The Swift Current Broncos host their rival, and the WHL's top team tonight as the Moose Jaw Warriors come to the Innovation Credit Union iPlex.

The high-powered offensive tilt will see five of the WHL's six top scorers hit the ice.

1. Glenn Gawdin - 111 pts (51 G, 60 A)
T-2. Jayden Halbgewachs - 104 pts (56 G, 48 A)
T-2. Brayden Burke - 104 pts (29 G, 75 A)
4. Aleksi Heponiemi - 103 pts (25 G, 78 A)
6. Tyler Steenbergen - 88 pts (41 G, 47 A)

In a game with premier offensive talent, sturdy defense will be a must and could prove to be the difference.

The Broncos have a steady dose of veteran blueliners in the lineup with the likes of Colby Sissons, Artyom Minulin, Sahvan Khaira, and Josh Anderson, who are all 98-born players. But, the emergence of 18-year-old rookie Noah King has aided the Broncos in these sorts of matchups.

"He's been a real pleasant surprise to us. The work that Noah's put in on-ice, off-ice, and everything else, he deserves all the credit," said Manny Viveiros, Broncos head coach and director of player personnel. "That kid works harder than almost everybody on our team, and he wants to get better every single day."

That hard work by the 6-foot-4, 200-pound defenceman has led to his breakout season where, despite four points in 53 games, the defenceman has earned top ice time.

"He's been really good for us, and that only helps with our defence core - we can put him in that top-four role if we have to, or we could also maybe put him back maybe with one of our younger defencemen here," Viveiros noted. "So, we feel that our back end is really strong, and the more depth you have, the better off you're going to be, and we're really pleased with that."

During a six-game stretch in late January and early February filling in for an injured Khaira, King was paired in the top-4 with fellow defensive defenceman Josh Anderson.

"I think it went pretty good," said King. "He's fun to play with, he's a big guy, he's very defensive like I am. I think we kind of work well together - I enjoyed it."

Balancing out the high-paced offense with some grit in the back end is something King prides himself in being able to bring - the pairing with Anderson helped showcase that.

"Physicality for sure - we want teams to be scared to play against us," King added. "We're two big guys, so we want them to not really want to be out against us... definitely a defensive role."

While the learning experience from guys like Anderson have certainly worked wonders in King's growth process, his head coach says the young defenceman has a style of play that warrants reciprocity as well.

"I think Josh can learn from him also," Viveiros shared. "Noah plays a very calm game. Very seldom does he get himself out of position - he reads the game very well and for him, less is more. He's always in good position, and he's a big-bodied young man who's hard to play against."

The Broncos will look to defend home ice against their Trans-Canada neighbours to the east at 7 p.m. tonight.

Can catch all the action live on The Eagle 94.1 for Robertson Family Group Swift Current Broncos Hockey starting at 6:30 p.m.