Junior hockey: Vees complete sweep of Bulldogs, win BCHL title

A roundup of junior hockey results from the Okanagan and area.

B.C. HOCKEY LEAGUE

PENTICTON 4, ALBERNI VALLEY 1

For a second consecutive year, the Penticton Vees are league champions.

At Port Alberni, Brett Moravec scored twice as the Vees claimed the Fred Page Cup by completing a sweep of the Bulldogs on Wednesday night.

Josh Nadeau, who opened the scoring three minutes into the game, and Dovar Tinling, with an empty-net goal in the last minute of the third period, also scored for Penticton.

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Owen Desilets, at 5:00 of the second to make it 2-1, replied for Alberni Valley, which was making its first Fred Page Cup appearance.

Luca Di Pasquo made 26 saves for the Vees, who outshot the Bulldogs 42-27. For Alberni Valley, Callum Tung made 38 saves on 41 shots before giving way to backup Campbell Arnold for the final 81 seconds.

Penticton was 0-for-2 on the power play while Alberni Valley was 0-for-1.

Josh Nadeau’s goal was his 16^th of the playoffs. That marker also vaulted him into top spot in the playoff scoring race. He finished with 16 goals and 20 assists for 36 points, just ahead of his brother, Bradly Nadeau, who had 17 goals and 18 assists for 35 points.

In third, both with 24 points, were Alberni Valley teammates Dakota MacIntosh (11-13) and Brandon Buhr (8-16). Penticton’s Aydar Suniev (9-14) was fifth with 23 points.

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At game’s end, though, Bradly Nadeau was named the league’s playoff MVP.

The Vees, who finished with an overall record of 66-4-0-1, are the first repeat BCHL champions since 2011.

The team is expected to arrive in Penticton at 6 p.m., at the South Okanagan Events Centre, and fans are encouraged to meet the bus as it returns from Vancouver Island.

2:14 No Canada: country’s Stanley Cup drought now at 30 years

WESTERN HOCKEY LEAGUE

SEATTLE 4, WINNIPEG 2

The Thunderbirds are one win away from advancing to the Memorial Cup in Kamloops later this month.

At Kent, Wash., Seattle broke a 2-2 tie after 40 minutes by scoring twice in the third period of Game 4 on Wednesday night.

The T-Birds now lead the WHL championship 3-1. Game 5 of the best-of-seven series will take place Friday night in Kent, giving Seattle a shot to win the Ed Chynoweth Cup on home ice. The game will be televised.

Kevin Korchinski, Gracyn Sawchyn, Dylan Guenther, with what stood up as the game-winner at 7:47 of the third, and Nico Myatovic, with an empty-net goal, scored for Seattle.

Carson Latimer, who opened the scoring at 16:25 of the first, and Evan Friesen, at 8:33 of the second to make it 2-2, replied for Winnipeg.

Thomas Milic stopped 31 of 33 shots for the Thunderbirds, with Daniel Hauser turning aside 33 of 36 shots for the Ice.

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Seattle was 1-for-5 on the power play while Winnipeg was 0-for-3.

During the regular season, Winnipeg tallied the best record in the league (57-10-1-0), amassing 115 points. Seattle, meanwhile, had the second-best record (54-11-1-2) with 111 points.

During the playoffs, Seattle swept Kelowna, then Prince George before defeating Kamloops 4-2 in the Western Conference final.

Interestingly, Seattle also eliminated Kamloops in last year’s Western Conference final, albeit 4-1.

Should Seattle win the league title, the Thunderbirds and Blazers will meet in the Memorial Cup on May 31 – the final game of the tournament’s round-robin portion.

The Memorial Cup will conclude on June 4 with the championship game.