SAULT STE. MARIE, Ont. — They came into the 2013 Telus Cup tournament as defending champions.
They will leave as national champions.
The Red Deer Optimist Rebels Chiefs successfully defended their 2012 national championship by defeating the Ottawa Jr. 67’s 5-0 in the final on Sunday afternoon.
In a game broadcast on TSN, Red Deer dominated their opponent to claim the title against the team they had tied on Friday morning 2-2.
But this time around, the Chiefs were able to solve Ottawa goaltender Simon Hofley, and Matt Zentner was perfect between the posts as he made 27 saves for the shutout.
“To get the shutout makes it special, but the only thing that matters is that we won,” Zentner said. “I don’t even know what to say.”
The Chiefs took the lead with three minutes remaining in the first period when Chase Thudium found a rebound at the left side of the goal and scored on the power play.
“It was exciting,” Thudium said. “I almost missed it but I got a second chance. It was a big goal; it was huge. Everybody was nervous off the start, and we knew whoever scored that first goal was going to have a good chance at winning. So it was definitely a big one.”
Red Deer started to pull away in the second period.
Trey DeGraaf scored on a wrap-around three minutes into the period, and just over a minute later, Ryker Leer skated in on a partial breakaway and fired a shot that beat Hofley over the blocker.
With five minutes remaining in the second period, Chris Gerrie took a pass on a three-on-one break and made it 4-0 when his shot deflected in off Hofley’s glove.
After two periods, Red Deer outshot Ottawa 41-19.
Ian McLellan added the final goal with just over six minutes remaining in the third period on a quick shot from the slot that found the top right corner.
Chiefs head coach Doug Quinn emphasized the importance of converting opportunities into goals to build a comfortable lead in the second period.
“We’ve always had a hard time scoring goals,” Quinn said. “We usually get enough shots, but it was nice to get a couple goals there and get a little bit of a cushion. I really didn’t relax until probably the last five minutes.”
In terms of the character on the Chiefs team, Quinn said his team had battled adversity all season, including being nearly eliminated in the round robin portion of the Telus Cup.
“When their backs were against the wall, they just seemed to step up and come together,” he said. “It’s a really special group. This group just came together and just wore teams out. We had depth, a lot of speed and I thought that even in today’s game we weren’t tiring out.”
Ottawa head coach Travis Crickard expressed his appreciation for his team’s effort in the loss.
“They’ve done everything I’ve asked them to do this year in terms of game plan execution, but it just sucks that today they didn’t execute,” Crickard said. “They have nothing to hang their heads about because they’ve accomplished a lot this year. They need to be proud of what they’ve done.”
Looking back on the tournament, Zentner said there were times where things became stressful. He said he could not describe the feeling of being a national champion.
“It’s been surreal. It went by so fast, but it’s been hard at times. Sometimes it feels like you can’t get a break, and when you do you’re on top of the world and that’s how it feels right now.”
l The Chiefs reached the final with a 5-1 win over the Saskatoon Contacts in Saturday’s semifinal . . . Gerrie scored twice with Thudium, Colton Bobyk and Jacob Schofield adding one each . . . Zentner made 23 saves . . . The 67’s advanced with a 4-1 win over Laval-Montreal, that defeated Saskatoon 3-2 in the bronze medal game....Gabe Bast was named top defenseman in the tournament.
— By Jerret Semczyszyn - Special to The Advocate