Alberta and Manitoba advance to WHL Cup gold medal game
Alberta 7 Saskatchewan 3
Even a slight hangover from the previous night’s contest wasn’t enough to prevent Team Alberta from advancing to the championship game of the WHL Cup tournament.
Alberta, coming off Friday’s 8-1 thumping of BC, skated to a 7-3 win over Saskatchewan in a semifinal Saturday afternoon at the Peavey Mart Centrium without their best effort of the five-day event.
Alberta will face Manitoba in the final, set for 1 p.m. Sunday.
“Yesterday was a really solid effort. We felt going into yesterday, even though we lost the Thursday game (3-2 to Saskatchewan in overtime) we were kind of getting better each day,” said Alberta head coach James Poole. “You kind of saw that yesterday, we took another step.
“Today was a bit of a grind at times, just the turnaround from the game last night . . . that was an emotional, physical game. We didn’t have our ‘A’ game today but were able to find a way.”
Team Alberta swarmed the opposition end early in the contest, but it was Team Saskatchewan that struck first as Caine Wilkie, selected by the Everett Silvertips in the first round of this year’s WHL Prospects Draft, broke down the left side and beat netminder Carter Esler (Spokane Chiefs) high to his blocker side at the 1:45 mark.
Alberta, however, responded in short order with Caelan Joudrey (Wenatchee Wild) scoring his first of three goals following a giveaway by goaltender Madex Kabrud (Kamloops Blazers). Then, just under two minutes later, the Albertans grabbed a permanent lead when captain Brett Olson (Vancouver Giants) connected.
Patrick Sopiarz (Prince George Cougars) made it a 3-1 game with a power play tally, tapping the puck past Kabrud following a fine feed from Ty Meunier (Prince Albert Raiders), but Saskatchewan cut the deficit to one on a goal from captain Dayne Beuker (Lethbridge Hurricanes), who caught the top of the net from the right circle.
Alberta struck for a fourth goal before the conclusion of the wide open first period, Matthew Williams (Edmonton Oil Kings) scoring on a one-timer from the right circle.
Alberta added to its lead midway through the second period as Olson slipped past a Saskatchewan defender and, from in tight, converted a pass from Keaton Verhoeff (Victoria Royals).
“We did a really good job of getting pucks behind their D-men and really trying to wear them down with extended O-zone time,” said Poole.
Saskatchewan pulled to within two at 9:53 of the third period with Jonah Sivertson (Prince Albert Raiders) pulling the trigger, but Alberta restored its three-goal lead just 17 seconds later on Joudrey’s second of the game and the forward completed his hat trick with an empty net marker.
“Although we didn’t have our best game we were able to rely on some key areas of our game and that kind of carried us through,” said Poole.
Esler made 30 saves for the winners, while Kabrud turned aside 35 shots.
Alberta will face an upstart Manitoba squad in the gold-medal game. Manitoba, which started the tournament with two losses, upset BC 3-2 in Saturday’s other semifinal.
“For them, you could say there’s no pressure,” said Poole, looking ahead to the final. “They’re playing with house money. I think they came into this event as kind of underdogs and good for them . . . they’ve got some good chemistry right now.
“They’re really commited to playing both ends of the rink and their coach has done a good job of getting their crew going.”
Manitoba 3 Saskatchewan 2
Brayden Thompson (Spokane Chiefs), Jaxon Jacobson (Brandon Wheat Kings) and Zachary Lansard (Regina Pats), with the eventual winner, scored for Manitoba, while Joshua Lee (Edmonton Oil Kings) and Liam Ruck (Medicine Hat Tigers) replied in a losing cause.
Red Deer Rebels draft pick Peyton Shore stood tall in the Manitoba net, making 30 saves, 10 more than his counterpart Ashton Thornton.
“We know they’re definitely going to push us tomorrow,” said Poole in reference to the Manitoba squad. “For us it’s just getting ourselves physically and mentally in the right state of mind.
“Five games in five days is tough physically and mentally so we have to make sure we decompress today and really get refocused and come out with our best game.
“We feel we like our chances if we have our best game tomorrow.”
Saskatchewan and BC will meet in the bronze medal game at 10:15 a.m. Sunday.
(Photos by Taylor Lachance)
