HUMBOLDT — The Saskatchewan Roughriders visited Humboldt on Saturday and, once again, Brady Holtvogt was part of the proceedings.

Approaching his 11th birthday, Holtvogt visited Glenn Hall Park on June 6, 2018 when the Roughriders held a walk-through practice and community barbecue in the city of 6,000. The youngster had his photo taken with various players, including then-starting quarterback Zach Collaros.

As the home team’s starting goaltender on Saturday, the 18-year-old Holtvogt backstopped the Humboldt Broncos to a 3-2 SJHL victory over the Estevan Bruins. Mere minutes after preserving the one-goal lead with a clutch save late in the third quarter, he posed for a photo with the Grey Cup.

The championship trophy was in Humboldt for the first stop on the Grey Cup Community Tour.

“When I heard that the Riders were going to come back to Humboldt after they won the Grey Cup, I immediately started scrolling through my phone to find pictures of that day (in 2018),” the victorious goaltender’s father, Jason Holtvogt, said on Saturday at Elgar Petersen Arena.

“It’s an incredible, incredible thing.”

Especially when you consider the timing.

On Friday night, Brady Holtvogt was on the Prince Albert Raiders’ roster when the WHL team blanked the Lethbridge Hurricanes 6-0. Due to an injury, Holtvogt was called up as an affiliate player to back up Steele Bass, who made 14 saves for Friday’s shutout.

Holtvogt, who had spent the better part of a week with the Raiders, rejoined the Broncos after Prince Albert won on Friday. He returned to Humboldt shortly after midnight and, within 24 hours, helped the Broncos register their 21st victory of the season.

“When you have a kid playing junior hockey, the chances of him being able to sleep at his own house are rare, to say the least,” Holtvogt’s proud father said. “It doesn’t happen very often.

“You’re playing in your home rink — the rink that you played in from the time you were sitting in the office crying because you didn’t want to skate and having Mom pay you a dollar to go and skate — and now you’re the starting goaltender for your hometown team at 18.”

And the Roughriders are again part of the equation.

The CFL team’s 2018 visit took place nearly two months after a bus crash involving the Broncos’ team bus killed 16 people and injured 13 others.

To support the Humboldt community, the Roughriders held a public event at Glenn Hall Park.

“I was quite sad because of the accident, but there was a little bit of joy that got brought back (when the Roughriders visited),” Brady Holtvogt recalled. “It was really uplifting.”

So was the announcement of Saturday’s starting lineups. Broncos Head Coach and General Manager Brayden Klimosko happily delegated that responsibility to Roughriders receivers Samuel Emilus and Mitch Picton, who visited the dressing room with the Grey Cup.

“It was exciting, seeing those guys who know how to win,” Holtvogt said.

“They won that Grey Cup and having them give that speech kind of got us all fired up as a group and we came out strong.”

Humboldt Strong, once again.