The West Kelowna Warriors have booked themselves a semifinal spot in the RBC Cup junior A hockey championship.
They defeated the Carleton Place (Ont.) Canadians 4-1 Wednesday afternoon in Lloydminster, Sask., and are now two wins away from their first national title.
Liam Blackburn, a 19-year-old centre from Prince George, took the pressure off his team when he scored the third West Kelowna goal, 9:12 into the third period. Blackburn beat Brett Murray to a loose puck on the side boards, cut into the slot and let go a wrist shot that found its way into the net.
The Canadians pulled goalie Colton Point with five minutes left, which led to an empty-net goal from former Prince George Spruce King winger Bryan Basilico. Warrior captain Kyle Marino took out his man in the Warriors' end and the puck trickled out to Basilico, who scored with his long backhander.
Quin Foreman and Jonathan Desbiens gave the Warriors a 2-0 lead. The Canadians got on the board late in the second period on a power-play goal from Owen Grant. That was the only shot to beat goalie Matthew Greenfield, making his first start in the Warriors' goal since suffering a concussion two weeks ago in the Western Canada Cup. Keelan Williams had played every game since then.
The win left the Warriors on top of the standings with a 3-1-0 record. Carleton Place (0-2-1) remained winless heading into the final day of round-robin play.
Blackburn scored the only goal of the shootout Tuesday to give the Warriors a 4-3 win over the Trenton (Ont.) Golden Hawks.
"To have to win it that way was tough for us but ending up with the win was big," said Blackburn, prior to Wednesdays game. "Getting tapped on the shoulder and going down and getting that game-winning goal was pretty cool. I went deep five-hole and it just sort of split off his pad and trickled across the line."
Brett Mennear, Desbiens and Foreman also scored for West Kelowna. Quinn Lenihan, Hunter Fargey and Brown, who tied the game with 2:27 left in regulation time, scored for the Golden Hawks, who overcame a 3-0 deficit.
Blackburn also had an assist Tuesday and he leads the tournament in scoring with seven points in four games, including two goals. The New Hampshire University recruit had a four-point game (one goal, three assists) in the Warriors' 5-2 win Saturday over the host Lloydminster Bobcats. In that game, Warriors centre Jake LeBrun, a 20-year-old from Prince George, scored two goals, as did Desbiens.
"That was a good game for us," said Blackburn. "Some of the bounces were going our way and our power play finally started clicking. Three of our goals were on the power play, I scored shorthanded and we had one even-strength goal. Special teams were a big part of that for us."
On Monday, the Warriors lost 5-1 to the Brooks Bandits of Alberta. Blackburn assisted on the lone West Kelowna goal. The Warriors beat Brooks 6-0 a week ago in Estevan, Sask., to win the Western Canada Cup and claim the first RBC Cup berth.
Round-robin play wraps up Thursday with Carleton Place taking on Brooks at 2:30 p.m. PT, followed by the Trenton-Lloydminster game at 6:30 p.m. PT.
Heading into today's games, Trenton (2-0-1) ranks second in the standings with nine points, one behind West Kelowna and one ahead of Brooks (2-1-0). Lloydminster (1-2-0), which beat Carleton Place 4-3 in overtime on Monday, is one point ahead of Carleton Place.
"It's pretty neat playing teams you've never heard of from the east side and it's pretty amazing representing the BCHL," said Blackburn. "There's been pretty good turnouts with lots of fans. Our game against Lloydminster was a sellout.
"I prefer the afternoon games because with a night game you're sitting around all day and you can't really do anything – you can't go out because you'll get too tired. An afternoon game you just get up, eat, and get ready for the game."
All teams will get Friday off. The semifinals are scheduled for 1:30 and 6:30 p.m. on Saturday, while Sunday's final is set for a 3 p.m. PT start.
LOOSE PUCKS: Trenton captain Adam Clements, who assisted on Fargey's goal, played defence last season for the Spruce Kings... Trenton head coach Jerome Dupont was head coach of the Aurora Tigers when they defeated the host Spruce Kings 3-1 in the 2007 RBC Cup final in Prince George at the Multiplex, now known as CN Centre.
