HUNDER BAY, Ont. – The 2019 TELUS Cup Canadian National Midget Hockey Championship begins Monday at noon at the Fort William Gardens.
Featuring the top AAA midget clubs in the country, this six-team event features the host Thunder Bay Kings going up against Tisdale Trojans (West); Calgary Buffaloes (Pacific); Toronto Young Nationals (Central); Magog Cantonniers (Quebec) and Halifax Macs (Atlantic) in the quest for a national title.
Here’s a quick look at the six competing clubs:
THUNDER BAY KINGS (HOST)
Head Coach: Darrin Nicholas
This marks the fifth appearance for the Kings at the TELUS Cup/Air Canada Cup. … Thunder Bay earned medals in their first four trips to the nationals, winning gold in 1995 and 1997 as well as silvers in 1992 and 1996. … In league play the Kings captured their first-ever North American Prospects Hockey League crown in 2018-19. … They also boasted a 15-0-1 mark in Lakehead Junior Hockey League action. … They then went on to sweep the Kenora Thistles, three games to none, to claim the Hockey Northwestern Ontario AAA midget district title. … Advancing to the West Regional in Tisdale, Sask., they finished with a 1-1-1 record in round robin and moved on to meet the host Tisdale Trojans in the final. … Despite both clubs already knowing they had earned berths to the TELUS Cup; the two sides played a tremendous back and forth affair with the Kings tying it late in regulation before the Trojans prevailed in overtime. … In NAPHL play, the duo of Nikolas Campbell and Nicholas DeGrazia led the squad offensively playing at over a point-per-game pace with 26 and 24 respectively in 20 outings. … Goaltender Jordan Smith meanwhile was 8-2 with a 1.31 goals-against average and a .926 save percentage. … Smith was even better in the Dixon Cup final going 3-0 with a 1.00 average along with a .957 save mark. … A well-balanced attack saw 13 Thunder Bay skaters produce multi-point performances in the NAPHL playoff tournament. … Postseason play to date sees Campbell lead the club with 15 points, followed by DeGrazia with 12, Travis Hensrud at 11 and Christian Veneruzzo with 10. … Smith was 5-2-1 in the playoffs while teammate Eric Vanska was 4-0. … Campbell, DeGrazia and Smith were all named NAPHL Elite Division All-Stars.
CALGARY BUFFALOES (PACIFIC)
Head Coach: Brent Harrison
Calgary punched their ticket to the Lakehead after claiming Pacific Region honours by sweeping the Cariboo Cougars of British Columbia on home ice, to take that best-of-three final by scores of 5-2 in regulation and 3-2 in overtime. … In the 18-team Alberta Midget Hockey League, the Buffaloes tied for first overall in the regular season with a 24-7-3 record. … After a first-round bye, they took on the rival Calgary midget Flames in a divisional semifinal meeting where they doused them in three straight. … They then met another Calgary side, in the Royals, in the division final that went the distance, before the Buffaloes prevailed in a fifth and deciding game. … Moving on to the AMHL final, it was all Calgary as they handled the St. Albert Raiders 3-0 that featured a pair of victories in overtime before a 7-4 win to hoist the league trophy. … Justin Ross led the squad in the regular season with 42 points on 15 goals and 27 assists. … Ryan Shostak was next with 37 points, including 17 tallies, while Dylan James notched 20 markers and 34 points with Carter King collecting 32 points, that featured a team-high 23 goals. … Ross was also the boss in the playoffs with 16 points, followed by Jayden Grubbe and Stephen Rosier with a dozen each. … Goaltenders Jonah Chambers (13-5-1) and Garin Bjorkland (11-2-2) were both solid in net and had goals-against averages of 1.80 and 2.44 respectively. … Bjorkland manned the nets in the playoffs and went 11-2 with a GAA of 1.79 and a .934 SV%. … The Buffaloes are making their eighth appearance at the TELUS Cup and first since 2009 when they won silver. … They were national champions in 1989, mined silver in 2006 and captured the bronze in 1985 and 1987.
WEST
TISDALE TROJANS (WEST)
Head Coach: Darrell Mann
Tisdale is back at the nationals for the first time since 2002, where the Trojans made their only other trip to the Canadian midget championship. … That year Tisdale won the then Air Canada Cup. … Skating in the highly competitive Saskatchewan AAA Midget Hockey League, the Trojans finished in third place in the 12-team loop with a 38-15-4-1 record. … After sweeping the Beardy’s Blackhawks 3-0 in round one, they met the Saskatoon Blazers next, but were defeated in four games in the best-of-five set. … However, as Tisdale was hosting the West Regional their season continued. … Finding their groove on home ice in the regional, the Trojans went 3-0 in the round robin, they went on to defeat Thunder Bay 6-5 in overtime to earn their way to the TELUS Cup. … Leading the squad offensively were Cade Hayes (23g-35a) and defenceman Landon Kosior (9g-43a) as they combined for 110 points between them. … Tanner Martin saw the bulk of the work in the regular season going 24-8 with a 1.68 goals-against average and eight shutouts. … Playoff action, including the West Regional, saw Kalen Ukrainetz pace the Trojans with 15 points while D-man Kosior was next with 14 points, which were all assists. … Martin was 7-3 in the postseason and had a 2.81 average and two more shutouts.
TORONTO YOUNG NATIONALS (CENTRAL)
Head Coach: Brent Punchard
Yet another organization that has won a national midget championship, the Toronto Young Nationals won it all back in 2015. … This is their sixth trip to the TELUS Cup. …. Along with winning gold in 2015, they took home silver in 1976 and a bronze in 2001. … The Young Nats also took part in last year’s event in Nova Scotia and finished fourth overall in the six-team event. … Toronto won their second straight Central Zone title after handing the North Bay Trappers their first loss of the season, with a 4-0 victory in the championship game held in Bowmanville, Ont. … At the Central Regional, the Young Nats went 5-0-2 overall and led all six competing teams in goals scored with 27. … They also allowed the second-fewest tallies against at 14. … Toronto featured the top three scorers in Bowmanville in forwards Elias Cohen, Peter Stojcevski and Ryan Mansfield. … Cohen led the way with 15 points in seven games, including a dozen assists. … Stojcevski produced a regional-best eight goals as part of his 12 points while Mansfield scored five times and helped set-up six others. … Netminder James Gray went 3-0-1 with a 1.50 goals-against average and a .945 save percentage. … The club’s other stopper, Siming Wu, was 2-0-1 with a 2.67 GAA and .901 SV%.
MAGOG CANTONNIERS (QUEBEC)
Head Coach: Félix Potvin
Punching their ticket to the Lakehead from Quebec are the Magog Cantonniers. That followed a four-game sweep of the Lac St. Louis Lions to claim the title there. … Each of those contests were very close with Magog coming away victorious 4-3 in overtime, 6-3 that included an empty-netter, 2-1 and in 4-3 decision in OT in the final game. … Magog is coached by former NHL and Toronto Maple Leafs netminder Felix Potvin. … The Cantonniers were second in the 15-team Quebec AAA Midget League after posting a 34-3-5 record. … They featured three players who produced at a 50-point pace in forwards Alexandre Doucet (29g-26s-55pts) and Justin Robidas (28g-25a-53pts) as well as blueliner Jacob Dion (15g-35a-50pts). … The playoffs saw the trio led the way again with 26, 22 and 21 points respectively. … Goaltender Xavier Dupont was 19-2 with a 2.15 average and two shutouts while Adam Olivier went 15-6 with a solid 1.78 GAA and five shutouts. … Olivier saw the bulk of the work in the playoffs as he went 12-1 with a stellar 1.33 goals-against average along with a trio of shutouts. … This is Magog’s fourth appearance at the nationals and second in succession. … They won gold in 2000 and settled for silver last year.
HALIFAX MACS (ATLANTIC)
Head Coach: Tim Boyce
Rounding out the TELUS Cup field is the Halifax Macs. … They claimed the Atlantic Region crown by topping the Kensington Wild (P.E.I.) 4-1 in that Maritimes match-up in Charlottetown, P.E.I. … In the eight-team Nova Scotia Major Midget Hockey League, the Macs came second after going 24-7-2-3. … They then defeated the South Shore Mustangs in round one of the playoffs in a three-game sweep. … They then did likewise to Dartmouth, N.S., before going on to topple the league-leading Cole Harbour Wolfpack, 3-1, to claim the title. … At the Atlantic Regional in Charlottetown, the Macs went 2-1-1 in the round robin before defeating Kensington in the final. … Halifax did not have a player in the Top 10 in Atlantic Region scoring, but 11 different players produced multiple points. … Cameron Brown was the leading point-getter in the regular season for the Macs with 22 goals and 19 assists. … Liam Walsh was three behind with 38 points, including 14 tallies, while Ian Watt was third on the squad with 38 points, which featured a team-high 25 helpers. … Liam Oxner and Jacob Goobie both saw plenty of time between the pipes for the Macs, combining for 23 victories. … Mitchell McLeod and Brown led the way in the playoffs with 15 points each while Mitch Comeau was right behind them with 14. … Goobie was a perfect 7-0 in the postseason that featured two shutouts and a 1.55 average. … This is the sixth trip to the TELUS Cup for Halifax for the Macs, who are in search of their first medal.
