Saskatoon’s Buckberger eyeing national championship with Bandits

It’s the biggest hockey weekend of Boston Buckberger’s life… so far.

Buckberger, a defencemen on the Brooks Bandits, just needs two more wins to hoist the Centennial Cup in Estevan.

The Saskatoon product feels right at home playing in his home province again while doing it on the national stage.

“I’ve had family come up, my grandparents, my mom and dad and just the pedigree of the tournament has been so cool,” Buckberger said.

“I’ve never played in a national championship in hockey before. I did in baseball years back when I was younger and it’s just so exciting. All the hype around it and everything, just such a cool experience.”

Brooks has won all four games in the preliminary round, outscoring their opponents 29-7.

In those four games, Buckberger has eight total assists, making him the highest scoring defencemen in the entire tournament.

For Buckberger and his teammates, the mindset is all about playing to their identity.

“I think our team has just gotten better and better throughout these four games. Everybody’s doing their part and playing their role,” Buckberger said.

The Bandits enter this tournament as the reigning Junior-A National Champions from the 2019 season. 

Playing on a top-tier organization with players from all over the continent is something Buckberger has really embraced and made the most of.

“Any guy on any given night can play in any situation, whether that’s powerplay, (penalty-kill), 4-on-4, even overtime. I think that as the year’s went on, everybody’s molded together and we all know where we sit in terms of our job on the team,” Buckberger explains.

“With this much talent on a team, it’s quite crazy.”

Buckberger says playing in front of the Estevan faithful is something he won’t soon forget.

The Bandits last preliminary game came against the Bruins. Brooks had already clinched first place in their respective pool, meanwhile Estevan was already eliminated from the playoff round.

However, it didn’t matter much to the fans.

“Even though (the Bruins) didn’t have contention to be in a playoff spot, it’s been absurd. All the fans have supported it so well.”

Brooks went on to win that game 4-0, but even when the Bruins weren’t playing, fans of all ages showed up to cheer them on.

“Classes from elementary schools in Estevan came out and showed their support. They made us signs and everything so that was so cool to see. Even signs for the Brooks Bandits and that was so cool, cause we honestly felt at home.”

The Bandits will face Collège Français de Longueuil in today’s national semi-final.

The winning team in the semi-final today advances to Sunday’s national championship.