Kings earn bye to Centennial Cup semis

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 25/05/2022 (1380 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Dauphin Kings are a win away from playing for a national title.

As a result of their 6-1 victory over the Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League’s Soo Thunderbirds on Wednesday, the Manitoba Junior Hockey League champions finished in first place in Group B play at the Centennial Cup in Estevan, Sask., with a 3-0-1 record and have earned a bye into the semifinal round.

Their opponent and the start time for Saturday’s contest have yet to be determined.

The Alberta Junior Hockey League’s Brooks Bandits, which features Oak Lake product Hunter Wallace at forward, have also earned a bye to the semifinal round after winning Group A.

While the matchups for the quarterfinal round had not been announced as of press time, the Maritime Hockey League’s Summerside Western Capitals, the Ontario Junior Hockey League’s Pickering Panthers, the Quebec Junior Hockey League’s Longueuil College Francais and the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League’s Flin Flon Bombers will all be playing Friday.

The Central Canada Hockey League’s Ottawa Jr. Senators, the Superior International Junior Hockey League’s Red Lake Miners — who had Neepawa’s Tyler Gibson on their blue-line — the tournament host Estevan Bruins of the SJHL and the Thunderbirds all missed out on the playoffs.

Wednesday’s win was highlighted by a three-goal performance from 16-year-old forward Brayden Dube.

The Roblin product, who is a signed prospect of the Western Hockey League’s Seattle Thunderbirds, got things started four minutes into the game. After Owen Wareham’s shot went wide and bounced off of the end boards, Dube picked up the loose puck at the side of the net and beat an out-of-position Noah Zeppa on a wraparound play.

The Thunderbirds had a pair of chances to even things up on a power play a couple of minutes later, but Carson Cherepak turned aside shots from defencemen Andrew Gibson and Kaden Dundas.

Dube got his second goal of the contest at the halfway point of the first period, when he received a pass from Mathew Rathbone, sped by blue-liner Kolby Fellinger and wired a shot through the five-hole of Zeppa.

Although they headed back to the dressing room with a two-goal lead, the Kings could have easily had a 4-0 cushion following 20 minutes of play.

Colby Jaquet was convinced that he fired a one-timer home with 8:08 left on the clock, but Zeppa was able to come across and make a save, while Rathbone blasted a shot off of the post 62 seconds later.

Dauphin extended their lead early in the second stanza, as Nick Braun converted a backhanded shot following a pair of nifty feeds from Kaden Bryant and Nakodan Greyeyes.

Dube was inches away from getting his third goal of the contest on a breakaway, but his shot went right into the glove of Zeppa.

A pair of Kings defencemen would give their team a 5-0 advantage at the end of the frame.

With less than four minutes to go, Klim Georgiev received the puck at the point, worked his way around Thunderbirds forward Russell Oldham and wired a shot home from the slot.

Jaquet found the back of the net with 30.6 seconds left on the clock on a long shot through traffic during a power play.

The Thunderbirds got on the board in the opening minute of the third period on a rare blunder by Cherepak. A harmless shot by Michael Chaffey bounced off of the glove of the MJHL’s playoff MVP and onto the stick of Kelsey Ouellet, who easily converted his rebound opportunity.

Dube completed his hat-trick performance with his second highlight of the week.

After receiving a stretch pass from Georgiev, he dangled his way by a sliding Fellinger and tucked a shot underneath Zeppa’s left arm to complete his player-of-the-game performance.

Rathbone dished out three helpers in the triumph, while Georgiev had a goal and an assist each.

Cherepak made 17 saves for the Kings and Zeppa turned aside 20 shots for the Thunderbirds.

If the Kings win their semifinal game on Saturday, they will advance to Sunday’s Centennial Cup final.

That contest will get underway at 5 p.m. CDT and will air nationally on TSN.

ICINGS: This marks the third time in as many appearances at the Centennial Cup that the Kings have made the playoffs. As tournament hosts in 2010, they reached the final but fell to the British Columbia Hockey League’s Vernon Vipers. Four years later, they lost to the CCHL’s Carleton Place Canadians in the semifinal round in Vernon, B.C.

» lpunkari@brandonsun.com

» Twitter: @lpunkari