ABBOTSFORD, B.C. — It’s not the colour they were seeking, but the Blackfalds Wranglers settled for a bronze-medal finish at the Western Canada junior B hockey championship Sunday.
The Wranglers posted a pair of victories Saturday to conclude the round-robin portion of the six-team Keystone Cup tournament with a 3-2-0 record, then edged the Thunder Bay, Ont., Northern Hawks 4-3 in Sunday’s bronze-medal contest.
Trent Hermary notched two goals — one in each of the first and second periods — and Chance Abbott and Garrett Glasman also tallied for Blackfalds, which led 2-1 after 20 minutes and 4-1 entering the third period. Wally Samson and Tiann Anderson each picked up two assists for the winners.
Wranglers netminder Kyle Baumgardner made 24 saves, while his teammates directed 34 shots at Hawks goaltender Kim Wildhaber.
Thunder Bay was assessed all eight minor penalties called in the contest, but the Wranglers failed to score a single power-play goal.
Blackfalds doubled Thunder Bay 8-4 in round-robin action Saturday morning, then defeated the Selkirk, Man., Fishermen 6-3 later in the day.
Anderson and Dalen Kolybaba each scored twice in the morning game, with Abbott, Samson, Cole Laing and Jared Guilbault also connecting for the Wranglers, who were up 3-0 after one period and led 5-3 after 40 minutes.
Thomas Isaman blocked 20 shots in the Blackfalds net. Wildhaber made 28 saves for Thunder Bay.
Blackfalds was zero-for-five on the power play; the Northern Hawks were two-for-six.
Robin Carlson scored twice against Selkirk, while Samson, Justin Lowry, Jordy Potter and Jaye Sutherland also tallied for the Wranglers. Blackfalds got a 30-save outing from Isaman while firing 40 shots at Selkirk goaltender Jordan Liske.
The Wranglers were one-for-five with a man advantage. The Fisherman connected once on seven power-play opportunities.
The B.C. champion Beaver Valley Nitehawks were a perfect 5-0-0 during the round robin and downed the host Abbotsford Pilots 5-1 in the gold-medal game Sunday. The Pilots were 4-1-0 in round-robin play.