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Goenk (37) being held back during a fight in the pre-season

The Swift Current Broncos have cut down their log jam on defence by re-assigning 16-year-old Zack Gonek.

The 2011 first round WHL Bantam Draft pick will play for St. Albert the AMHL.

"He's a young guy that needs to play," said Broncos Coach/GM Mark Lamb. "We just didn't think it was in the best interest for our organization to keep him around. He's going to be a real good player for us in the future. To keep him around here and not play (him) a lot isn't something we want to do. He needs to develop."

The 6’1”, 193-pound product of St. Albert, AB appeared in five pre-season games with the Broncos where he registered 13 penalty minutes. He was a healthy scratch for both regular season games on the weekend.

This may have been a different story if the Broncos didn't have as much depth on the blue line.

Interview with Mark Lamb"In the right circumstance he probably could have played," Lamb noted. "But I don't even think in that circumstance it would have been beneficial to him to go through those growing pains here. He's not at that point yet. He will be if he takes his demotion the right way and goes back to St. Albert and really works on his game. In the future we really expect him to be a very good player."

Last season, Gonek recorded 21 points (10-11-21) and 91 penalty minutes in 31 games played with the St. Albert Flyers of the AMMHL.

"He's very raw," Lamb said. "He can do everything. His consistency has just got to get better and that's just experience. Some people develop a littel bit quicker. He's got all the tools to be a real good player in this league, he's just got to go through some steps."

Gonek's departure leaves the Broncos with eight defencemen on the roster and no intention to cut that down at the moment. They also have thirteen forwards and three goalies. Lamb hints they will cut down to two goaltenders soon and Assistant GM Jamie Porter told our broadcast they were looking into adding a forward.

Swift Current's next action is Wednesday at home against Regina

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