BROOKS CLAIMS CENTENNIAL CUP, TBIRDS/BLAZERS GOING TO GAME 7
ESTEVAN, Sask. – For more than two periods Sunday it looked like Zachary Roy was going to be unbeatable in the Centennial Cup championship final.
Roy’s Pickering Panthers were nursing a 1-0 lead on a first-period goal from Ethan Doyle well into the final frame, but the Brooks Bandits — who had the most potent offence of the tournament — exploded for four third-period goals to give the Alberta Junior Hockey League champions a 4-1 win and their third national junior A hockey title.
The Bandits got two goals from Ryan McAllister and singles from Aiden Fink and Devin Phillips. They outshot their Ontario Junior Hockey League opponents 44-11.
Pickering advanced to the championship game with a 2-0 win over the Dauphin Kings on Saturday, while Brooks got there by crushing College Francais de Longueuil 11-2.
Brooks compiled a league-best 106-point season in the Alberta Junior Hockey League 52-6-2 and rolled through the playoffs.
SEATTLE – A goal by Lukas Svejkovsky at 3:28 of the third period held up as the winner Sunday as the Seattle Thunderbirds defeated the visiting Kamloops Blazers 2-1 to force a seventh and deciding game in the tight Western Hockey League playoff series.
Kobe Verbicky gave the Blazers a 1-0 lead at 12:53 of the first period, but Jared Davidson tied the game at 4:42 of the second, a goal set up by Svejkovsky and Henrik Rybinski. Kamloops outshot Seattle 35-34.
The Blazers defeated the visiting Thunderbirds 4-3 in overtime on Friday and were looking to close the Western Conference Final series on the road. Game 7 will be Tuesday in Kamloops, B.C.
The winner of the Seattle-Kamloops series plays the Edmonton Oil Kings in the WHL Championship Final — that series starts Friday, June 3 in Edmonton. The Oil Kings eliminated the Winnipeg ICE 4-1 in the Eastern Conference Final series.
(Canadian Press/Photo: Wanda Harron)
