There's a good chance Broncos fans' ears are still ringing after the deafening roar of the crowd at the Innovation Credit Union iPlex when the Swift Current Broncos won the 2018 WHL Championship.

"Our community was absolutely ecstatic - it's something I've never experienced in my hockey career," said head coach and director of player personnel Manny Viveiros. "For such a small community, the noise in that building they had in the playoffs continued to get louder and louder. We're going to have quite a bit of our city coming up here throughout this whole tournament here. It's going to be a lot of fun."

Expect that to continue, to a degree, down the road at the Memorial Cup in Regina, much to the delight of the Broncos organization.

"Our community - how they embrace our kids, and all the way through... They really take these kids in and embrace them as part of a family," Viveiros said. "Our kids love it - they really love it. It's not just playing for themselves. We're also playing for our community, just like everyone else is, but what I've seen in Swift Current the two years I've been there is it's really special." 

The Broncos are essentially the second home team so to speak in terms of the close proximity between the host Regina and Swift Current.

However, despite a flock of Broncos fans sure to be attendance throughout the tournament, Viveiros doesn't feel there's a true advantage in terms of the game itself.

"I wouldn't say we have a home ice advantage, obviously we're going to have a lot of our fans here," he noted. "It's exciting and we're familiar with the area like that, but I think when you get into a tournament like this, it doesn't matter where you're playing. Once you drop the puck you're playing on a 200-foot sheet of ice."

The Broncos square off with the QMJHL's Acadie-Bathurst Titan in the tournament's second game. The game is a rare match up between the two smallest markets in the entire CHL - although the debate as to which market is smaller hasn't quite been settled yet between the teams' head coaches.

Swift Current will look to re-focus after a grueling 26 WHL playoff games, although Viveiros says that won't be an issue.

The Broncos and Titan battle on Saturday at 2 p.m. from the Brandt Centre in Regina.