Hockey: Captain delivers for Badgers

It's hard to imagine a more dramatic way for Brock to take out Lakehead in the OUA hockey playoffs. Captain Ryan Del Monte scored his second series-winning overtime goal of these playoffs on Saturday to give the Badgers a 1-0 win over the No. 3 Thunderwolves. It's the first time that Brock has ever advanced to the University Cup, which takes place in Moncton in a couple weeks.

Brock's goalie, Matt Harpwood, stopped 100-of-106 shots in the three-game series; no telling how many his defencemen blocked.

Look out -- Man!

Alberta and Saskatchewan, as expected, also advanced to the University Cup by winning their respective Canada West semi-final series. Alberta swept the Manitoba Bisons, but they were pushed, ultimately coming from two goals down in the second game to win 4-3 on a double-overtime by Brian Woolger.

Manitoba is an emerging program in Canada West. There's been a push within that province to develop their overall talent base and keep those players home (if you're not in the WHL, you can't leave to play Provincial Junior A until you're 18). Don MacGillivray, who was named Canada West coach of the year recently seems to have made a good transition from Junior A. Who knows, this might be a high-water mark for the Bisons, but hey, it's not like people haven't got a little tired of seeing the Golden Bears come out of Canada West every March.

(MacGillivray knows from taking down a powerhouse; in 2003-04, his Portage Terriers finished 30 points behind the five-time defending champion OCN Blizzard in the Manitoba Junior Hockey League regular season -- then swept 'em four straight in the first round. The then-sports reporter/photographer/music reviewer from the Portage la Prairie Daily Graphic remembers it well. A couple of MacGillivray's players off that Terriers team are now playing for the Bisons.)
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1 comment:

  1. It was a great game in Edmonton on Saturday. Alberta was actually losing by three after the first period including a nifty goal batted out of the air by Travis Kornelson on a pass from behind the net.
    Manitoba did play a strong game, including a particularly dominant first period. Toews was outstanding in goal for the Bisons, and I was also quite impressed by the play of Cowan, who seemed to be all over the ice throughout the game.

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