GRANDE PRAIRIE — Garrett Glasman potted a pair of early goals and the Blackfalds Wranglers cruised to a 6-0 win Sunday over the host Grande Prairie Kings in the final of the provincial junior B hockey championship.
Glasman scored at 7:18 and 14:01 of the opening period and the Wranglers got another goal from Jordan Jakubow before the intermission.
Trent Hermary connected in the second period and Jared Guilbault and Jaye Sutherland scored in the final frame. Wranglers netminder Kyle Baumgartner made 22 saves for the shutout, while his teammates directed 33 shots at Kings goaltender Connor Goudreau.
Blackfalds opened the tournament with a 6-4 loss to the Kings, then bounced back to post 6-2 and 2-1 Pool B wins over the Fort Saskatchewan Hawks and Cold Lake Ice.
The Wranglers qualified for Saturday’s semifinals with a 2-1 record, then advanced to the final with a 5-4 overtime victory over the St. Albert Merchants.
Dalen Kolybaba notched the overtime winner, while Glasman, Bryce Boguski, Chance Abbott and Robin Carlson scored regulation-time goals for Blackfalds. Glasman, Abbott and Carlson tallied less than three minutes part in the third period to wipe out a 4-1 deficit and force extra time.
Thomas Isaman made 40 saves for the winners. Merchants netminder Justin Pawlenchuk stopped 35 shots.
Grande Prairie defeated the North Peace Navigators 6-2 in the other semifinal. North Peace downed St. Albert 3-1 in the bronze-medal game.
The Wranglers will represent Alberta in the Keystone Cup — the Western Canada championship — April 17-20 at Abbotsford, B.C.