April 7th at 2:00 p.m.
CHAMPIONSHIP FINAL
The Brandon Wheat Kings will face-off against the Saskatoon Blazers in the West Regional championship. A ticket to the Telus Cup National Championship is on the line.
The Wheat Kings went 2-1 in the round robin, beating Saskatoon 4-1 and Winnipeg 3-1. Saskatoon also went 2-1 in the round robin, defeating Thunder Bay 6-0 and Winnipeg 4-2.
Visit tournament webpage for schedule and stats: https://www.mbu18aaahockey.ca/western-regionals
Tickets available at the door.
- Tournament Pass: $60.00
- Single Game: $15.00 Adult / $5.00 12 & under
Stream the Event with our Partner FloHockey: https://flosports.link/3ODikxj
HOW THEY GOT HERE
Brandon Wheat Kings
The Brandon Wheat Kings went 43-0-1 in the regular season, leading the Manitoba league in goals for, fewest goals against, as well as power play and penalty kill percentage. In the playoffs, the Wheat Kings swept the Eastman Selects in the first round, the Pembina Valley Hawks in the second round, and the Winnipeg Wild in the Championship Series.
Jaxon Jacobson led the team and the Manitoba league in scoring with 106 points in just 35 regular season games. Brady Turko was 2nd with 90. Ethan Stewart (64), Easton Odut (63) and Colten Worthington (62) filled out the top 5 in league scoring. On the backend, Matthew Michta (1.73 and 0.930) and Burke Hood (1.99 and 0.923) led the league in GAA and were 2-3 in Save Percentage.
Jacobson and Turko led the Manitoba league in playoff scoring as well. Jacobson racked up 12 goals and 11 assists in 9 games, while Turko notched 9 goals and 11 assists. Hood and Michta sit atop the goaltender categories in the playoffs: Hood with a 1.39 GAA and 0.944 Save Percentage, and Michta with a 1.75 GAA and 0.927 Save Percentage.
Winnipeg Wild
The Winnipeg Wild enter the West Regionals as the host team that earned it. The Wild finished 3rd in the Manitoba league (tied for 2nd in points) with a 27-13-4 record. Winnipeg defeated the Interlake Lightning in a 5-game first round series, beat their cross-city rival the Winnipeg Thrashers in 4 games in the second round, and lost out to the Brandon Wheat Kings in 3 games in the Championship Series.
Carter Kingerski led the team with 22 goals and 52 points in the regular season. Ten other players had at least 20 points for the Wild. Dawson Groen and Jacob Armstrong split time for Winnipeg during the regular season. Groen finished with a GAA of 2.60 and 0.913 Save Percentage, while Armstrong had a 2.69 GAA and 0.913 Save Percentage.
In the playoffs, the Wild were backstopped by Armstrong, who played all 12 games and recorded a 2.32 GAA and 0.926 Save Percentage. Up front it was Kingerski leading the way with 5 goals and 10 assists. Cole Babych had 3 goals and 8 assists while Luca Pura rounded out the top 3 for the Wild with 4 goals and 5 assists.
Saskatoon Blazers
The Blazers finished the regular season atop the Saskatchewan league with a 34-7-3 record and the league's best power play percentage (penalty kill was 5th best). Saskatoon defeated Estevan in a 4-game first round series, swept Tisdale in round 2, and defeated the Regina Pat Canadians 3 games to zero in the league championship.
Dayne Beuker ran away with the league's scoring title with 41 goals and 84 points, outpacing the group by 7 goals and 22 points. Raiden Zacharias finished tied for 2nd with 62 points. In net, Grayson Malinoski and Madex Kabrud backstopped the Sask champs during the regular season: Malinoski was 3rd in GAA and led the league with a sterling .932 Save Percentage.
In the playoffs, the Blazers gave the reigns to Malinoski, who went 9-0-1 with an impeccable 1.89 GAA and 0.940 Save Percentage. Up front the Blazers were led by Raiden Zacharias (6 goals and 8 assists in 10 games) and Dayne Beuker (7 goals and 4 assists).
Thunder Bay Kings
The Thunder Bay Kings enter the tournament as the Northwestern Ontario champion. The team finished 12th of 13 in the GTHL regular season and defeated the Kenora Thistles two games to zero in the play-ins. Mitch Vanderwey led the team with 38 goals and 53 points.