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The Battlefords North Stars will have a shot at a Canadian title.
The SJHL champions beat the Portage Terriers 7-1 in a semifinal Saturday at the Centennial Cup, the national junior A hockey championship tournament. The event is being held in Portage la Prairie, Man.
The North Stars advanced to Sunday’s final against the AJHL-champion Brooks Bandits, who beat the Ottawa Jr. Senators 3-0 in Saturday’s other semifinal.
The final is to begin at 2 p.m. Saskatchewan time.
The Bandits are the two-time defending Centennial Cup champions, winning in 2019 and 2022. The tournament wasn’t held in 2020 or ’21 due to COVID-19.
The North Stars are seeking their first national title.
Brooks posted a 53-5-2 record in the Alberta league’s 2022-23 regular season and then went 12-3 in the post-season en route to the AJHL title. The North Stars were 48-5-3 in the SJHL regular season before going 12-1 in that league’s playoffs.
The Bandits were the No. 1 team in the final Canadian Junior Hockey League rankings before the Centennial Cup began, while Battlefords was No. 2.
In Saturday’s game, the North Stars jumped out to a 4-0 first-period lead over the Terriers — the tournament’s host team – and never looked back.
Holden Doell scored twice in the North Stars’ opening-frame onslaught, with Alex Izyk and Steven Kesslering adding one goal apiece.
Jake Southgate and Bradley Blake sniped in the second period for Battlefords, with Riley Girod adding a third-period tally. Matt Wisener scored for Portage.
Josh Kotai stopped 30 shots for the North Stars before giving way to Justen Maric late in the third period. Maric didn’t face any shots.
Bailey Monteith started for Portage but was pulled after allowing six goals on 22 shots in 34 minutes of action. Jayden Catellier stopped 15 of 16 shots in his 25 minutes in the Terriers’ net.