Brooks beats Battlefords to win Centennial Cup championship

The Brooks Bandits spoiled the Battlefords North Stars’ party Sunday at the Centennial Cup.

The Bandits, champions of the Alberta Junior Hockey League, beat the North Stars 4-0 to win the Canadian junior A hockey title in Portage la Prairie, Man.

It’s the third straight Centennial Cup for the Bandits, who also won in 2019 and 2022. The tournament wasn’t held in 2020 or ’21 due to COVID-19.

The North Stars were seeking their first national title. The last Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League team to win the national championship was the Yorkton Terriers in 2014.

Brooks posted a 53-5-2 record in the AJHL’s 2022-23 regular season and then went 12-3 in the league’s playoffs en route to the Alberta 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 tournament began, while Battlefords was No. 2.

The teams finished atop their respective group standings in Portage and each won a semifinal to set up Sunday’s clash.

After a scoreless first period, the Bandits got two goals from Hudson Malinoski and one each from Hunter Wallace and Heath Armstrong in the second period and the North Stars couldn’t recover.

Ethan Barwick stopped all 30 shots he faced in the Brooks net. The Bandits surrendered just four goals in six games in the tournament.

Josh Kotai stopped 37 shots for the North Stars in the final.