It took nearly 72 minutes of playoff hockey at Performance Arena on Sunday for the St. Albert Blues to pull off a 4-3 victory against the NE BC/Yukon Trackers in the northern Alberta midget AA league final.
The best-of-five series was knotted up at one game apiece, when Barrett Belland scored in sudden death.
“It was big,” said Donovan Sugiyama of the Blues, head coach of the 2011 provincial midget AA finalists. “Going up to Fort St. John [this weekend] to play and trying to sweep two games could be considered difficult so it definitely was an advantage for us to go up with a lead in the series.”
Game three was tied 2-2 after 40 minutes when the Trackers scored on a seemingly harmless shot that found the back of the net. Instead of surrendering to defeat, the Blues netted the tying goal late in the third off the stick of A.J. Yariwon.
“It was definitely a good character play by our guys to show that we’re not willing to give up,” said Sugiyama. “It could be easy, after a weird one, to quit but our guys came through, stuck with it and finished with a big overtime win.”
After a scoreless 10-minute period of overtime, the Blues put the game away with less than two minutes gone in the second extra frame with a goal that was scored on the back of a falling Belland. The remarkable play is another example of the type of player Belland is, who recorded six goals and 11 points throughout the course of the regular season.
“It was outstanding. Barrett is a great character kid and it’s good to see him get a key goal as a result of his hard work all season,” said Sugiyama.
Casey Reid and Jordan MacPhee also scored for the Blues and Tyler Van Os added two assists. Max Cathcart stopped 47 shots for the Blues, including 39 in regulation time. Trackers’ goalie Daimon Derouin faced 33 shots.
It was the third game in three days as the series opened in St. Albert. In game one, Cole Saunders of the Blues turned aside 33 shots in the 4-0 shutout. Colin Dupuis tallied in period two and Reid, Mitch McNamara and Lukas Millions rounded out the scoring in the third as the Blues registered 25 shots. Brent McGugan collected two assists.
In game two, the Trackers evened the series with a 4-3 overtime decision as Logan Daneluk sniped the winner with 33 seconds left in the first extra period.
Erin Belfour lit the lamp in the first and Reid and Van Os connected in the third. The Blues trailed 2-1 after the second and 3-2 with under 10 minutes left in regulation time. Shots were 40-38 for the Trackers. Saunders gave up four goals on 39 shots in 67 minutes. Cathcart saw action for two minutes in the second.
Even though the Blues are coming off a huge playoff win, momentum is permanently not on their side, according to Sugiyama. Game four is Saturday at 7:30 p.m. in Fort St. John.
“A lot of that momentum can dissipate as the week goes by between games,” said Sugiyama.
The long road trip to Fort St. John will prove to be a test in facing a hostile environment. The Blues are 14-1 during the regular season away from their home rink, but the extra kilometres between cities will mean fewer fans from St. Albert will be going to Fort St. John.
“We played on the road a bit this year and handled it fairly well. We never travelled this distance though, so it will definitely be a challenge but hopefully we will have them prepared enough through our preparation in the season that we will play well,” said Sugiyama.
If needed, game five goes Sunday at 12:30 p.m.
In league play, the Blues finished first in the central red division at 26-5-1 and the Trackers placed third in the north black standings at 19-8-5.
