For the first time in 39 years, the Fred Page Cup will reside in the United States.
The Wenatchee Wild are keeping the trophy in Washington state for the summer after scoring a knockout blow to the Prince George Spruce Kings, defeating them 3-0 Thursday night in Wenatchee in Game 5 of the B.C. Hockey League championship series.
Wild defenceman Zak Galambos scored two power-play goals to give the Wild all the offence needed to take the series four games to one. AJ Vanderbeck sealed it into an empty net. Wild captain Jasper Weatherby collected three assists.
Wenatchee goalie Austin Park had a quiet night between the pipes, called upon to make just eight saves for his third shutout of the playoffs. The Wild outshot the Kings 37-8.
It took just three seasons for the Wild to climb to the top of the BCHL ranks since joining the league in 2015 as an expansion franchise after seven seasons in the North American Hockey League. Wenatchee becomes the first American team to win the BCHL title since the Bellingham Blazers won it in 1979.
The Wild went undefeated in 11 games in the playoffs at their home rink, Town Toyota Centre. Wenatchee's path to the final started with a four-game sweep of the Merritt Centennials, followed by a six-game series win over the Vernon Vipers and a five-game triumph over the Trail Smoke Eaters in the Interior Conference final.
The Spruce Kings, who had never advanced beyond the third round in their 22-year BCHL history, defeated the Chilliwack Chiefs and Surrey Eagles in consecutive seven-game series, then eliminated Powell River in a five-game set in the Coastal Conference championship. The Kings will also raise banners as Mainland Division regular- season and playoff champions.
After being held without a power-play chance in a 4-2 loss to the Kings in Game 5 Tuesday night in Prince George, the Wild did not have to wait long to draw a penalty Thursday. Ben Brar was off for tripping when the Wild went to work with the man advantage and it didn't take long to connect. Weatherby chipped a pass across the crease and Galambos, who fired the winner in double-overtime in Game 3 in Prince George, batted the puck in the open side for his eighth goal of the playoffs just 2:50 in.
Spruce Kings winger Patrick Cozzi nearly tied it nine minutes into the game when he fired a low shot from the face-off circle that hit the goalpost behind Park. The shot count read 13-4 Wild after the first period.
The rubber-biscuit onslaught continued in the second period and Prince George leaned heavily on goalie Evan DeBrouwer to bail them out while getting outshot 14-4 in the period. The Wild chances weren't as dangerous for the 20-year-old goalie as what he saw in the opening frame but the Kings struggled to generate offence and were unable to give DeBrouwer a chance to relax.
The penalties continued to accumulate on the Kings' side of the scoresheet and during their fifth penalty with about two minutes left in the period Prince George defenceman Chays Ruddy had a golden opportunity to tie the game. He stole the puck from Weatherby at centre ice and broke in on a breakaway and got a good shot away, a wrister from the slot, but it clanged off the crossbar and deflected harmlessly behind the net.
In the third period, 14 seconds into a tripping penalty issued to Kings winger Chong-Min Lee, Galambos took a pass from defence partner Cooper Zech while standing deep in the Prince George zone and the California native one-timed it into the net from sharp angle.
The Wild finished 2-for-6 on the power play. The Kings failed to score on their two chances.
LOOSE PUCKS: The Wild will await the winner of the Alberta Junior Hockey League championship and will play that team in the Doyle Cup. The Spruce Grove Saints lead the Okotoks Oilers in the AJHL final 3-1, with Game 5 set for tonight in Okotoks. The best-of-seven Doyle Cup series will start next Friday night in Wenatchee... Kings forwards Kyle Johnson and Blake Hayward are heading to different college hockey teams next season but their paths will cross in November when they play each other in a four-team tournament in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Johnson will begin his NCAA career playing for the Yale University Bulldogs, while Hayward has signed with the Union College Dutchmen. Those teams will join the Boston University Terriers and University of Connecticut Huskies on the ice in Belfast.
