In western movie parlance, the Burnaby Winter Club Bruins
wore the black hats entering Wed-nesday’s tier 1 bantam A provincial hockey final in Kamloops.
The Kamloops junior Blazers
were a decided underdog and the crowd favourite, with a large cheering section as the host team.
But in this showdown, there was no cliffhanger and little drama as the home team couldn’t keep pace with the Bruins, who end their in-province record at 40-0.
The BWC capped a perfect season by besting Kamloops 6-0, powered by Kalen Szeto’s hat trick and Koen MacInnes’ shutout. It was the Bruins’ second-straight B.C. bantam crown.
“We were playing very well and didn’t give up a goal in two games (Wednesday),” remarked head coach John Batchelor. “I could see in the morning that they were fully charged to play.”
Earlier in the week, the Pacific Coast champs got three goals from Szeto and a game-winning goal from Deepkaran Hans in a tight 5-4 win over the Blazers, foreshadowing their totals in the final.
In the title game, Burnaby had a strong edge in play throughout the final. Neither team could put one past the goalie in the opening 20 minutes, but Hans got the Bruins in front nine minutes into the second frame with his fourth of the tournament, followed quickly by Szeto. Captain and Burnaby native Ryan Helliwell made it 3-0 five minutes later on the powerplay.
Before the period ended, Szeto made it 4-0, converting Trevor Wong’s setup. They’d add another pair in the third, while outshooting the Blazers 43-15.
Kyler Kovich contributed a goal and three assists, while Szeto
finished with a tourney-leading 14 goals and eight assists over six games.
The win gave the Bruins a spotless 40-0 record against B.C. competition, including 20 regular season games where they surrendered just 18 goals.
“We kind of peaked at the right time – well I hope we haven’t peaked yet,” remarked Batchelor, as the team now prepares to defend its title next week at the Western Canadians in Saskatchewan. “We hit a bit of a lull around Christmas time when we went to St. Albert’s (tournament in Alberta), but they’ve been getting better since then.”
They opened the provincials with a 4-1 victory over Vernon, getting goals from Hans, Helliwell, Kovich and Szeto. Their next test saw them erase a 2-0 deficit with four straight goals to edge the Burnaby Bulldogs 4-3.
Szeto tallied twice, with singles by Helliwell and Nicholas Dorrington, with the winner. Scoring for the Bulldogs were Carter Findlay, Kaidan Johnson and Cristiano Pantusa.
BWC also beat Prince George 3-1 and Nanaimo 15-0.
At the Western Canadians, the Bruins will be looking to repeat as champs against a whole new level of competition.
This year’s roster, with only four holdovers from last year’s champs, has plenty of potential when it comes to competing at the highest level, said Batchelor.
“Szeto is coming off a real strong tournament and has really taken his game to a new level,” said the coach. “Helliwell is a horse on defence – a top-seven (Western Hockey League bantam draft) prospect who the scouts are well aware of… He could go high (in the draft) but he’s verbally committed to Notre Dame (for 2020-21).”
Burnaby minor Bulldogs, meanwhile, finished the tournament in fourth place with a 2-3 record, having racked up wins over Nanaimo (10-4, led by a four-goal, two-assist effort from Johnson) and Kamloops (3-0).
Members of the champion Bruins are: Brandon Buhr, Nicholas Dorrington, Walker Erickson, Oliver Gabrielson, Deepkaran Hans, Ryan Helliwell, Kyler Kovich, Christian Lowe, Koen MacInnes, Jackson Murphy-Johnson, Ethan Samson, Samuel Schofield, Kalen Szeto, Logan Terness, Brendan Wang, Xian Jian David Wang and Trevor Wong.
