It turns out that the games played last weekend were a precursor to the opening round of the Vanberg Cup playoffs. Four of the games played featured first round matchups in each Division.
On Friday, Morinville was in Devon to take on the Barons who have manhandled them all winter. This was a pretty good game as the score was 2-1 for Devon with under 5 minutes remaining in the game when the Barons scored three times to win 5-1. King's goaltender Garrett Storms was awesome in defeat, keeping the Baron's scorers at bay and his team in the game. Chris Van Os-Shaw led the way with 1-1-2 with help from Braiden Doucette 1-1-2. Also scoring for the Barons were Cody Issler, Brody Beaulieu and Gage Joel. Rookie goaltender Kolter Pawlick won his first game for the Barons. Replying for the Kings was Isaac Tkachuk and Storms turned away 40 of 45 shots the Barons sent his way. With the win, the Barons claimed top spot in the North Division. These teams will meet in the first round of the playoffs.
On Saturday, the Red Deer Rustlers roared to a 4-0 first period lead and were seemingly in control half way through the third period. The Bruins came alive in the last 10 minutes to get to 4-3, only to have the Rustlers notch an empty netter to put the game away. With the win, the Rustlers became this season's President's Cup champions (their first) as the top team during the regular season. Tyler Berkholtz 1-1-2, Justin Moltzahn 2-0-2, Cory Pritz, and Ryley Smith tallied for the Rustlers and goaltender Devon Carroll picked up 1st star honors as he stopped 38 of 41 Bruin's shots. Bruin's captain Dillan McCombie 2-1-3, and William Raymond replied for Camrose and Curtis Skip turned away 38 of 42 shots in the penalty filled contest. These teams will meet again in the first round of the playoffs.
Also on Saturday, the Lacombe Generals clinched second place in the South Division with a hard fought 2-1 win over visiting Wetaskiwin Longhorns. The teams traded first period goals, Ryley Bennefield for Wetaskiwin and Jared Williams for Lacombe. The teams traded scoring chances during the second period as Lacombe kept the pressure on the Longhorn's defense much of the game. Bryce Wilson scored the winning goal in the second period and only the solid, oftentimes spectacular play of goaltender Devon Buffalo kept the Longhorns in the game as the Generals pressed in the third period, outshooting Wetaskiwin by the tune of 16-10 and 51-32 overall. These teams will meet up in the first round of the playoffs.
The last game on Saturday saw the hometown Westlock Warriors clinch second place in the North Division with a 7-3 win over Bonnyville. The Pontiacs had an opportunity to pull into a 2nd place tie with a win but it wasn't to be on this night. A 2-1 Westlock lead after the first period jumped to 6-1 after two. The Van Brabant brothers led the way for the Warriors - Bryce had 1-2-3 and Riley picked up 2-0-2. Others to score for Westlock were Blair Bolderice, Zach Mills, AJ Kupsch and Scott Ivey while goaltender Spencer Hutson picked up his second win of the season. Captain Lucas Isley 1-1-2, Coltan Buchta with his league leading 17th, and Scott Thackeray tallied for the Pontiacs and Drew Fleury was saddled with the loss. These teams will face off against each other in the North Division first round of playoffs.
The last game of the weekend was supposed to go in Bonnyville, but unfortunately Morinville came up short of players and had to call a forfeit.
The Vanberg Cup playoffs get under way this weekend.
Friday - Morinville at Devon 8:00 Friday - Red Deer at Camrose 8:00 Friday - Lacombe at Wetaskiwin 7:30
Saturday - Camrose at Red Deer (Penhold) 7:30 Saturday - Devon at Morinville 8:00 Saturday - Bonnyville at Westlock 8:30 Saturday - Wetaskiwin at Lacombe 8:45
