The finals are over and the Peter Ballantyne Cree Nation (PBCN) Selects came up short, being swept by Peguis and losing their shot at the league title. The team will now focus on hosting a regional junior B tournament later this month.
The Selects started the KJHL finals against a dynasty last weekend, facing the Peguis Juniors in a best-of-seven series for all the marbles. It took Peguis barely two minutes to get on the board in Game 1, with Lyle Murdock finding the twine first for the Juniors. Ethan Church tied things up for the Selects midway through the frame, but the Juniors died the game up just 11 seconds later on a goal by Ayden Manningway and added a third goal by Jeremiah Jacques before the break.
Geordie Kohoko added a fourth goal in the second for Peguis and Murdock scored his second of the night in the third. Evan Madarash scored a second goal for the Selects late, but the game had already been decided.
Paxton Moore made 26 stops in the PBCN net, while an old friend of much of PBCN’s Nunavut contingent - Arviat, Nunavut’s own Tucker St. John - earned the win in the Peguis net with 25 saves.
The loss was the Selects’ first defeat in almost a month, when the team lost 5-3 to Norway House on the road back on March 2.
The Selects hoped for better luck in Game 2 Sunday afternoon, but Peguis still held serve, winning in a lopsided 7-1 PBCN defeat.
Darian Sinclair scored for Peguis late in the first and Jacques added what ended up being the game-winner five minutes into the second. Theron McGregor pulled PBCN within one, but Peguis ran away with it after that, with Murdock, Sinclair and Jamie Maytwayashing each scoring before Dyson Pelletier ended the night with two third-period markers.
Ethan Fechter started the night for the Selects and made 32 saves before being pulled in the third - Moore came in and stopped three shots in the latter half of the third, giving up Pelletier’s second goal. St. John made 28 stops for his second win in a row.
The series returned to Flin Flon with a pair of games at the Whitney Forum April 2 and 3.
The Selects hoped some home cookin' would get them one win from tying the series up. That did not happen, as Peguis exploded in the second period on their way to a 9-2 win, putting the Juniors one game away from a title win and the Selects one game away from elimination.
Murdock and Brody McPherson scored late in the first for Peguis to give the Juniors a lead, before Peguis opened up a 6-0 lead in the second, getting goals from Murdock, Sinclair, Pelletier and Manningway. Owen Angootealuk, the Selects captain, got on the board late in the second, scoring on his 21st birthday, but the Selects could not bridge the gap.
Ayden Daniels and PBCN's Leo Kaludjak swapped goals in the third before Jacques and Sinclair put a cherry on top, making it 9-2.
Fechter started the game in net for the Selects and ate the loss after making 23 saves through the first two periods - Moore came in to start the third and stopped 10 shots in relief. St. John stopped 35 shots for Peguis.
That set up a potential series-ending Game 4 at the Whitney Forum Wednesday, where Peguis would clinch the league title with a victory.
Pelletier opened the scoring for the Juniors just two minutes in, but PBCN's Jacey Melnyk tied the game up at 1 midway through the second. In the decisive game, the Selects and Juniors were tied up until almost halfway through the game.
Jacques then took over the game, scoring not only a go-ahead goal but, between the second and third periods, scoring four straight goals, pushing Peguis ahead so far the Selects could not catch up. Daniels would add a final goal to make it 6-1, the final score, clinching Peguis' seventh-straight KJHL championship and eliminating PBCN from the playoffs.
Fechter made 41 saves on the night, while St. John picked up the final win with a 28-save showing.
While the Juniors have won the championship, neither team's season is over. Both teams have already qualified for the Central Canada Cup, a regional tournament that will pit champions from junior B leagues in Manitoba, Saskatchewan, northern Ontario and northern Alberta against each other. The Selects will host the tournament at the Whitney Forum later this month, starting April 17.
Along with the Selects and Juniors - who have already qualified as tournament hosts and the top KJHL team aside from the Selects, respectively - teams from northern Ontario’s LJHL, northern Alberta’s NEAJBHL and Saskatchewan’s PJHL are slated to take part. The LJHL and PJHL are scheduled to send their league champions, according to current plans.
The NEAJBHL will not be sending its league champion to the tournament - that team, the Wainwright Bisons, has chosen to stay home. Instead, the NEAJBHL will send the St. Paul Canadiens, who finished the season tops in the league standings but were eliminated in the league's playoff semifinals.
In Ontario, the LJHL’s finals are taking place between the Current River Storm and the Thunder Bay Northern Hawks - the Storm lead 3-0 as of Thursday afternoon. Meanwhile in the PJHL, the Regina Capitals and Saskatoon Quakers are tied at one win each in their series as of Thursday afternoon.
The winners of those series will play the Selects, Juniors and Canadiens in Flin Flon. The first game will be between the PJHL champion and Peguis at the Whitney Forum April 17, starting at 1:30 p.m.
