The newly-crowned SJHL champion Yorkton Terriers now know who their opponents will be in the first-ever Western Canada Cup that begins this weekend.
All five participants in the inaugural tournament are settled following the conclusion of the Alberta and B.C. league finals this past weekend.
Sunday, the final piece of the puzzle fell into place when the Surrey Eagles defeated the defending RBC Cup champion Penticton Vees 3-2 in double overtime to win the BCHL title.
A goal by Adam Tambellini at the 2:34 mark of double-overtime sealed the title for Surrey on the road. It is their fourth BCHL championship and first since 2005.
Last Friday, the Brooks Bandits won their second straight AJHL Gas Drive Cup title, and it also was a win in overtime by a 6-5 count over the Spruce Grove Saints. The win at home sealed the Bandits' repeat title in five games.
Last Wednesday the Steinbach Pistons took home their first Manitoba Junior Hockey League championship by upsetting the Dauphin Kings four games to two. Going into the series the Kings had been ranked fourth overall in the Canadian Junior Hockey League rankings.
But Steinbach won Game Six at home by a 3-2 count to take the championship in front of their hometown fans. Goaltender Corey Koop was named the most valuable player in the playoffs.
Those three teams join the SJHL champion Terriers, who finished off Humboldt in six games, and the host Nanaimo Clippers of the BCHL in the five-team tournament that begins April 27.
The first matchup features Brooks and Surrey in the afternoon followed by Yorkton versus Nanaimo that evening.
The tournament runs to May 5. The top two teams advance to the RBC Cup in Summerside, P.E.I., to decide the Canadian Junior A hockey championship in 2013.
