BUFFALOES EARN SEMIFINAL BERTH WITH WIN OVER FLYERS

SELKIRK, Man. – It is on to the semifinals for the Calgary Buffaloes at the 2009 TELUS Cup.

Calgary captain Chris Collins scored twice – his tournament-leading seventh and eighth goals – and added an assist and the Buffaloes capitalized on the chances they had early, earning a 6-2 win over the Moncton Flyers in the round-robin finale for both on Friday morning.

The win moves the Buffaloes (2-1-2) into the semifinals at the National Midget Championship for the second year in a row, while the Flyers saw their hopes of seeing weekend action dashed with the loss.

With the Selkirk Recreation Complex packed and loud thanks to more than 1,000 local school children, the Flyers (1-4) carried much of the play in the opening 20 minutes, outshooting Calgary 13-4 in the frame. But Collins scored on two of the Buffaloes’ four shots, putting the Atlantic Region champions in an early hole.

Phil Tot, Brett Pinder and Drydn Dow added goals in the second period to push the lead to 5-0, more than enough to put the Pacific Region representatives through to Saturday. Dylan Nowakowski scored late for the Buffaloes, who will await the results of Friday’s other games to find out when and who they will meet in final four action.

Alex Saulnier and Joslin Gallant scored the goals for Moncton, who outshot Calgary 38-22.