MEMBERTOU, N.S. – The Arsenault’s Fish Mart Western Red Wings season is over.
Adam Nolan had a goal and two assists Saturday to propel the Mount Pearl Jr. Blades to a 5-0 victory over the Red Wings and punch their ticket into Sunday’s Don Johnson Memorial Cup final.
Red Wings head coach Nathan DesRoches said he was really proud of his team.
"They were all quality players that, if given the opportunity, he wished he could coach them the rest of his life," he said.
Daniel Toope had a goal and an assist in Saturday’s semifinal while Michael Broders, Mitchell McGrath and Bobby Upshall also found the back of the net as the Blades scored twice on the power play.
Brandon Shorts made 22 stops for the shutout while Bronson Banks had 16 saves in the loss in the Atlantic junior B hockey competition.
The Blades held 1-0 and 3-0 period leads. They will play the winner of Saturday’s late semifinal between the host Kameron Junior Miners and the East Hants Penguins in an all-Nova Scotia contest. The championship is slated for 2 p.m.
DesRoches said teams such as the 2017-18 Western Red Wings come along once in a long while.
“I am already looking forward to 2018-2019 as I feel we can only improve as nine first year players will be entering their second year of junior hockey and we will be losing only 3 players, one of them however will be Jason Gallant.
Clifford Affleck, chairman of Hockey P.E.I.'s junior council, noted P.E.I. host the regional championship in next year.
“Hockey P.E.I. will open up opportunities for Island teams to host the 2019 Don Johnson Cup in a couple of weeks," he said.
Western hosted the championship in 2015 at the Evangeline Recreation Centre.
