The host committee of the 2014 Crescent Point Energy Western Canada Cup couldn’t have asked for much better, a final that will see two highway rivals square off for the Western Canada Cup Saturday night.
The Dauphin Kings beat the Coquitlam Express 5-3 Thursday to advance to the championship contest Saturday at 7:00pm.
The victory came on the strength of four unanswered goals by the Kings as they went up 4-0 on tallies by Brett Hope (1 & 2) and Brent Wold (4 & 5). Mitch VanTeeling (2) added an empty netter to seal the deal for Dauphin late in the third. Coquitlam had Mark Whiteley (1), Zach Hodder (1) and Jace Hennig (1) notch goals.
Power Plays saw both teams miss on the scoresheet. Dauphin was 0 for 3 while Coquitlam ended 0 for 5.
Gordie Defiel took the loss between the pipes for Coquitlam, stopping 32 of 36 shots launched his way. Jordan Piccolino stopped 31 of 34 put on him.
Player of the game awards were handed out to Dauphin’s Brett Hope and Coquitlam’s Bo Pieper.
Earlier in the day, the Spruce Grove Saints continued their strong bounce back after losing the first two games of the round robin and might be the hottest team heading into the playoffs at the Western Canada Cup after they beat the Winnipeg Blues 5-3.
The result eliminates Winnipeg from the playoffs and gets the Saints in on the last day of play.
Scoring for the Saints Thursday afternoon were Nathan Smith (1), Paul Lovsin (1), Jake Mykitiuk (1), Dylan Hollman (1) and Cameron Hughes (2). Winnipeg had markers from Brett Brooks (1), Jackson Keane (2) and Kamerin Nault (1).
The game winner was a shorthanded goal past the halfway point of the third period after Hollman stripped the puck off Winnipeg’s Ryan Bitter and tucked it under Byron Spriggs.
Goalies were both solid in the contest. Spriggs stopped 30 of 34 shots he faced, Spruce Grove’s Kenny Cameron turned aside 34 of 37.
Power Play’s were in favour of the Blues, who ended the afternoon 2 for 5 while Spruce Grove was 0 for 2.
The player of the game awards went to Hollman of the Saints and Nault of the Blues.
So everything is finally set. The Dauphin Kings will have home ice against the Yorkton Terriers in the Western Canada Cup Final Saturday night at 7:00pm at Credit Union Place. Earlier that day the Spruce Grove Saints will be the home team against the Coquitlam Express (2:00pm).
Tomorrow is an off day for the WCC, the event will hold it’s Awards Banquet as it gets set for ‘Super Saturday’ in Dauphin!
Story by Christian Laughland