BROOKS, Alta - The Brooks Bandits have been ranked Number 1 in the Canadian junior A hockey charts since the season began last September.
Now, after 85 games and nearly 10 months of hockey, the Bandits haven't fallen from their lofty perch.
Not even a determined bunch of Prince George Spruce Kings could do the deed.
In the battle of the unbeatens at the National Junior A Hockey Championship Thursday night at Centennial Regional Arena, the Bandits beat the Kings 3-1 to finish atop the round-robin standings heading into Saturday's semifinals.
Bandits defenceman Andrew Lucas gathered the rebound of his own shot on a fast-break entry into the Spruce Kings zone and jammed the puck in for his second goal of the tournament with seven minutes gone in the third period. That gave Brooks a 2-1 lead and Brandon Scanlin followed that up with an empty-netter while killing a penalty with 22 seconds left to put it away.
"We spent some time killing penalties tonight which took away from our flow but I thought the guys did a good job sticking with it throughout that and it was pretty darn close to (a full 60-minute effort)," said Bandits head coach and general manager Ryan Papaioannou. "We were on the kill most of the night so you better be good at it."
The Bandits will face the fourth-place Ottawa Junior Senators in a semifinal game Saturday at 2 p.m. MT.
"In the events we've been at in the past, that two oclock game is huge," said Papaioannou, whose team held Ottawa to just 10 shots in a 2-1 win on Tuesday. "If that seven oclock game goes to overtime, or even just the turnaround is real quick, so it's key for us to play at two."
The Kings will play Saturday night against the Oakville Blades, who claimed third place Thursday afternoon with a 7-4 win over Ottawa. Prince George played the only game of the tournament on Wednesday, a 5-1 win over the Portage Terriers, and head coach Adam Maglio thought that was a factor in the outcome Thursday, especially in the third period in which the Kings were outshot 11-4.
"We were coming off playing last night and Brooks had a day off so it'll be nice to have a day off (Friday) and regroup," said Maglio. "I think sometimes you need that (adversity) to get better in a tournament and I'm sure our guys will come out firing on Saturday, They're not happy with that loss."
Down 1-0 late in the second period, the Spruce Kings got what they were after with just 67 seconds left on the clock. Dylan Anhorn drifted in with the puck from the point and unleashed a wrist shot that ticked into the net behind Pierce Charleson off the stick of Nick Poisson standing in front of the Bandits' net. It was the tournament-leading fourth goal for Poisson, who has scored in all four of his team's games this week in Brooks.
"It's tough losing this game, we don't really like these guys too much," said Poisson. "At the end of the day we're probably the two best teams at the tournament and we'll probably end up seeing each other again Sunday, so we just have to focus on Saturday and make sure we bear down and win a game against Oakville.
"We had a sloppy third. When it was a 1-1 game, we had all the momentum and that's inexcusable. If we come out buzzing in the third, it's a different game."
The shots favoured Brooks 31-22. The Kings failed to score on five power-play chances, while Brooks went 0-for-2.
"Tonight was still a good game," said Kings goalie Logan Neaton. "At the end of the day, it didn't go our way but there are definitely some positives we can build off it. We actually played pretty decent at times and had a chance to win."
Brooks drew first blood late in the period on a wraparound wrister from Carter Wolski that came just 1:23 before the break.
LOOSE PUCKS: There will be no bronze medal game. The Kings are auctioning off their game jerseys on the team's Facebook site. Each player gets to keep one of their game-worn sweaters, either blue or white, and the one they don't pick will be available to Kings' fans.
Summary
Brooks Bandits 3 Prince George Spruce Kings 1
First Period
1. Brooks, Wolski 1 (Scanlin) 18:37
Penalties - Vachon BKS (elbowing) 9:43, Bochen PG (tripping) 14:57.
Second Period
2. Prince George, N.Poisson (Anhorn, Manz) 18:53
Penalty - Theis BKS (cross-checking) 6:50
Third Period
3. Brooks, Lucas 2 (Lee) 7:11
4. Brooks, Scanlin 2, 19:38 (en-sh)
Penalties - Coyle PG (unsportsmanlike conduct), Theis BKS (high-sticking) 2:32, Ceulemans BKS (roughing) 9:10, Welsh PG (roughing) 9:35, Lucas BKS (cross-checking) 14:35.
Shots on goal by
Brooks 13 7 11 31
Prince George 10 8 4 22
Goal - Charleson (W,4-0); Prince George, Neaton (L,3-1).
Power plays - BKS: 0-2; PG: 0-5
Players of the game - Pierce Charleson, Brooks; Nick Poisson, Prince George.
