Bandits win third straight Centennial Cup

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This article was published 23/05/2023 (1110 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

PORTAGE LA PRAIRIE — There’s no stopping the Brooks Bandits.

With a 4-0 win over the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League’s Battlefords North Stars on Sunday afternoon at Stride Place, the Alberta Junior Hockey League powerhouse captured their fourth Centennial Cup and became the first team to win the tournament on three straight occasions.

The Bandits have now won 18 straight games at the event. Their last loss came in the 2017 final when they fell to the host Cobourg Cougars of the Ontario Junior Hockey League in overtime.

“I don’t know what to say,” Bandits captain Dario Beljo said. “All three years have been very special groups but this year’s team was awesome. I can’t say enough about the group of guys.”

“It’s hard to describe what makes this team special,” goaltender Ethan Barwick added. “There’s a great core of guys that have been here for a couple of years and the guys we’ve brought in through trades adapted to our systems quickly and they became huge players for us.”

Sunday’s win marked the second national title for Oak Lake’s Hunter Wallace, who lifted the trophy last spring in Estevan, Sask.

The 20-year-old forward entered the final with a shiner on his right eye after he got hit above the eyebrow by the boot of a skate during Saturday’s 3-0 semifinal win over the Ottawa Jr. Senators.

“It started swelling up overnight but I was able to ice it down, took an Advil and get lots of rest,” Wallace said. “When I woke up this morning, it opened up really nice.”

While his face looked like he had just come off a 12-round boxing fight, Wallace showed no ill effects from the fluke injury.

He opened up the scoring with a nifty goal at the 10:08 mark of the second period and later assisted on a Hudson Malinoski marker that completed a 97-second stretch that saw the Bandits light the lamp three times.

“I think we knew that we were going to get a goal with the chances we had, but we just needed to stay composed and realize that it was going to take some extra work,” Wallace said.

“It was kind of similar to our round-robin win over Ottawa where we exploded for a few goals,” Bandits head coach and general manager Ryan Papaioannou added. “We stuck to the game plan, as it worked for us during the first period, and the guys started finishing around their net.”

Malinoski led the way for the Bandits on offence with a pair of goals, while Wallace had a goal and an assist each.

Heath Armstrong had the other goal and Barwick turned aside 30 shots to earn his third shutout of the week.

“I couldn’t do it without my teammates,” said Barwick, who earned back-to-back clean sheets in his final two junior hockey games. “They make a ton of plays to help me on every shot that our opponents bring.”

Josh Kotai made 37 saves for the North Stars, who were making their first appearance in a national final since they were formed in 1973.

“This is a whole new ball game for us,” North Stars head coach and general manager Brayden Klimosko said.

“This was the best team in our history and I think it was the chemistry in the dressing room that truly stands out. This group loved being with each other and their togetherness is something I’ve never seen. That’s the reason why it was a special year.”

The North Stars reached the championship contest with a dominant 7-1 semifinal win over the host Portage Terriers of the Manitoba Junior Hockey League on Saturday night.

The game was decided in the opening frame as the North Stars exploded for four goals on 14 shots.

Klimosko joked that the start was exactly how he and the coaching staff drew things up, but admitted that their main plan was to try and attack a Terriers side that was coming off a hard-fought 2-1 quarterfinal win over the Maritime Hockey League’s Yarmouth Mariners a night earlier.

“We were just moving our feet, that’s all it was,” Klimosko said.

“We could tell right away in the first period that they didn’t have much for our speed,” North Stars forward and captain Jake Southgate added. “They had some chances, but we pretty much dominated.”

The North Stars top line did most of the damage on Saturday. Holden Doell had two goals and an assist, Southgate had a goal and two assists and Kian Bell dished out two helpers.

Jordan Grill and Tynan Ewart both had two-assist nights, while Brad Blake, Steven Kesslering, Riley Girod and Alex Izyk also scored.

Josh Kotai made 30 saves for the North Stars, who brought in backup Justen Maric for the final three minutes.

The Terriers got on the board late in the second period when Matt Wisener tipped in a shot from Austin Peters, but the game was out of reach by that point.

“After a couple of shifts, they just seemed to take things over,” Terriers head coach and general manager Blake Spiller said.

“We had a good game against them earlier in the week (that the North Stars won 3-2) and I think that’s a better indication of how close our teams were, but today we weren’t at our best. It was a tough day … but we tip our hats to them.”

Bailey Monteith stopped 16 shots in 34 minutes before being pulled for Jayden Catellier, who made 15 saves in relief.

The Bandits faced their toughest test of the week in their semifinal win over the Jr. Senators.

Beljo, who had been sidelined since the first game of the AJHL final with a hand injury, broke open a scoreless affair early in the third period and added an empty-netter to help his team reach the championship contest.

“It’s been hard sitting in the stands and watching everyone for the last month or so,” Beljo said.

“When my injury first happened, the doctors didn’t think I was going to be able to play again this year. It was tough to go through that at first but I didn’t get too low and I stayed optimistic that I would have an opportunity to get back out there.”

Aiden Fink also scored on an empty cage in the final minute and Barwick stopped all 28 shots he faced.

Rorke Applebee made 38 saves for the Jr. Senators, who have lost in the semifinal round in four of their five trips to the tournament.

“We pushed (Brooks) as hard as we could in a back-to-back situation and I couldn’t be more proud of the guys,” Jr. Senators head coach Kyle Makaric said. “We emptied the tank today.”

ICINGS: Brandon-born and Winnipeg-raised defenceman Hughie Hooker joined Wallace in winning a second straight Centennial Cup on Sunday. He is the younger brother of former Wheat Kings forward Jonny Hooker. The Bandits lineup also featured Winnipeg products Sam Court and Jordan Hughesman, along with Ukrainian forward Mikhail Simchuk, who is the older brother of Parkland Rangers forward Havryil … Prior to Sunday, the North Stars best result at the tournament came in 2000 when they lost to the host Fort McMurray Oil Barons of the AJHL in the semifinal but won a bronze medal game in double overtime over the British Columbia Hockey League’s Chilliwack Chiefs … The last SJHL team to win the national title was the Yorkton Terriers in 2014 … The announced attendance for Sunday’s final was 1,527 … Next year’s tournament will be held in Oakville, Ont., and will feature the OJHL’s Oakville Blades as hosts.

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