MOOSEJAWTODAY.COM -- Saskatchewan is coming home with bronze from the Western Hockey League Cup.
Saskatoon’s Kayden Stroeder (Edmonton Oil Kings) had a hat trick to lead Team Sask to an 8-5 victory over B.C. in the third-place game in Red Deer on Sunday afternoon.
The annual tournament features the top 2009-born (15-year-old) players in western Canada, with most either drafted or listed by WHL clubs. Each province sends an all-star team, with the event acting as the first step in the Hockey Canada Program of Excellence.
Saskatchewan couldn’t have asked for a better start, as Stroeder and Saskatoon’s Cash Arcand-Vandale (Red Deer Rebels) scored the only goals of the first period to give their team a 2-0 lead out of the opening frame.
B.C. had a reply in the second, though, as Ryan Sadovia (Edmonton Oil Kings) got them on the board 2:09 into the period. Stroeder scored his second of the game just over a minute later to make it 3-1 before B.C. rallied to tie things up..
Cohen Williams (Moose Jaw Warriors) scored at 6:15 and Eddy Spytz (Everett Silvertips) picked up B.C.’s third goal 2:39 later to make it 3-3.
Team Sask struck right back, with Yorkton’s Trae Peterson (Tri-City Americans) scoring 1:04 after Spytz’s goal and Martensville’s Dade Wotherspoon (Prince George Cougars) making a two-goal game 53 seconds after that marker.
Carter Bylycia (Tri-City Americans) briefly got B.C. back to within one with 12:51 gone in the period, but Saskatoon’s Jake Evans (Lethbridge Hurricanes) scored what would stand as the game-winner 1:29 later and Stroeder finished off his hat trick with 2:26 to play in the frame.
Peterson then made it an 8-4 game 2:08 into the third, and Cohen Handby (Regina Pats) replied for B.C. late in the game with the final goal of the contest.
Wotherspoon finished with a goal and four points, while Nipawin’s Blake Chorney (Vancouver Giants) had four assists. Estevan’s Boston Tait (Wenatchee Wild) and Lucky Lake’s Jake Hargrave (Kelowna Rockets) each had two assists.
Gull Lake’s Cade Mitchell (Moose Jaw Warriors) got the start in goal for Saskatchewan and turned aside 39 shots for the win; Oscar Hicik (Portland Winterhawks) stopped 18 shots in 33:20 of work while Cash Christie (Medicine Hat Tigers) had eight stops the rest of the way.
Saskatchewan reached the bronze medal game after going 2-1 in the round robin, defeating Alberta 5-2, falling to B.C 6-3 and downing Manitoba 5-0. They then dropped a 9-5 decision to Alberta in the semifinal.
