Oil Caps Lee, Kirkup earn MJHL honours

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This article was published 26/02/2018 (2959 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Dauphin product Mark Liwiski scored his second goal two minutes and 24 seconds into overtime as the visiting OCN Blizzard beat the Neepawa Natives 6-5 in one of four Manitoba Junior Hockey League games on Sunday evening.

In addition, Matthew Greening, also of Dauphin, Eamonn Miller, Brayden Dale and Wyatt Riendeau lit the lamp for the fourth-place Blizzard (31-19-5-3).

Griffin Chwaliboga had a hat trick, with Nolan Richards and Zak Smith of Austin also sniping for the ninth-place Natives (25-29-3-1).

In other games over the weekend, it was: Portage Terriers 6, Waywayseecappo Wolverines 0; Winkler Flyers 5, Swan Valley Stampeders 4 in overtime; Winnipeg Blues 6, Selkirk Steelers 0; Steinbach Pistons 6, Dauphin Kings 2; Flyers 6, Virden Oil Capitals 5 in a shootout; Natives 4, Blizzard 1; and Blues 4, Stampeders 3.

Terriers 6 Wolverines 0

In Waywayseecappo on Sunday, Lasse Petersen made 18 saves and six different players scored as the Terriers (37-15-2-3) pulled into a second-place tie with the Virden Oil Capitals.

Turner Ripplinger, Duncan Pierce, Braden Billaney of Boissevain, Jeremey Leipsic, Chase Brakel and James McIsaac had Portage’s goals.

Isaac Labelle made 18 stops for the last-place Wolverines (8-45-3-1).

Flyers 5 Stampeders 4 (OT)

In Winkler on Sunday, Will Blake scored 74 seconds into overtime in the victory.

Weiland Parrish scored twice, with Garrett Kuklica and Griffin Leonard adding singles for the Flyers (35-24-0-0), as they tied OCN for fourth place.

Keaton Jameson of Brandon, Jaden Townsend, Matthew Osadick, Noah Basarab replied for eighth-place Stampeders (25-24-6-1) to put them three points up on the Natives for the final playoff spot.

Blues 6 Steelers 0

In Winnipeg on Sunday, Jeremy Link made 22 saves for the shutout and Dexter Kuczek had a goal and two assists for the Blues (30-22-4-2).

Matt Leblanc, Brady Castellano, Levi Cudmore, Blaise Arkle and Devon Skoleski also scored for sixth-place Winnipeg.

Zach Bennett made 34 saves for the seventh-place Steelers (29-25-3-1).

Pistons 6 Kings 2

In Steinbach on Saturday, William Koop scored three times and Brandonite Bradley Schoonbaert also sniped for the league-leading Pistons (46-8-2-2).

Brendan Martin, Easton Bennett also lit the lamp, with Riese Gaber of Gilbert adding a pair of helpers.

Brendan Arnold opened the scoring for the 10th-place Kings (13-42-1-1) 90 seconds into the game, and Kyle Oleksiuk added a late marker.

Flyers 6 Oil Capitals 5 (SO)

In Winkler on Saturday, Matt Christian scored his second goal of the game with four minutes remaining to send the game to extra time and Parrish was the only player to light the lamp in the shootout.

Kyle Salaway had a pair for the Oil Capitals (38-17-2-1), with Virdenite Tyler Kirkup, Landyn Cochrane of Russell and Dylan Thiessen also sniping as they rebounded from a pair of two-goal deficits.

Cole Kirkup of Souris, Blake and Parrish also dented the twine for the Flyers.

Natives 4 Blizzard 1

In Neepawa on Saturday, Benoit Mowbray of St. Lazare scored twice and Ashton Anderson of Rivers had a marker in an important win for Neepawa.

Brett Namaka added a late insurance goal for Neepawa.

Tony Apetagon replied for the Blizzard.

Blues 4 Stampeders 3

In Winnipeg on Saturday, Nick Cicek scored twice in the third period for the tying and winning goals.

Codey Behun and Skoleski also sniped for the Blues, who were without forward Nathan Hillis as he served the first of a four-game suspension incurred from an incident in a game on Feb. 21 against Steinbach.

Jameson had given the Stampeders a second-period lead after Quintin Sudom and Josh Tripp scored for Swan Valley.

AWARD WINNERS

The MJHL announced its award winners on Sunday morning with the Pistons taking home plenty of hardware, but it was Blues forward Kuczek who was named the MVP.

The 20-year-old Winnipegger has amassed 88 points (34 goals, 54 assists) in 56 games this season, which puts him second in the scoring race behind Schoonbaert.

Virden blue-liner Justin Lee took home the top rookie award. The 17-year-old Waskada product recently committed to play NCAA Division I hockey with the Denver University Pioneers beginning in 2019-20 and has tallied 35 points (seven goals, 28 assists) in 55 games this season.

Winkler netminder Troy Martyniuk was recognized as the top goalie. The 20-year-old from Winnipeg leads the league in wins (28) and minutes played (2,738), while posting a 2.76 goals-against average and .912 save percentage.

Darby Gula, 20, leads all MJHL rearguards in scoring with 61 points (14 goals, 47 assists) in 54 games for his hometown Pistons and was named the top defenceman.

Steinbach forward Drew Worrad of Birr, Ont., received the Frank McKinnon Memorial Trophy for hockey ability. The 20-year-old has recorded 75 points (26 goals, 49 assists) in 47 games, while only accumulating 14 penalty minutes.

For the second year in a row, Pistons bench boss Paul Dyck was named the top coach in guiding Steinbach to the top seed in the upcoming MJHL playoffs.

The first-team all-stars include four Pistons — Gula, Schoonbaert, Worrad and goalie Matthew Thiessen — along with Kuczek and Mackenzie Dwyer of the Terriers.

Martyniuk heads the group of second-team all-stars, along with teammate Mitch Dyck, Tyler Kirkup, Blues rearguard Brendan Bartlett and Portage forwards Leipsic and Brakel.

Lee was also recognized as a member of the all-rookie squad, joining Thiessen, Brandonite Jaymes Knee of the Kings, Austin Heidemann of the Pistons, Winnipeg defenceman Michael Ladyman and Swan Valley’s Osadick.

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