With the Yorkton Terriers season on the line down 2-0 to the Nanaimo Clippers on Saturday night, the usual suspects stepped up in what could be described as the character win of the season. Down 2-0 after two goals in the span of 15 seconds from Chris Rygus and Greg Fraser, the Terriers bounced back with five goals after the early first period collapse to earn a 5-3 win over the host team and advance to the consolation final at the Western Canada Cup where they are one game away from the Royal Bank Cup.
After the Rygus and Fraser goal, the Terriers got a first period goal of a highlight reel assist from Jeremy Johnson from the seat of his pants that Tyler Giebel banged home to make the score 2-1. That goal would be the turning point of the game as the Terriers began to start changing the game into a back and forth affair, taking Nanaimo out of their gameplan and allowing the playmaking of their blueline speed and Johnson's skills on the rush take over while getting the hustle of players like Kailum Gervais and Nathan Murray in front of the net.
In the second period the Terriers tied the game up as a great cycle by Nathan Murray led to a Devon McMullen goal off a deflection in front of the net on Patrick Martens shot from the slot. The role reversal from the offensive defenseman gave the Terriers the tie and Dakota Odgers beat Jayson Argue backhand after a hard forecheck just minutes later to complete the momentum swing and give the Terriers a 3-2 lead. Dakota's brother John was given a borderline slashing penalty just minutes later that the Clippers potent powerplay made no mistake on as Josh Bryan's shot from the point was lost in traffic by Dawson MacAuley and tied the game, sending things into the third period with tensions at an all time high with both teams twenty minutes away from seeing their seasons end two wins short with a loss.
Fifteen minutes of dicey hockey would be played in the third before we would see a goal with MacAuley and Argue making some incredible saves, including a highlight reel glove save in the butterfly from Argue to rob a Brady Norrish slapshot before the Terriers would break through to grab the game winner. A lucky bounce from a hard rush to the net from Kailum Gervais would see the puck in the back of the net and the Terriers off to the final RBC Cup qualification game. Jeremy Johnson would rip a wrist shot over Argue's shoulder late to make it official and the Terriers comeback would be complete as they awaited the results of the Championship between Surrey and Brooks to find out who would be in their way of the RBC Cup.
That opponent would be the team they took to overtime in the round robin, the two time AJHL Champion Brooks Bandits, who lost 4-1 to the Surrey Eagles in the Western Canada Cup Championship. The Bandits outshot the Eagles 41-30 in the final, but WCC Top Goalie Michael Santaguida took all of the spotlight in the winner, robbing the Bandits with 40 saves and doing his part in what was a commanding 4-1 win for the Eagles who led all the way from 9:20 of the first period. Brooks has had a weird tournament, from coming in with a 54-4-4 record, to losing 7-2 to the host Clippers, to their 4-1 loss to the Eagles the Bandits have been equalized and humbled in what was a very competitive tournament between the top teams in Western Canada.
That does not mean the Bandits won't be an incredible obstacle for the Terriers in tonight's game. Brooks outshot the Terriers 42-35 in their 2-1 overtime win over Yorkton in the round robin and were the stronger team for much of the game with the Terriers finding their equalizer with under five minutes left as Nathan Murray pounded one home in front of the net to send the game into overtime. Brooks is blessed with a group of players that have great shots, including Cam Maclise and RJ Reed who will be the top forwards for the Bandits and will require a strict gameplan from Trent Cassan in order to neutralize the Bandits snipers.
Penalties will once again be a key focus of the Terriers if they are going to advance to the RBC Cup they will need to control the amount of times they head to the sin bin against the Bandits. In their round robin meeting, the Terriers went to the box seven times, something that prevented Yorkton from utilizing the speed of their blueline far too often as they needed to turn their focus to penalty killing. Austin Bourhis did a great job of staying out of the box against the Clippers, registering zero penalties as one of the Terriers main minor penalty culprits. Tayler Thompson's early penalty Saturday led the spark to Nanaimo's two early goals, that can't happen against a team blessed with as much offensive weapons on the powerplay that Brooks has.
Expect Dylan Johnson to get another start in the lineup for the Terriers as Trent Cassan has employed the work of grinders in D. Johnson, John Odgers and Murray to great success in the last three games. Johnson, who rotates from a healthy scratch to an effective bottom line power forward and depth powerplay asset depending on the team's needs, has been one of the Terriers unsung heroes in his first year with the club. With Kailum Gervais out of the lineup in the round robin game with Brooks, Johnson showed his knack for being around the big plays, registering a bone crunching neutral zone hit on his first shift before being in on the game tying goal, banging and clanging in front of the net with Murray before the puck went into the back of the net. Cassan has had a lot of options and could juggle in Saturday scratches Brenden Poncelet or Daylan Gatzke in favor of Johnson who is one of the group of fringe players in Cassan's forward platoon, but if he plays the big bodied forward will be someone to watch.
In goal will be Dawson MacAuley and Michael Fredrick. Both goalies have identical 3-2 records in the Western Canada Cup and have had the spotlight of scouts on them since the beginning of the tournament with Fredrick drawing the eyes of NCAA colleges as a touted Jr. A goalie prospect and MacAuley impressing WHL GM's earning a deal to the Regina Pats who were impressed enough with the 1994 goaltender's second half and playoffs to acquire his rights from the Calgary Hitmen at the Bantam Draft. Both goalies have bright futures and impressive stats, keeping scoring low in their meeting in the round robin. The smaller Fredrick has a slight advantage in the acrobatics department but the 6 6' MacAuley is blessed with great intangibles as well as the ability to sprawl from one side of the crease to another with great speed himself, in a tournament that has seen great goaltending it might come down to which goalie is on his game this evening in what is going to be a battle of two very promising young goaltenders in between the pipes.
1992 born players will likely be another key to both teams as tonight's last game presents the last chance many players on the ice have to play Junior hockey as the winner moves on and the loser goes home with the final ticket to PEI is on the line. For the Terriers Brenden Poncelet, Nathan Murray, Jeremy Johnson, John Neibrandt and Austin Bourhis make up the 1992 born players who could be on the ice for the Terriers and will likely have a little something special in their motors with the added motivation of the last game of their Junior careers into the equation. The Bandits have seven '92 born players on the roster, including their top three regular season scorers in Maclise, Mark Reners and Dakota Mason as well as their leading scorer at the WCC in RJ Reed. These players will be a huge factor in the game and most players on that '92 list have all elevated their games starting in the beginning of the playoffs, the added emotion of not having a next year will make them players to watch in the battle between the Alberta and Saskatchewan champs.
Beyond the key players and statistics this game will likely boil down to the will of each team to pay the price to keep their season alive in what will be an emotional contest. With both teams laden in twenty year olds and the Bandits coming off of falling short to the Penticton Vees last season in their quest of the RBC Cup both teams are going to be willing to do things beyond the call of duty tonight, which is going to make for a Game Seven like atmosphere in Nanaimo. A game that has the potential to be a very even and hard fought affair could more than likely see a repeat of the 2-1 overtime result in the round robin, where one or two moments could determine each team's story. At the end of the day both team's are sixty minutes away from getting more hockey, whoever fights the hardest and makes the most of their opportunities is going to earn that. The Yorkton Terriers are sixty minutes away from their first RBC Cup in nearly a decade, it is going to be a wild ride but as of right now both teams wouldn't trade their opportunity for anything.
