Swift Current Broncos captain Glenn Gawdin will suit up on home ice for the first time in six weeks tonight as they host the Prince Albert Raiders.

Gawdin returned to the lineup on Wednesday and had an assist in a 5-2 win over Kootenay.

He enjoyed getting back out there.

"It was good," Gawdin said. "Fighting the puck a little bit trying to get back in the game mentality and game shape, but we got the two points which was the most important thing."

Gawdin was hurt October 28th in a game against Seattle and missed 17 games while on the shelf.

"It was a long six weeks being out," Gawdin said. "To get a couple games in before Christmas is really nice."

The Thunderbirds game was his first as captain of the Broncos and he didn't make it through the first period.

"It's been tough," Gawdin said. "That's not the way I wanted to start being the leader of this team, but we've got good guys on this team who can fill in those roles and I think they did a good job while I tried to do what I could to come back as soon as possible."

The Broncos went 7-5-1-4 with Gawdin out of the lineup as they battled through several key injuries and managed to stay in the mix with some of the top teams in the Eastern Conference.

"It was great," he noted. "Every game we had that no quit mentality and it won us hockey games. I think that's something we can build on."

Swift Current wraps up before the holiday break with a home-and-home against Prince Albert. That starts tonight at the Credit Union iPlex in a game the Broncos know they can't take lightly because of Prince Albert's poor record.

"Just a couple hard games," Gawdin said. "Both teams want to win two games before they go on the Christmas break. For us they're two must-win games. We know that going in and that's our mindset."

The Raiders feature Swift Current product Tim Vanstone and former Broncos forward Cavin Leth. Swift Current product Marc Habscheid is their coach.

You can hear tonight's game on The Eagle 94.1 with Robertson Family Group Broncos Hockey at 6:30, while puck drop is 7pm at the Credit Union iPlex.