January 20, 2020
The Yale Academy Lions are the 42nd Annual John Reid Bantam Memorial Tournament Champions, defeating Lower Mainland rival, St. George’s Academy, 3-1 in the final.
The St. Albert-based tournament is considered the top Bantam AAA / Prep Team tournament in Western Canada, ahead of the WHL Bantam Draft, and features 16 of the top ranked teams in Western Canada and USA.
Yale led a contingent of six BC based squads, which also included two other academy teams besides St. George’s – Delta Green and West Vancouver Warriors.
Two teams from the BC Major Bantam league also competed, the Okanagan Rockets and Greater Vancouver Canadians.
Yale had come through the semi-final with a 7-2 win over Delta Green on Saturday afternoon, after eliminating the Calgary Bisons, 7-3 in the quarter-finals in the morning. In the round robin, Yale went 3-0 vs Edmonton’s South Side Athletic Club, Okanagan Rockets and Red Deer, outscoring their opponents 22-4,
St. George’s shut out the Calgary Flames, 3-0 in the quarter-finals, then blanked Red Deer 4-0 in their semi-final, to advance to the Gold medal game. In the round robin, St. George’s started with a 5-4 win over Los Angeles Jr. Kings, then lost their second game 3-1 to the Prairie Storm, before wrapping with an 8-3 win over the home town St. Albert Sabres.
In the Bronze medal game, Delta Green downed Red Deer 8-2, to complete the BC medal sweep.
Yale won the tournament in 2016 and won silver in a shoot out in 2017, to the Toronto Marlies. In 2018 Northern Alberta Xtreme won it, as BC teams finished out the medals that year. Last year Delta Wild were champs.
The last time a Western non-academy team won the tournament, was in 2013, when the North Shore Winter Club Winterhawks won it.
Recaps:
Gold Medal Game – Yale 3 – St. George’s 1
In the Gold Medal game, Yale jumped out to a 2-0 first period lead on goals from Reggie Newman and Nolan Viesner, as the team dominated St. George’s 19-8 on the shot clock.
In the second period, Yale were assessed all four of the minor penalties handed out in the frame, as shots tilted 11-6 in favor of St. George’s. Both teams tallied a goal, including a second by Reggie Newman, to close out the scoring.
Bronze Medal Game – Delta 8 – Red Deer 2
A four goal second period iced the game for the Delta Wild Academy Green team, in their Bronze Medal game vs Red Deer.
After opening a 1-0 lead after the first, Delta poured it on in the second to take a 5-1 lead after forty minutes.
They scored two more quick goals in the third, to open a 7-1 lead before the Rebels notched one with 5:06 left. But Delta would answer with one more at the 2:06 mark, to close it out 8-2, on Tomas Mrsic’s second of the game.
Other
In a consolation game Sunday, the West Van Warrior’s defeated the home town St. Albert Sabres, 7-5, outshooting them 53-19.
West Van lead 2-1 after the first. In the second, both teams scored a pair, to make it 4-3 entering the final frame.
In the third, the teams exchanged goals twice, including the last two just ten seconds apart, as the Sabres kept battling. But a final West Van goal from Luke Korte, closed out the win for WV.
Matthew Woods scored 4 goals for the Warriors in the game, with Grayden Slipec picking up three assists. The two are leading the CSSHL Bantam Prep scoring race at the moment – with team at the top of the standings, three points up on #2 Delta Green.
42nd John Reid Memorial – Medal Squad Rosters:
Yale Lions Team:
Staff:
| Brad Bowen | Head Coach | |
| Erin Thornton | Assistant Coach | |
| Billy Wilms | Manager | |
| Tristan Sandhu | Trainer |
Players:
|
#
|
First
|
Last
|
P
|
|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | Sawyer | Mynio | D |
| 6 | Zachary | Benson | F |
| 7 | Reggie | Newman | F |
| 8 | Nolan | Viesner | F |
| 9 | Logan | Wormald | F |
| 11 | Brendan | Ruskowski | F |
| 12 | Ryan | Michael | D |
| 14 | Ewan | Minisofer | F |
| 17 | Nic | Leggett | D |
| 18 | Darius | Bachler | F |
| 19 | Brady | Milburn | F |
| 21 | Erik | Sollied | D |
| 23 | Matteo | Fabrizi | D |
| 24 | Tanner | Molendyk | D |
| 27 | Joel | Plante | F |
| 29 | Jordan | Keller | F |
| 32 | Emmitt | Finnie | F |
| 35 | Brady | Smith | G |
| 74 | Carter | Capton | G |
St. George’s Bantam Prep
Staff:
| Name | Position | |
|---|---|---|
| Todd Harkins | Head Coach | |
| Nicklas Harkins | Assistant Coach | |
| Todd Harkins | Manager | |
| Teri-Rose Davis | Trainer |
Players:
| 1 | Jaiden | Sharma | G |
| 5 | Hunter | McInnes | D |
| 8 | Justin | Yee | F |
| 13 | William | Queree | F |
| 14 | Andrew | Cristall | F |
| 15 | Nigel | Loh | D |
| 17 | Ben | Sutton | F |
| 27 | Jesse | Fader | D |
| 33 | Finn | Buell | G |
| 41 | Brady | Miller | F |
| 42 | Alex | Cordero | D |
| 77 | Hoyt | Stanley | D |
| 79 | Zach | Zapanta | F |
| 88 | Declan | Warburton | F |
| 89 | Owen | Beckner | F |
| 91 | Arjun | Bawa | F |
| 92 | Nick | Ershadi | F |
| 97 | Horen | Wang | D |
Delta Team Roster
Staff:
| Milan Dragicevic | Head Coach | |
| Harry Dion | Assistant Coach | |
| Owen Pighin | Manager |
Players:
|
#
|
First
|
Last
|
|
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Aiden | Fischer | G |
| 2 | Lukas | Dragicevic | D |
| 3 | Michael | McIntyre | D |
| 4 | Niko | Tsakumis | D |
| 6 | Payton | Mithmuangneua | F |
| 7 | Carter | Savage | D |
| 8 | Caden | Brown | F |
| 11 | Ekam | Dhaliwal | F |
| 12 | Jamison | Sluys | F |
| 13 | Jordan | Gavin | F |
| 14 | Ethan | Semeniuk | F |
| 15 | Lohgan | Weber | F |
| 17 | Deagen | McMillan | F |
| 19 | Tomas | Mrsic | F |
| 22 | Terrell | Goldsmith | D |
| 23 | Tymon | Sanikkopoulos | D |
| 39 | Felix | Plendl | G |
| 43 | Dawson | Toledo | F |
| 55 | Oliver | Tulk | F |
