A legendary team took root in the collective memory of New Brunswick hockey fans Sunday night at Pason Centennial Arena in Okotoks, Alta. The Moncton Flyers achieved what no other team in the province has done since the tournament was born in 1974 by winning the Telus Cup, the epitome of the Canadian Under-17 Championship.
The Flyers defeated the Cantonniers de Magog in the final, which almost everyone saw coming home carrying the precious trophy.
It was a goal from Jack Martin, from the 40th second of overtime, that allowed the Flyers to win 5 to 4.
However, Stéphane Robidas ’staff dominated the game overall, proving 42 shots against 20 in favor of Magog representatives.
The victory was all the more surprising because John DeCourcey’s troops could easily have surrendered twice than once in this battle. First after seeing the Cantonniers take a 2-0 lead in the first period, where they seemed to be alone on the ice so their dominance was gross. Other than in real form, the Flyers rose to the middle stage with three missed goals.
Then, as the Flyers took advantage of two goals leading 64 seconds to land on the scoreboard late in the third, Eli Baillargeon caused a stir by scoring two goals in 16 seconds, while the Cantonniers attack with another person afterwards. removing their keeper.
But again, the Flyers were able to stay on course.
In the 40th second of overtime, after deciding to support the attack and receiving a fine pass from Preston Lounsbury, defender Jack Martin ended the debate by beating goalkeeper Louis-Félix Charrois, on the sidelines. of biscuit, using a wrist from the facing circle.
The ensuing seconds saw Flyers number 4, at the height of happiness, leap towards his goaltender Samuel LeBlanc on the other end of the ice to jump into his arms. They were immediately joined by their equally euphoric teammates.
Zachary Wheeler, Luke Patterson, Marco Martin and Philippe Collette have other goals in the Flyers.
In addition to Baillargeon, Jules Boilard and Alexis Durocher found the back of the net in the camp of the Cantonniers who won a silver medal for the third consecutive time, they who also finished second in the pre-pandemic finals in 2018 and 2019.
Captain Luke Patterson, with good reason, was selected as the tournament’s most important player. In seven games, the Cape Breton Eagles prospect had nine goals and nine assists for 18 points. The hero of the final, Jack Martin, was awarded the title of best defender of the tournament. In seven games, Martin recorded five goals and seven assists for 12 points.
Preston Lounsbury (5-8 = 13), Philippe Collette (7-4 = 11), Noah Matulu (5-4 = 9), Zachary Wheeler (3-5 = 8) and Spencer Gill (0-7 = 7) are they have also completed the tournament with an average of at least one point per game.
Cantoners ’Jules Boilard won the best forward award, Notre Dame Hounds’ Joey Rusha was named best goalie, and Sydney Rush goalkeeper Lucas Fraser was the presenting player. the best sportsmanship.
In other words… This is the second time a club from the Maritimes has won the Telus Cup. The first time was in 2017, when Logan Chisholm, Colton Ellis, Jacob Hudson, Sean Stewart and Jacob Stewart led the West Cape Breton Islanders to the Telus Cup … Twice the Maritimes won silver, including Vito’s in Saint-Jean in 2016 with , among others, Anderson MacDonald in its ranks. Dartmouth Subways, led by one particular Sidney Crosby, also finished in second place in 2002. This tournament was presented at the K.-C.-Irving Regional Center in Bathurst… The director of hockey operations certainly liked for Moncton Wildcats do the work. of the two hopeful teams last week. Eli Baillargeon (3-11 = 14) and Preston Lounsbury (5-8 = 13) finished second and fourth respectively in the tournament scoring column. Here are two easy to carve out a position next season … As for the Titan, there’s no doubt that general manager Sylvain Couturier has written about Philippe Collette (7-4 = 11), as well as Logan O’Neil and Alexandre Christmas, from Sydney Rush …