ESTEVAN - The final has been set for the 2022 Centennial Cup, presented by Tim Hortons.
The Brooks Bandits will face the Pickering Panthers will meet in the national junior A hockey championship game, which starts at 4 p.m. local time on Sunday. Brooks defeated College Francais de Longueuil 11-2 in the afternoon semifinal, while Pickering blanked the Dauphin Kings 2-0 in the evening matchup. Both games were played at Affinity Place in Estevan.
Brooks matched a tournament record by scoring 11 goals in a game in the win over Longueuil. It was the second time in the tournament Brooks had pulled off the feat; the Bandits also scored 11 goals against the Superior International Junior Hockey League's Red Lake Miners on May 21.
Ryan McAllister scored 3 1/2 minutes into the first period, and it remained 1-0 until McAllister scored again with less than four minutes to play in the first. TJ Hughes and Nic DeGraves scored within a minute of McAllister's second.
Goals by Zach Bookman, Ethan Lund andDario Beijo in the second added to the lead.
Zachary Racicot scored early in the third for Longueuil to spoil the shutout bid, but Brooks responded with goals by Brendan Kennette and Anthony Cipollone. Owen Stammer had Longueuil's final goal, while Aiden Fink and Heath Armstrong had Brooks' final goals.
Devin Phillips had four assists for Brooks.
Simon Berube and Mathis Lacroix-Goulet combined to stop 30 of the 41 shots they faced for Longueuil. Ethan Barwick made 17 saves for Brooks.
The previous meeting between the two teams was much closer, as Brooks won 5-2 in the tournament opener for both teams on May 19.
The Bandits won the tournament as the host team when it was last held in 2019. They also won in 2013 and lost in the final in 2017.
Brooks won the Alberta Junior Hockey League championship to qualify for the Centennial Cup. Longueuil won the Ligue de Hockey Junior AAA du Quebec championship this season.
Pickering, meanwhile, had all the offence they needed when Jacob Partridge scored a short-handed goal 9:54 into the first period. And they doubled the advantage early in the third on a goal by Lucas Rowe.
Tempers flared on multiple occasions in the third, with numerous skirmishes involving the two teams.
Dauphin had chances to score, although the best chance for either team in the final minutes came when a Pickering player hit a post.
Zachary Roy (Pickering) and Carson Cherepak were the goalies.
After the game, the Dauphin fans who travelled to Estevan for the tournament gave their team a rousing ovation. Players remained on the ice. After they had gone to the dressing room, Mathew Rathbone returned to the ice to acknowledge the fans one more time.
Dauphin won the Manitoba Junior Hockey League title this year. Pickering, meanwhile, captured the Ontario Junior Hockey League championship. The Kings had a bye to the semifinal after finishing first in their group, while Pickering had to play the Flin Flon Bombers in the quarter-final. The Panthers beat Flin Flon 3-2 in double overtime.
Brooks defeated Pickering 9-1 on Tuesday when the two teams met in the round robin.
Be sure to check out SASKTODAY.ca for ongoing coverage of the tournament.
