Rotated Mustangs complete round robin with victory

OAKVILLE, ON – Logan Belton scored a pair and Kaleb Binner scored his first career playoff goal in a Mustangs jersey as Melfort defeated the Centennial Cup host Oakville Blades 3-1 to complete the round robin on Wednesday.

It was a heavily rotated Melfort lineup, as the Mustangs were guaranteed the top spot in Group B and the No. 2 seed in the tournament playoffs before puck drop due to the Collingwood Blues' win in the game before against the Navan Graduates.

Melfort goaltender Kristian Coombs, who had not started a game since the final game of the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League regular season, found out he was in the starting lineup about an hour before the puck dropped and delivered a 29-save performance, a “Player of the game” from night onwards.

Nolan Henderson also had two assists on a night in which top pair Clay Sleeva, Aidyn Hutchinson and Ryan Duguay, top pair Leith Olafson and Chase Friedt-Mohr and No. 1 goalie James Venne were all rested.

The Mustangs finished the round robin with a record of three regular-season wins, one shootout win and no losses. They will wait for Friday's quarterfinal results to find out more about their semifinal opponent on Saturday. It is likely that their semifinal will take place at 7:30 p.m. local time or 5:30 p.m. Saskatchewan time.

The full tournament schedule can be found here.

The complete tournament status can be found here.

Hockey Canada media update

Centennial Cup: Day 7 review

Wednesday, May 15, 2024

Greater Sudbury Cubs 6, Collège Français de Longueuil 0

Marshall McCharles (North Bay, ON) led Sudbury to its first win with two goals and an assist.
Noah Beaulne (Hanmer, ON) delivered a 22-save performance for the shutout.
Mathis Lacroix-Goulet (Delson, QC) made 23 saves for Longueuil.

Collingwood Blues 3, Navan Grads 2

Jack Rimmer (Toronto, ON) had two assists for Collingwood.
Ethan Facchina (Parkhill, ON), Landon Wright (Belleville, ON) and Spencer Young (Elmira, ON) scored for Collingwood.
Matthew Roy (Stittsville, ON) was named man of the game for Navan with a goal.

Melfort Mustangs 3, Oakville Blades 1

Logan Belton (Winnipeg, MB) scored two goals for Melfort.
Nolan Henderson (Calgary, AB) contributed two assists.
Luke Johnston (Milton, ON) scored the lone goal for Oakville.
Sean Clarke (Toronto, ON) was named the Blades' player of the game.

Next games – Quarterfinals (Friday May 17)

Navan Grads vs. Miramichi Timberwolves – 4:00 p.m. ET/1:00 p.m. PT

Winkler Flyers vs. Calgary Canucks – 7:30 p.m. ET/4:30 p.m. PT

Quotes:

“I felt really good. I've been preparing for this for a while and it felt good to finally be back on the ice. The guys in front of me played great and blocked shots well. Obviously the first three games didn't go the way we wanted, but we fought through this game and the boys showed what they wanted. It was a surreal experience for us to be here. Thank you to everyone who helped us get here – our owners and families, everyone who was involved.”

Beaulne on the successful completion of the tournament

“They're a good team and going into the game we had to make sure we were as prepared as possible by watching the tape, looking at their special teams and finding ways to win the little battles. Focusing on the things you can't control is just an easy way to get into your own head, and it's one of the things that can impact your game the most. Today we just tried to keep a cool head and focus on our own game because that’s what we can control.”

Wright on a close match with Navan

“Even though we already knew where we would finish in the standings, we still wanted to play our game, win and show that we could get through the preliminary round undefeated, and we did that. Getting out of the semi-finals is huge for us too. We need the rest days and no matter who we play in the semi-finals, we will give our best; We want to win.”

Belton on the final score of 4-0

“It's frustrating for the kids and it's frustrating for the coaches because we were hoping for a better result. As I already told the staff, we didn't embarrass ourselves in any of the games and we worked until the bitter end. It's a bit of a cliché, but it's true – tonight the kids didn't give up, their goalkeeper played exceptionally well, we didn't draw any looks and they got two lucky rebounds. This is the game of hockey; Sometimes you’re on the good side, sometimes you’re on the bad side, and in every game there’s a winner and a loser.”

Blades head coach Scott McCrory on a disappointing end to the tournament

Photo credit: Tim Bates / OJHL Images