Winnipeg sweeps Yellowhead in AAA final
- Details
- Published on Thursday, March 23, 2017
By Eoin Devereux
The Neepawa Banner/Neepawa Press
The Yellowhead Chiefs’ quest for a AAA championship has come to a sudden end, as they were dealt a three game sweep by the top ranked Winnipeg Wild. Game one of the best-of-five final was played on Thursday, Mar. 16 in Winnipeg. This showdown featured a great back and forth between the best two clubs in the Manitoba AAA Midget Hockey League. At the end of the evening, it was Winnipeg who left the ice with a 2-1 win in double overtime.
The first two periods featured a lot of scoring opportunities for each club, but no goals for either. Then early in the third period, Josh Belcher of Rapid City scored a short-handed goal to give the Chiefs a 1-0 lead. Winnipeg’s Kyle Bettens would reply on a power-play chance with 9:29 remaining in regulation. With the score tied at 1-1, this game would head into overtime, but
Goaltenders Reese Jones and Niklas Anderson both continued their stellar play to keep it even after the first OT session. Alec Borger would score just under two minutes into the second overtime period, giving Winnipeg the game one win.
The second game was hosted by Yellowhead at the Shoal Lake Communiplex on Sat. Mar. 18. On that night, it was Winnipeg who left the ice with the decisive 4-1 win. The first goal of the night was scored just 21 seconds into the second period, as Ben Coppinger put away his first of the series. Brett Namaka added another, to make it 2-0 heading into the third.
Namaka and Cedric Chenier added insurance goals in the final period, while Jacob Tibbatts registered the only goal of the game for the Chiefs.
The Winnipeg Wild completed the three game sweep with a 4-1 victory in game three on Monday, Mar. 20. Nichola Cicek scored a pair of goals, while Griffin Leonard and Ben Coppinger added singles. Elkhorn’s Parker Johnson tallied the only goal for the Chiefs in the defeat.
This is the Wild’s second straight AAA league title and fifth championship in the past six years. With the victory, Winnipeg will now advance to the Telus Cup west regional tournament in Steinbach. The tournament features the league winners from the Manitoba AAA Midget Hockey League, Saskatchewan AAA Midget Hockey League, a representative from northwestern Ontario, and the host club, the Eastman Selects.
