2015 TELUS Cup

STRATHMORE GETS FIRST-EVER TELUS CUP WIN, BEATS HOST ALBATROS

DAVID BRIEN

RIVIÈRE-DU-LOUP, Que. – Kyle Gordon had two goals and an assist to pace the offence, and the Strathmore Bisons earned their first win on Midget hockey’s biggest stage, hammering the Albatros du Collège Notre-Dame 7-1 in Tuesday’s final game at the 2015 TELUS Cup.

The Bisons handed Collège Notre-Dame the worst loss by a host team since the Rousseau Royal de Laval-Montréal routed the Sault Ste. Marie North Stars 9-2 in the preliminary round finale in 2013.

Gary Haden (goal and two assists) and Barrett Sheen (three assists) joined Gordon with three-point nights, and Trygve Many Guns, William Conley, Markus Lavallee and David Sheldon also added goals.

It was the tournament hosts who struck first, with Samuel L’Italien scoring shorthanded just 2:17 in. But that would be the lone puck to beat Strathmore goaltender Kurtis Chapman, who finished with 28 saves.

Many Guns tied the game with 3:29 left in the opening period, and it was all Bisons after that.

Haden got things going early in the middle frame, scoring on the power play just 93 seconds in. Then, Conley and Gordon converted back-to-back breakaway opportunities just 1:03 apart for a 4-1 lead for the Pacific Region champions.

Lavallee redirected an Austin Cameron shot from the top circle at the 11:32 mark – chasing Collège Notre-Dame goaltender Tristan Bérubé – before Gordon got his second of the period on the power play just 64 second after that, capping a busy second period for the Bisons.

Sheldon added one more goal in the third period, on one of five Strathmore power plays in the final frame.
The Bisons, who outshot Collège Notre-Dame 34-29, finished with three goals on 10 power play chances, while the Albatros went scoreless on eight opportunites with an extra skater.

Strathmore is back at it Wednesday when they take on the last remaining unbeaten team, the Regina Pat Canadians (4 p.m. ET), while the Albatros try to get back into the win column when they take on the Toronto Young Nationals (7:30 p.m. ET)