Centennial Cup in Calgary Complete

 

After 10 days of intense competition we have a new national champion at the Junior A circuit. First off, hats off to Calgary for hosting a top class event. I know there were some ice issues in the middle of the preliminary round (not quite ice plant on fire, hey Fort McMurray?), but the crew found a way to fix these issues and adapted to ensure the tournament wouldn't skip a beat.

Group A Results

This was a wild group that seemed wide open at the start of the Centennial Cup, and for the most part it lived up to the billing. Trenton was the class of the group. Their only blemish, an overtime loss to Kam River (the Walleyes first ever win at the Centennial Cup) otherwise it was a very professional performance from the OJHL champs. Northern Manitoba continued their Cinderella run. Taye Timmerman continued to be their best player and the spotlight never seemed too bright for the 2007-born rookie. Greater Sudbury did enough to get themselves into the quarterfinals. A final preliminary day win over Kam River clinched their berth, thanks to the terrific goaltending Karsen Chartier, who stopped all 16 third period shots from the Walleye. The disappointment of the group would have to be Grande Prairie, who had high expectations on themselves. I alluded to it on the SJHL Weekly Show, found below, but the Storm were going as far as goaltender Nicholas Jones. A 4.67 goals against average and .829 save percentage aren't simply good enough, which will leave a sour end to an otherwise brilliant junior career for Jones. For Kam River, goaltender Ashton Sadauskas was terrific in net giving the Fighting Walleye a chance every game. Unfortunately they couldn't find enough offence to make headway in the group, but Kam River had a tournament to be proud of as they made progress for the SIJHL at the national level.

Group B Results

It wasn't the smoothest of rides, but the Calgary Canucks claimed top spot in their group. As billed, the Canucks depth was on full display. Nathan Maloney led the team in points through the preliminary round with nine, Jack Plandowski had six goals, Bowden Singleton with seven points, Hayden Fechner, Gavin Schmidt, Nolan DuPont and Rhett Melnyk each over a point a game. Calgary showed why they are the favorites in the tournament. A loss to the host Canucks was the only blemish for the Melfort Mustangs, who had a very professional preliminary round. While no one player stood out for the Mustangs, they consistently put out complete team effort after complete team effort, marching out to second in the group. The final playoff spot was a toss up in Group B, which the Rockland Nationals collected, courtesy in large part to a win over the host Canucks. Anthony Hall led all players in points through the preliminary round with 12, while Gabriel Le Houillier helped spearhead the preliminary round's second most lethal attack. While Edmundston found an overtime victory over Rockland during the opening day, it wasn't enough for the Blizzard to make the knockout stage. Losses to Melfort and Calgary sank Edmundston, as well as giving up the second most goals against. For Valleyfield, the story could've been the outstanding play of James Swan. The former QMJHLer opened the tournament with seven goals in two games and could've been the Braves difference maker. However, the defensive struggles struck as Valleyfield gave up 32 goals for eight goals per game. I'm no math expert, but last I checked, giving up eight goals each game won't buy you many wins.

Elimination Round

Quarterfinal play provided a couple of intriguing match-ups despite both games containing a clear favorite. Melfort, eyeing to improve on their runner up finish last year, took on the Greater Sudbury Cubs, while the CJHL's number three ranked Rockland Nationals battled the Cinderella Northern Manitoba Blizzard. No surprise in the first quarterfinal, where Melfort dispatched Greater Sudbury with ease. The Mustangs got seven different goal scorers en route to a comfortable 7-1 win, setting up a semifinal clash with the Trenton Golden Hawks. Meanwhile, the clock struck midnight for the Northern Manitoba Blizzard. The MJHL's champion's remarkable season came to a close as they were shut out 4-0 by Rockland. Benoit Forget turned aside all 33 Norman shots, while Guillaume Labre had a goal and a helper, and the Nationals set up a rematch against the Calgary Canucks. 

Those semifinal games were nothing short of dramatic. Calgary was looking to amend their lone loss of the preliminary round against the Nationals, and for a while it looked like Rockland was going to find a way to beat the Canucks twice. Up 2-0 thanks to a pair of goals from Gabriel Le Houillier, Rockland appeared to be in the driver's seat, until Gavin Schmidt struck shorthanded. That goal with less than a minute remaining in the second period queued the comeback. The Canucks pushed in the third and with three minutes remaining, Schmidt scored again to send the game to sudden death overtime. There, Hayden Fechner put his name into the record books with a brilliant individual effort, sending the hosts to the final. While overtime wasn't needed in the other semifinal, it was no less of an exciting game between Melfort and Trenton. Shots on goal were low, but it was a game of quality over quantity. A power play goal from Ty Thornton opened the scoring for the Mustangs, who appeared to potentially run away with the game after an opening minute goal from Nolan Patterson in the second period to make it 2-0 Melfort. Back came the Golden Hawks to tie the game, first with a shorthanded goal by Corbin Roach, then Cooper Matthews finding the equalizer. Tristan Ziola found the back of the net shorthanded for the Mustangs, restoring their lead, only for Devin Mauro to score on the same power-play tying the game at three heading to the third period. At times in the third, it looked like overtime was looming. However, the Mustangs found a hero in their University of Maine commit. Zac Somers fired a shot home, which stood as the game winner, and Melfort set up the rematch of last year's semifinal and their first game of the tournament against the Canucks.

The final was a masterclass by the Calgary Canucks. Hayden Fechner had one of the games of his life, Jayden Joly put an exclamation mark on his junior career, as Calgary hammered the Melfort Mustangs 7-2. Some may say fatigue played a big factor, as Melfort played an extra game, but the hosts looked motivated to capture their first national title since 1995. Going 3-for-4 on the power-play helped the Canucks, who kept finding another gear as the tournament rolled on. Overall, it capped off a brilliant tournament in Calgary, who had plenty of crowd support (standing room only for the final, can't say I've ever seen the building close to that), an excellent broadcast crew in HNLive (Dave Dawson and Peter Loubardias were terrific as always) and several entertaining games that prove the Junior A leagues are closer than many people think. Excited to see what next season will bring!