BY Jonathan Huntington
Buckle-up and get ready for a heavyweight battle for the U18AAA provincial title.
The Regina Pat Canadians will host the Moose Jaw Winmar Warriors in Game 1 Saturday night in a showdown of the top-two ranked teams in the country.
Moose Jaw punched their ticket to the best-of-five final Wednesday night with a wild 6-5 OT victory on home ice against the Saskatoon Blazers.
The Warriors erased a 5-3 deficit in the final six minutes of regulation with goals by Riley Brown and captain Ryan Gibbs.
And, then with 8:26 left in the first OT period, Gibbs capitalized on a wild scramble in front of the Blazers’ net to send his teammates pouring onto the ice to celebrate. The game winner marked Gibbs’ (Tri-City WHL/Weyburn SJHL prospect) third goal of the contest and fourth point.
The victory also means the Warriors have qualified for the Telus Cup Western Regional tournament in Regina from April 2-5 with the winner of that showdown advancing to the national Telus Cup in Ontario.
The Pat Canadians have been waiting for their opponent since sweeping the Estevan Innovex Bears last Saturday. Besides being rested, the Pat Cs will likely enter Game 1 with their star forward Maddox Schultz in the line-up. The Pat Cs are the defending league and national champions.
FINISH LINES: The Blazers season came to end without their top playoff scorer Jeremy Wehrens – who was suspended just hours before Game 5 for his part in a line brawl in Game 4 Tuesday night in Saskatoon. The Blazers also lost top-six D-man Oliver Husnik (four games) to suspension, while Moose Jaw lost Layne McKecknie (one game) and Tobin Schafer (three games) in the rulings from Hockey Saskatchewan.
