The Alberta teams sent a clear message during Day 1 of the Minto Cup, which got underway in Calgary on Sunday: You can’t take them lightly.
The host Calgary Mountaineers and the Okotoks Raiders arguably pulled off upsets to open the Junior A national championship.
The tournament opened with the Mountaineers picking up an 11-8 win over the B.C.-champion Victoria Shamrocks. Later in the evening, the Raiders downed one of the odds-on favourites to win the tournament, the St. Catharines Athletics, 12-10.
Calgary Mountaineers 11, Victoria Shamrocks 8
Calgary jumped out early against Victoria, taking a 5-1 lead in the first period. Victoria mounted a slight comeback but trailed 7-3 after the first.
The Shamrocks started to settle down in the second period. The lone goal came from Phillip Busenius to narrow Calgary’s lead to three.
The third period went back and forth, but the Shamrocks couldn’t make up ground as both teams scored four goals to make the final 11-8.
Calgary was led by Ryan McDonald with two goals and three assists, followed by Callum Zarsky with two goals and two assists. Kayden Yeaman had a three-point game with two goals and an assist, while Caiden Moon had three assists.
Tommy St. Louis got the win in goal for the Mounties, stopping 33 of 41 shots.
Victoria was led by Ryan Lowe with four points, including a goal and three assists. Marcelo Carriero had a hat trick for the Shamrocks, while Busenius had a pair of goals.
Angus Snow played all but 4:12 of the game in the Shamrocks’ goal and stopped 34 of 40 shots in the loss.
Okotoks Raiders 12, St. Catharines Athletics 10
In one of the early shocks of the tournament, the Raiders walked away with a 12-10 win over St. Catharines.
The Athletics opened the scoring, but the Raiders replied with two straight goals to take a 2-1 lead after the first period.
The Raiders dominated the second period, at one point holding a 6-2 lead. St. Catharines pushed back, but a goal by Luke McNamara with 38 seconds left gave the Raiders a 7-3 lead heading into the third.
St. Catharines did mount a comeback in the third period. Trailing 10-7, the Athletics went on a three-goal run to tie the game 10-10 with 6:06 left to play.
However, Cash Frijters scored the game-winning goal with 4:47 left and added an insurance goal on the power play with 3:21 left to give the Raiders a 12-10 win and finish off Day 1 at the Minto Cup.
Frijters led the way for the Raiders with two goals and four assists for six points. Wyatt Viste had a hat trick and two assists, while Dylan Belliveau had a goal and four assists, and McNamara added a hat trick and one assist.
Between the pipes, Nathan Whittom stopped 32 of 42 shots to shut down the Athletics.
Jameson Bucktooth led St. Catharines with four goals and two assists, while Arrow Booth had a hat trick and three assists. Zachary Toll was a playmaker with four assists.
Ty Wilson got the start in goal for the Athletics and stopped 27 of 39 shots.
Standings After Day 1
- Calgary Mountaineers, 1-0
- Okotoks Raiders, 1-0
- St. Catharines Athletics, 0-1
- Victoria Shamrocks, 0-1
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