3 STARS OF THE DAY – SUNDAY, APRIL 24
1. Aidan Casey (North York)
The Rangers forward hadn’t scored since the tournament opener on Monday, but came through when it counted most, finding the back of the net twice in the championship-winning victory over Saint John. Casey got the scoring started less than eight minutes into the first period, and his breakaway goal with under three minutes to go in the third officially got the TELUS Cup party started for North York.
2. Jett Alexander (North York)
National TV? TELUS Cup on the line? No problem. The Rangers goaltender didn’t have to be the star in the biggest game of his young career, making just 17 saves, but made a few point-blank stops early and turned aside multiple breakaways by the Vito’s to help North York win its first national title. Alexander was a stand-out all week, finishing with a 1.93 GAA and .926 save percentage in five appearances.
3. Bailey Bilney-Morrissette (Lac St-Louis)
The smallest player on the Lions roster at 5-foot-5, Bilney-Morrissette played much bigger on Sunday afternoon, scoring once and adding two assists – his first three points of the tournament – to spark the Lac St-Louis offence in a 6-2 win over Lloydminster for bronze. He set up Matthew Pietroniro and Kyle Havlena to break open a 1-1 game, and scored the 5-1 goal himself to ensure the Lions got their eighth all-time medal.
3 STARS OF THE DAY – SATURDAY, APRIL 23
1. Jake Stewart (Saint John)
For the second time this week the Vito’s goaltender takes the top honour, this time thanks to a 42-save performance in an upset win over the previously-unbeaten Lions du Lac St-Louis. Stewart allowed a goal 3:29 in and that was it – he made 16 saves in the first period, 16 more in the second, and 10 in the third, shutting down the tournament’s best offence and sending Saint John to a historic gold medal game appearance.
2. William Calverley (North York)
The captain often needs to be his team’s best player in big games, and Calverley was just that on Saturday, scoring twice and adding an assist to lead the Rangers past Lloydminster and into the gold medal game. Calverley has points in all six North York games (goals in five of them), and his 10 points (six goals, four assists) had pushed him into third place in tournament scoring, with the biggest game yet to come.
3. Alex Lafreniere (Saint John)
The hometown hero. Back in the line-up after missing three games due to injury, Lafreniere played sparingly, but found himself on the ice on a Vito’s power play in a tie game with less than five minutes to go, and knocked in a rebound to blow the roof of the qplex and send Saint John to the gold medal game, where they’ll be the first Atlantic team since Sidney Crosby and the 2002 Dartmouth Subways to play for a national title.
3 STARS OF THE DAY – FRIDAY, APRIL 22
1. Mathias Laferriere (Lac St-Louis)
Who else but the MVP? Laferriere capped an impressive preliminary round in style, scoring a natural hat trick to help the Lions finish off a perfect preliminary round. He scored in all five games, recorded multiple points in all five and ended up as the leading scorer in the round robin with 13 points (eight goals, five assists), all reasons why he joined names like Crosby, Purcell and Heatley as TELUS Cup MVP.
2. Brock McLeod (Dartmouth)
One of seven returnees from the team that went winless at the TELUS Cup last year, McLeod made sure he and his team got at least one win on the national stage, scoring once and adding two assists to lead the Major Midgets to their first victory in Quispamsis. The Dartmouth forward finished strong, recording seven of his eight points in the final three games, and working his way into a tie for third in tournament scoring.
3. Adam Capannelli (Lac St-Louis)
The Lac St-Louis captain played the set-up role to perfection on Friday, earning the primary assist on all three of Mathias Laferriere’s goals, and finishing with four helpers in the Lions’ fifth win, slotting in behind Laferriere in tournament scoring – his 12 points (two goals, 10 assists) were good for second. For his efforts, Capannelli was honoured with the Top Forward award at Friday night’s awards banquet.
3 STARS OF THE DAY – THURSDAY, APRIL 21
1. Ty Smith (Lloydminster)
The defenceman earns a spot on the list for the second day in a row. After finally getting his first point Wednesday, Smith broke out offensively Thursday, scoring once and adding two assists – all in a three-goal – second period to help the Bobcats edge Dartmouth and clinch a spot in the semifinals. He has jumped to 12th in tournament scoring and No. 2 among defencemen, trailing only Dartmouth blue-liner Brett Thorne.
2. Anderson MacDonald (Saint John)
The hometown hero scored twice in a wild third period in Thursday’s win over Saskatoon, including the game-winner into an empty net, but gets this spot for his all-around game; MacDonald was a force in all three zones – throwing hits, blocking shots and shutting down the opposition in the defensive zone – and is a big reason Saint John will play in the semifinals at the TELUS Cup for the first time ever on Saturday.
3. Quinton Ong (Saskatoon)
The Contacts’ leading scorer during the regular season, Ong had just a single assist through three games in Quispamsis before finding his offence Thursday, getting involved in three of Saskatoon’s six goals. He was a constant presence on the ice for the West Region champions and was a force on special teams – he scored once shorthanded and once on the power play, and set up another goal with the man advantage.
3 STARS OF THE DAY – WEDNESDAY, APRIL 20
1. Adam Capannelli (Lac St-Louis)
The Lions had the tournament’s biggest offensive outburst, scoring seven times in a win over Dartmouth, and their captain was right in the middle of it. Capannelli set up Mathias Laferriere for the game’s first goal just 6:21 in, gave Lac St-Louis the lead for good with a shorthanded marker in the first minute of the second period, and had an assist on another Laferriere goal in the opening minutes of the third.
2. Parker Saretsky (Lloydminster)
The Bobcats got a first win Wednesday afternoon, edging Saskatoon 4-3, and Saretsky certainly played his part. He picked up assists on three of Lloydminster’s four goals, including the primary helper on Ty Smith’s game-winning goal late in the third period. Saretsky’s set-up skills were impressive, even more so considering he had only five helpers in 12 playoff games on the Bobcats’ run to the TELUS Cup.
3. Ty Smith (Lloydminster)
Arguably the highest-touted player at the 2016 TELUS Cup, Smith – the first-overall pick in the 2015 WHL Bantam Draft – finally put his name on the scoresheet Wednesday, hammering home a slap shot from the point with 6:08 remaining to give his Bobcats their first win of the tournament. The blue-liner isn’t known for his goal-scoring exploits; the goal was his 11th in 43 regular-season and playoff games.
3 STARS OF THE DAY – TUESDAY, APRIL 19
1. Jake Stewart (Saint John)
The tournament hosts can thank their goaltender for the single point they earned Tuesday night against Lloydminster. Stewart stopped all 21 shots he faced in the first period and finished with 42 saves in all, while the Vito’s managed just 14 shots of their own. He was at his best with the Bobcats on the power play, making a couple of mind-boggling stops on Lloydminster’s nine chances with the man advantage.
2. Mathias Laferriere (Lac St-Louis)
Laferriere pretty much took matters into his own hands in a 4-0 win over Saskatoon, figuring in on three of the Lions’ four goals; he helped set up Adam Capannelli for the opening marker, earned a second assist on Azzaro Tinling’s power-play goal in the third period and scored himself just 11 seconds after that. The three points left the 15-year-old even with North York forward Jason Pineo for the tournament scoring lead.
3. Isaac LaBelle (Saskatoon)
LaBelle was under siege against Lac St-Louis, facing 20 shots in the first period and 52 in all. But the Contacts netminder kept the game 1-0 until the latter half of the third period, when the Lions put the game away. LaBelle could hardly be faulted for the loss; three of the four goals the Quebec champions scored came on the power play – including one at 5-on-3 – and for the second day in a row he received zero goals in support.
3 STARS OF THE DAY – MONDAY, APRIL 18
1. Sandro Sylvestre (Lac St-Louis)
The Lions’ goaltender was the best player on the ice in his team’s 3-2 tournament-opening win over Lloydminster, finishing with 46 saves, and keeping the Bobcats offence at bay at five-on-five – the only two pucks to beat Sylvestre came on power plays. Sylvestre and Lloydminster counterpart Austin McGrath were under fire for much of the game; the Lions and Bobcats combined for 89 shots on goal.
2. Jett Alexander (North York)
The first shutout of the 2016 TELUS Cup belongs to Alexander, who turned away all 23 shots he faced to blank the Saskatoon Contacts in the curtain-raiser at the qplex. He made more than half of his saves in the third period, stopping 12 in the final 20 minutes to earn the first-ever Day 1 shutout by a Central Region goaltender, and only the 13th since the start of the regional format in 1984.
3. Jason Pineo (North York)
Pineo fell just short of posting a point-per-game average for the Rangers in both the regular season and playoffs, but was all over the scoresheet in North York’s win over Saskatoon, opening the scoring in the first period and adding two assists early in the second to help the Central Region champions pull away, and take the very early lead in the scoring race with the day’s lone three-point performance.