Vincent Massey Vikings edge Neepawa Tigers 3-2 for high school hockey crown

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This article was published 22/03/2024 (535 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

NEEPAWA — Swarmed by his teammates after the game ended, Vincent Massey goalie Casey Berry easily was the game’s MVP, making 47 saves in his team’s 3-2 victory over the Neepawa Tigers.

Besides Berry’s goaltending heroics, a star Wednesday night was Vikings forward Theron McGregor, who scored the game-winner at 11:58 of the third period. Despite being checked and off balance, he managed to use a backhand on the puck to put it behind from in close by Tigers goalie Harley Smith-Bellisle.

The goal was set up by Westman High School Hockey League top scorer Carter Dittmer, who was held to just four assists in the best-of-three championship series Vincent Massey won 2-1.

Dittmer still led his team in scoring during the post-season, recordig five goals and 11 assists in seven games. He spent time with the WHSHL trophy afterwards while teammates, friends, classmates and family flooded the ice.

He told The Brandon Sun earlier this season he returned to Vincent Massey to play hockey in Grade 12, rather than take a trade to the Neepawa Titans of the Manitoba Junior Hockey League from the Winker Flyers. He wanted to lead his team to the league title, so mission accomplished.

“With only 22 shots, in the final 15 minutes of the third period you know it’s going to be a goal you have to work for,” said Vikings coach Brent Blaine. “That was a tough rebound goal from Theron [McGregor], who went to the net and backhanded the puck after taking the pass from Carter [Dittmer] who played the puck by going down low on the net.”

Key to the Vikings winning Game 3, according to Blaine, was to cut down Tigers’ shots — despite giving up 49 shots.

“They had 14 minutes of game time in our zone with the seven minor penalties we had,” he said. “This practically increased their shots on our net, but Casey played big, with his big body in net.

“He was the guy who got us to Game 3 after we’d been defeated 9-1 in Game 1. We drew on his U18 [AAA] experience. We have two great goalies with him and Sawyer Wallin, but we went with Casey’s experience.”

Looking at the celebration on the ice, with players hugging, and parents taking iPhone photographs with their sons holding the WHSHL trophy which resembled the Stanley Cup in design, Blaine said he was proud of his players.

“From Game 1, we responded from our 9-1 loss, then came back to win Game 2 7-2. You hope your players will respond in Game 3, too, but this was not an easy game to play on the road.

“We had to block a lot of shots because [the Tigers] take a lot of shots. We made some adjustments with our defensive zone coverage, forcing the Tigers to take shots from distance versus having them shooting in close like previous games.”

This strategy seemed to work, as Berry was able to see those long shots, or his teammates put their shin pads in the way of the puck. His rebound control was excellent, not giving the Tigers a chance to bury a loose puck rolling around in front of the crease as they did in Game 1.

While the Vikings were unable to match lines like they would at Flynn Arena, Blaine said his lines did their best when they were dealing with the Tigers’ top sniper Tarek Lapointe, who had four goals and nine assists in seven playoff games. He was kept off the scoresheet, while Daniel Lisoway and Rylan Bray scored for Neepawa.

The Tigers led 1-0 after 20 minutes before the Vikings scored two goals a minute apart in the second period, with Chase Haynes scoring his first of the playoffs and Nash Stone his fifth.

While Blaine is losing seven seniors to graduation, including Dittmer’s goal production, just finishing his sixth season as bench boss, he has plenty of talent returning for the 2024-25 season so the Vikings can defend their title.

For now, the players are enjoying their celebrity around their classmates at Vincent Massey. The last time the Vikings had their name engraved on the trophy was 2017.

NOTES: While the Tigers went 0-for-7 on the powerplay, the Vikings were 0-for-2 … Stone finished with five goals and 11 points in the playoffs, while teammates McGregor had three goals and seven assists and Josh Romanik had seven goals and three assists … Vikings captain Josh Ransom hoisted the WHSHL trophy after the victory, then passed on to teammates so they could share with family and friends, with plenty of iPhone photos taken.

» jxavier@brandonsun.com

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