years, so it’s safe to say they have been a very successful bunch.
“To be a successful team like we have been the last few years, it takes hard work, commitment, team bonding, and communication,” said long time Axemen forward, Ryan Bender.
The Axemen were also just recently inducted into the Humboldt and District Sports Hall of Fame.
“It’s a great honour, and it’s great to see broomball getting noticed,” explained Bender.
They have also established a rivalry with the Odessa Outlaws over the last decade, clashing in nine of the past ten provincial championship gold medal games. Nonetheless, the team has won six out of the nine meetings.
“It’s always an intense game when we play those guys. It doesn’t matter what the score is, you know that it will always be a great finish,” said Chris Lepage, defenceman for the Axemen.
Nationals have also been a great go for the guys. Appearing in eight of the past ten championships, they won back-to-back titles in 2006 and 2007. They finished on the ‘A’ side in 2008 and 2009, winning bronze both those years. In 2011, they settled for silver after a heart-breaking national gold medal game loss, and in 2013 dropping the bronze medal game to finish in fourth place. The team has only finished on the ‘B’ side twice in those ten years, in 2005 and 2014 winning the ‘B’ side gold.
“Nationals is always fun no matter where it is, and it is always a great experience.”
Recently, two of the Axemen’s own were invited to play with the Yellowknife Ravens at the World Broomball Championships in Japan this past November. Ryan Bender and Jeff Basset, received the honour of playing on the world stage. After nearly two weeks away from Canada, the two returned home as world champions.
On the weekend of March 6-8, you will be able to see the Axemen defending their 2012, 2013, and 2014, provincial championship in Prince Albert.
