Memorial Cup fans raise their cow bells, clappers in Game 2

The smell of rink burgers and the sound of cheers filled Brandt Centre Saturday afternoon as Swift Current Broncos and Acadie-Bathurst Titan fans watched Game 2 of the Memorial Cup.

At the end of the first period, the @SCBroncos lead @ABTitan 2-1. You can hear some cow bell, but I think I just heard one Broncos fan yelling there needs to be more. 😎 #MMC100 #MCMemorialCup #yqr pic.twitter.com/zuTdPfwy0z

— Jessie Anton (@jessieanton_) May 19, 2018

With a cow bell in hand, Gull Lake’s Blake Barsness was one of many Broncos fans happy to travel to Regina to root for his team in the junior hockey tournament.

“Everything’s big on cow bell in Swift Current. They ring the bell, then they have the guy from Saturday Night Live saying, ‘needs more cow bell,'” he said with a chuckle. “The boys are going to know we’re here to support them and it’s going to be loud because it’s just like a home game for us.”

Barsness added he was there to watch the Broncos win the 1989 Memorial Cup 4-3 in overtime versus the Saskatoon Blades, and this time around, he’s hoping to watch them win it again.

Titan fans travel to Regina from New Brunswick

Meanwhile, Nancy Culligan-Brunner travelled across the country from Bathhurst, N.B. to watch her billet son, Acadie-Bathurst Titan goaltender  Evan Fitzpatrick, play in the junior hockey tournament.

Acadie-Bathurst Titan fans Claire Johnstone and Nancy Culligan-Brunner shake their clappers at Game 2 of the Memorial Cup at the Brandt Centre on May 19, 2018. (Jessie Anton/980 CJME)

“I really never went to anything other than the home games, and I would always be watching on T.V., so my husband insisted that this is some place I needed to be — both for me and the team,” she said. “It’s a very exciting and important day.”

Since the Titan were underdogs going into this year’s QMJHL finals, Culligan-Brunner said she’s confident they have the power and talent to win the Memorial Cup, too.

While Broncos fans ring their cow bells this week, Culligan-Brunner noted she’ll be shaking her Titan clappers — one of which is broken.

“It’s so worn that half the hand is broken off, but it had to come because it had to see the season all the way out — including the playoffs,” she said with a laugh.

The Acadie-Bathurst Titan beat the Swift Current Broncos 4-3 in overtime Saturday afternoon.