2007 National U18 Club Championship

BACK TO BACK! MINTOS WIN SECOND CONSECUTIVE TELUS CUP WITH OVERTIME WIN OVER OPTIMIST REBELS

Ryan Fox was the hero on Sunday night at the Enmax Centrium in Red Deer, AB, scoring 48 seconds into the second overtime period to give the Prince Albert Mintos a 3-2 win over the Red Deer Optimist Rebels, and their second consecutive TELUS Cup.

Fox took a pass from Torey Stott and beat Red Deer goaltender Marc Boulanger to the glove side for his third goal of the tournament, and undoubtedly the biggest of his hockey career.

“Stott got me the puck, and I just tried to put it on net,” Fox said after emerging from under the pile of Mintos following his goal. “I’m just glad it went in.”

Prince Albert looked to be well on their way to their second straight National Midget Championship after opening up a 2-0 first-period lead.

Curtis Kulchar got the Mintos going early in the first period, his point shot eluding Boulanger on a Prince Albert powerplay for a 1-0 lead.

Tyler Fiddler, who was named the tournament’s Top Forward on Friday night, pushed the lead to two just short of the midway point of the period, poking his own rebound over Boulanger.

Fiddler saved his best for the big games, as he scored two of his three goals at the TELUS Cup against the Optimist Rebels.

The tournament hosts got one back just past the six-minute mark of the second period, as Darren Windle beat Mintos goaltender Carsen Chubak from the point, the first goal scored by the Optimist Rebels against Chubak in more than 86 minutes at the event.

Red Deer outshot the Mintos 11-7 in the second period, but could not get a second puck past Chubak.

Defenseman Colin Archer finally got the Optimist Rebels tied midway through the third period, jumping into the play and taking a pass from Kyle Reynolds before sliding the puck through the legs of Chubak.

A scoreless final 10 minutes, along with the first 10-minute overtime period, set the stage for Fox’s heroics.

The TELUS Cup-winning goal earned Fox the Player of the Game for the Mintos, while Boulanger, who was named the TELUS Cup MVP earlier in the week, received the award for the Optimist Rebels.

With the win, the Mintos become the first team in Canadian Midget hockey history to win back-to-back national championships, and denied Red Deer the chance to become just the fourth host team in the 29-year history of the National Midget Championship to take home the title.

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PREVIEW: ONE GAME, WINNER-TAKE-ALL – MINTOS AND OPTIMIST REBELS MEET WITH NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP ON THE LINE

After 15 round robin games and two semi-finals, it all comes down to two teams, one game, and one prize: the 2007 TELUS Cup. The Prince Albert Mintos and the host Optimist Rebels are the final two teams standing in Red Deer, and one will walk out of the Enmax Centrium on Sunday night as the national Midget champion.

When the teams clashed in the round robin on Thursday night, the result was arguably the best game of the preliminary round. The Mintos snapped Marc Boulanger’s shutout streak at 207:34, the Optimist Rebels’ home winning streak at 27 games, and walked out of Red Deer Arena with a 2-0 victory.

With the TELUS Cup’s Top Goaltender (Carsen Chubak), Top Defensive Player (Lewis Laczko) and Top Forward (Tyler Fiddler), the Mintos are strong from the goal line out. Prince Albert has the tournament’s best powerplay and penalty killing, meaning the Optimist Rebels will need to try to keep the game 5-on-5 if they look to grab a lead and hold it against the Mintos.

The Mintos allow a lot of shots on goal – 172, third among the four semi-final teams – and that is where Chubak comes in. He was spectacular against Red Deer in the round robin, stopping all 25 shots, becoming just the second goaltender in 50 games in 2006/07 to shut out the Optimist Rebels.

Red Deer had almost everything in the round robin: the highest-scoring offense, the stingiest defense, the hometown crowd. The only thing missing was a perfect record and first place, something the Mintos took away from them. Expect the Optimist Rebels to come out hungry, fired up, and looking for revenge.

While Prince Albert may have the tournament’s best penalty killing statistically, the Optimist Rebels have been arguably the best team at this year’s TELUS Cup when shorthanded. Red Deer has scored six shorthanded goals in as many games, and allowed only four powerplay goals in 43 opposition opportunities. The top-ranked Prince Albert powerplay will be looking to improve their man advantage numbers, but need to watch out for a potential scoring chance the other way.

A 13-game winning streak at the National Midget Championship – they went 7-0 in Charlottetown, PE last year en route to their first national title – along with their win over the Optimist Rebels on Thursday means the Mintos should be considered favourites to win their second consecutive TELUS Cup. But with an expected crowd of close to 6,000 people, many of them cheering for the home team, anything can happen.