Photo credits: Dennis Cook

THUNDER BAY, Ont. – The Notre Dame Hounds picked up a pair of goals from Luke Mylymok while Cordel Larson tallied once and doled out two assists to help lead their side to a 5-2 victory over Winnipeg Wild in the championship game Sunday of the TELUS Cup West Regional, presented by Windsor Plywood, held at Fort William First Nation Arena in Thunder Bay.

With the win, the Hounds will now move on to represent the West Region at the 2018 TELUS Cup Canadian National Midget Championship, April 23-29, in Sudbury, Ont.

Picking up the afternoon’s initial power play, the Hounds were quick to strike as regional most valuable player Mylymok banged one in past Winnipeg starter Miles Minor.

Notre Dame then went up by a pair as Mylymok notched his second of the stanza at 15:02.

Regrouping, the Wild countered with two tallies of their own before the session was complete.

Zach Falck fired one from the right side that eluded Riley Kohonick in the Notre Dame net at 16:38.

Two shifts later, Winnipeg drew level as Kyle Bettens wired one from the slot to knot the affair at 2-2.

Moving on to the second stanza, Notre Dame regained the lead at 7:41 as Nolan Renwick one-timed a Larson feed that flew past Minor to give the Hounds the edge heading into the third.

A fast-paced final frame saw both sides earn quality chances to add to the scoring.

A late man advantage offered the Wild one more chance to try and knot the affair and force overtime.

However, with their goalkeeper pulled to give them two extra skaters, a bouncing puck off a face-off skipped over the stick of the Winnipeg defender and allowed Larson to sail down the right side before sliding an insurance marker into an empty net.

Brad Morrissey added one more empty netter in the final seconds to round out the scoring and give the Hounds their record seventh West Regional title.

Defenceman Quinn Schmiemann dished out two assists to aid the Notre Dame cause.

Shots on goal favoured the Saskatchewan side 41-17 with Kohonick picking up the victory while Minor suffered the season-ending setback.

WEST REGIONAL NOTES: In the past 24 years the West Regional winner has gone on to win the Canadian championship 14 times, which is the most of any region across the country, by a wide margin. … Saskatchewan AAA Midget Hockey League sides have now won the last seven West Regional titles and nine of the previous 10. … In the past 35 years of West Regional competition teams from Saskatchewan have claimed the crown a total of 26 times. … The Thunder Bay Kings of Hockey Northwestern Ontario have garnered the laurels on four occasions and went on to win two national championships and a pair of silver-medal finishes. … The Winnipeg Thrashers claimed the regional twice while the Thunder Bay Comets, Brandon Wheat Kings and Winnipeg Hawks all did it once. … The Kings, Thunder Bay Minor Hockey Association, Hockey Northwestern Ontario and the City of Thunder Bay will be hosting the 2019 TELUS Cup Canadian National Midget Championship, April 22-28, at the Fort William Gardens.

Capturing Most Valuable Player laurels was Notre Dame Hounds forward Luke Mylymok.

Earning Top Forward honours was Kyle Bettens of the Winnipeg Wild with Notre Dame’s Ryker Evans taking home Top Defenceman accolades.

Meanwhile Miles Minor of the Wild was named Top Goaltender.

You also had Matt Shatsky from Winnipeg earning the ESSO Scholarship award for his excellence in the classroom.

Four other players were also recognized for their scholastic endeavours with each receiving a $500 bursary to help further their post-secondary education.

Those recipients were:

Thomas Brassard – Thunder Bay Kings
Jayme Caron – Kenora Thistles
Cody Lehner – Notre Dame Hounds
Eric Fawkes – Winnipeg Wild

Sunday’s championship features the Notre Dame Hounds (3-0) taking on the Winnipeg Wild (2-1) at 2 p.m. ET.

The winner will advance to the TELUS Cup Canadian National Midget Championship, April 23-29, in Sudbury, Ont.

With the result, Notre Dames finishes first with a 3-0 record and will now advance to the championship game Sunday against the Winnipeg Wild (2-1) at 2 p.m. ET back in Thunder Bay.

Following a touching and moving pre-game ceremony honouring the victims and those associated with the horrific events involving the Humboldt Broncos of the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League Friday, a sombre start to the contest saw the majority of the first period remain scoreless.

However the Hounds would strike late as they caught a Kings’ defender on an ill-timed decision that resulted in a two-on-one and saw Ernst bury the rebound off a Stanley Cooley shot with just 33 seconds remaining in the frame.

The second stanza Notre Dame break it open as Avery Winslow and Luke Mylymok scored at even strength while Quinn Schmiemann and Morrisey connected on the power play to put them up 5-0 after 40 minutes.

Thunder Bay did get one back early in the third off the stick of Christian Veneruzzo, but Morrisey and Jake Dale added later markers for the visitors to round out the scoring.

Aaron Randazzo made 20 saves to pick-up the win for the Hounds.

Jordan Smith started for the Kings and suffered the loss allowing five on 36 shots in two periods of work while Seth McKay turned aside five of seven in third period relief.

Following a tight-checking opening 20 minutes the two clubs, who both compete in the Manitoba Junior Hockey League, neither side would connect offensively in the frame.

Winnipeg would break the ice twice though before the middle session was five-minutes old as Luke Seremet converted from close range at 2:15 and highly-touted forward Kyle Bettens snapped one past Kenora starter Cooper Hatfield a few shifts later.

The Thistles would get on the board at 8:43 of the frame as Aidan Shumka was left alone to the side of Wild netminder Kadin Kilpatrick and made no mistake as he lifted a shot into the top righthand corner.

Thompson started his big game by adding to the Winnipeg cushion before the second was complete.

He then tacked on two more in quick order in the third to put the Wild up 5-1.

They then finished off the one-sided result with late tallies from Mikol Sartor, Eric Fawkes and Seremet to finish off the onslaught.

Kilpatrick made 31 saves to record the win for the Wild.

Hatfield suffered the loss allowing seven against on 34 while Matthew Booth handled 10 of 11 in just over seven minutes of relief.

A hard-checking opening stanza saw neither side connect offensively.

It was another tightly played hard-fought middle frame with the Kings eventually breaking the deadlock as Kyle Swerhun swooped in and cut right and buried his chance off a Jonathon Kilby feed past a sprawled Matthew Booth in the Kenora net at 16:15.

The Kings added to their lead five minutes into the final frame as Michael Vecchio was there to bury a loose puck from in close to put the hosts up by two.

Vecchio added another in the back-half of the period to finish off the night’s scoring.

Matthew Booth faced 35 shots in defeat for the Thistles.

Round robin play concludes Saturday as Kenora (0-2) takes on the Winnipeg Wild (1-) at noon before the Kings (1-1) meet the Notre Dame Hounds (2-0) at 3 p.m.

The top two teams after the round robin will meet in the championship game Sunday at 2 p.m.

Awaiting the 2018 West Regional winner will be a berth to the TELUS Cup Canadian National Midget event, April 23-29, in Sudbury, Ont.

Photo credit: Leith Dunick, tbnewswatch.com

Notre Dame opened the scoring two minutes into the contest as Drew Englot redirected a Wolford Coalson shot from inside the blueline that beat Winnipeg starter Miles Minor.

Coalson picked up his second assist of the session a few shifts later as he once again set-up Englot who was driving to the front of the net and chipped the puck over Minor at 5:09 to give the Saskatchewan side a two-tally cushion after one period of play.

The Hounds added to their margin early in the middle session as Brad Morrisey came down the left wing and let loose a shot that eluded Wild goaltender to put them up by three with the lone marker of the frame.

Moving on to the third Winnipeg would eventually solve Notre Dame netminder Riley Kohonick as a hard-charging Jackson Klewchuk stuffed the puck in from the right of the crease at 5:12.

Going to the power play later in the period, the Wild pulled to within one as Kaden Bryant converted the man advantage as his quick shot from the slot found its way through a crowd in front.

Continuing to press the pace, the Manitoba Midget Hockey League champions would draw level at 14:47 on a mini two-on-one that saw Mikol Sartor saucer a pass over to an open Kyle Bettens who calmly waited out a diving Kohonick and proceeded to wire the equalizer into the top of the net.

However, the Hounds would regroup and come back with the eventual game-winner a minute and a half later with Cole Stevenson jamming in the difference maker following a crowded goal-mouth scramble.

Winnipeg pulled their goalkeeper in the late going to try and tie it once more, however the Hounds defence stiffened to hold on for the win.

The Wild fired 19 shots on net in the third period with the contest finishing up with 31 attempts apiece for the afternoon.

Notre Dame’s Coulson and Winnipeg’s Zach Falck both had two assists for their respective sides.

With the result Notre Dame improves to 2-0 at the four-team event while Winnipeg slips to 1-1.

Friday’s evening contest at the West Regional, features the host Thunder Bay Kings (0-1) taking on the rival Kenora Thistles (0-1) at 8 p.m.

Awaiting the 2018 West Regional winner will be a berth to the TELUS Cup Canadian National Midget event, April 23-29, in Sudbury, Ont.

Winnipeg picked up the night’s opening tally midway through the first frame as Bettens was sent in alone on a breakaway and made no mistake as he made a couple of quick dekes before moving left and sliding the puck into the open side past a sprawled Seth McKay in the Thunder Bay net.

The Kings generated more chances in the middle stanza, but could not solve Wild goalkeeper Miles Minor.

Thunder Bay pressed the pace later in the frame, however Winnipeg capitalized by chipping the puck out and going in on a two-on-one with Mitchell Joss finishing off the crisp passing of teammates Eric Fawkes and Bettens at 17:04.

The home side came out flying to begin the third and were rewarded 25 seconds in as Robert Tyska stuffed in a chance from in front to put his side on the board.

However the Wild got that back at the tail-end of a four-minute power play when Matt Shatsky’s point shot fooled McKay and found it’s way into the back of the net to make it 3-1 at 4:39.

Winnipeg then capped off the victory midway through the final session on a Luc Benedictson effort.

Eric Fawkes aided the Wild cause with two assists on the night.

Minor finished with 17 saves to record the victory while McKay faced 31 attempts in defeat.

Day 2 action at the West Regional goes Friday as Winnipeg takes on the Notre Dame Hounds at 4 p.m. while the Kings take on the rival Kenora Thistles at 8 p.m.

Awaiting the 2018 West Regional winner will be a berth to the TELUS Cup Canadian National Midget event, April 23-29, in Sudbury, Ont.

Photo Credit: Leith Dunick, tbnewswatch.com

The Saskatchewan AAA Midget Hockey League-champion Hounds set the tone early grabbing a 3-0 lead after one period of play.

After Cole Stevenson staked Notre Dame to the lead three minutes into the contest, Zach Plucinski blasted one from the left point as the defenceman put his side up by a pair with a man advantage marker at 12:01.

Evans upped the cushion before the session was complete as he beat Thistles’ starter Cooper Hatfield from close range.

It was all Hounds in the second stanza as well as they tacked on four more markers to take control of the contest.

Mylymok had his trick in the period while Larson added the other tally as they took the big lead into the third.

Larson then tacked on two more to finish off a five-point day while Stevenson and Drew Englot capped off the offensive onslaught.

Stanley Cooley and Coalson Wolford dished out three assists apiece in the romp.

Aaron Randazzo handled all 11 attempts he faced to post the shutout.

Hatfield suffered the loss for Kenora allowing seven against on 25 shots while Matthew Booth made 25 stops in 27 and a half minutes of relief.

Game 2 of the day features the host Thunder Bay Kings taking on the Manitoba Midget Hockey League champion Winnipeg Wild at 8 p.m. ET.

Awaiting the 2018 West Regional winner will be a berth to the TELUS Cup Canadian National Midget event, April 23-29, in Sudbury, Ont.

TELUS Cup West Regional, presented by Windsor Plywood
Schedule
April 5-8
All games at Fort William First Nation Arena
Competing teams
Thunder Bay Kings (HOST-HNO)
Kenora Thistles (HNO)
Winnipeg Wild (MAN)
Notre Dame Hounds (SASK)

Thursday, April 5
Notre Dame 11 Kenora 0
Winnipeg vs. Thunder Bay 8 p.m. (FWFNA)

Friday, April 6
Winnipeg vs. Notre Dame 4 p.m. (FWFNA)
Thunder Bay vs. Kenora 8 p.m. (FWFNA)

Saturday, April 7
Kenora vs. Winnipeg 12 p.m. (FWFNA)
Notre Dame vs. Thunder Bay 3 p.m. (FWFNA)

Sunday, April 8
Final: 2nd round robin vs. 1st round robin 2 p.m.

Winner advances to TELUS Cup Canadian National Midget Championship, April 23-29, in Sudbury, Ont.

Kenora will serve as the second Hockey Northwestern Ontario side joining the HNO champion and host Thunder Bay Kings along with the title holders of the Manitoba Midget Hockey League, the Winnipeg Wild, and the Saskatchewan AAA Midget Hockey League, the Notre Dame Hounds.

Awaiting the winner of the West Regional is a berth to the TELUS Cup Canadian National Midget Championship, April 23-29, in Sudbury, Ont.

Here’s a preview of the Kenora Thistles:

THE SEASON: As the lone Ontario-based club in the 13-team Manitoba Midget Hockey League, Kenora finished in 10th spot overall during the 2017-18 regular season with an 18-26-0-4 record.

One of those triumphs came over the eventual MMHL champion Winnipeg Wild by a 5-4 count at home back on December 2.

With their 10th place finish, the squad did not qualify for the MMHL playoffs.

In the HNO Districts, the Thistles fell in three games to Thunder Bay after dropping scores of 7-3 and 2-1 on the road and 3-2 in overtime back in Kenora.

POINT PRODUCERS: Leading the club in regular season offensive numbers was forward Dylan Winsor.

He was over a point-per-game player with 50 in 48 outings, including 20 tallies.

Five of those markers were game-winners.

Cooper Witherspoon was next with 46 that featured a team-best 28 goals.

Sam Brunton finished third in scoring with 42 points while Sean Gula and Sulivan Shortreed supplied 35 each.

Witherspoon led his club offensively in the districts with three points in as many outings, including two tallies.

Aidan Shumka, Jacob Frankcom and Shortreed has two points apiece.

GOALKEEPERS: Cooper Hatfield saw nearly 1,600 minutes of game action for Kenora during the course of the regular season.

In all he had a respectable 14-11-0-2 record with 2.66 goals-against average and a .927 save percentage.

Hatfield’s efforts saw him finish fourth overall among all MMHL netminders in GAA and his save mark had him sit second in the league.

Matthew Booth meanwhile played over 1,300 minutes and he picked up four victories along the way.

The duo posted two shutouts apiece in 2017-18.

Hatfield and Booth both saw time between the pipes in the districts defeat against Thunder Bay.

THISTLE THOUGHTS: Kenora is going in search of their first West Regional title. … Coaching the Thistles is their long-time club bench boss Doug Novak. … His assistant coaches are Bill Brunton and Kyle Chagnon. … Nine different players on the squad had 20 or more points in the MMHL this season. … Goaltender Cooper Hatfield was named MMHL player of the week for the time frame from January 8-14 after registering a 0.50 goals-against average and an equally stingy .985 save percentage in a pair of impressive victories. … Notable Thistles alumni include former NHLer Mike Richards. … Richards went on star in the Ontario Hockey League helping the Kitchener Rangers capture a Memorial Cup. … He also won two Stanley Cups with the Los Angeles Kings and helped Canada win a gold medal at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. … The Thistles have won the HNO AAA midget Branch Championship four times in competition vs. the Kings claiming crowns in 2001, 2012, 2013 and 2016.

Awaiting the 2018 West Regional winner will be a berth to the TELUS Cup Canadian National Midget event, April 23-29, in Sudbury, Ont.

As hosts of the four-team event, the Thunder Bay major midget Kings are the Hockey Northwestern Ontario AAA District champions after sweeping the Kenora Thistles in three games last month to claim the branch title.

Joining the Kings at the regional will be the Thistles, who qualified as the second HNO rep, along with the Winnipeg Wild and Notre Dame Hounds, the respective AAA midget champions from Manitoba and Saskatchewan.

THE SEASON: Thunder Bay had an active 2017-18 campaign competing in both the North American Prospects Hockey League in the U.S. as well as the locally in the Lakehead Junior Hockey League.

The club finished 13th out of 19 teams in the highly competitive NAPHL under-18 conference with a 7-10-0-1 record.

They then went 2-2 in the NAPHL Silver Division playoff tournament.

In LJHL action the major midgets posted a 12-3-1 record against their Jr. B opponents.

Thunder Bay also had an 11-10-1 mark against other AAA midget teams during the season.

In the HNO districts, the Kings swept the Thistles winning 7-3 and 2-1 on home ice and 3-2 in overtime in Kenora to secure the series triumph.

POINT PRODUCERS: Forward Kyle Swerhun led the Kings offensively with 12 points in just 15 NAPHL outings with five goals and seven assists to his credit.

Three of his tallies were game-winners.

Michael Vecchio was next with nine points while the trio of Robert Tyska, Jacob Anttonen and defenceman Zach Fortin were right behind him with eight apiece.

Tyska topped the club in the playoff tourney with a goal and three helpers followed by Christian Veneruzzo, who notched a trio of markers.

In LJHL play Anttonen once again paced his team with 25 points as he scored 10 times and helped set-up 15 more.

He was followed by Jonathan Kilby and Vecchio as they both registered 21 points.

Tyska supplied 20 while Fortin had 19 and fellow D-man Anthony Binairis chipped in with 18 points, including a team-high 16 assists.

Vecchio led the Kings offensively in the districts with five points to his credit, including the game-winner in overtime in the final contest.

Tyska was next with four points followed by Swerhun and Anttonen with three each.

GOALKEEPERS: Jordan Smith and Seth McKay split the duties in goal for Thunder Bay in the NAPHL with both netminders posting one shutout.

McKay was 2-0 in the playoff round and featured a 1.92 goals-against average.

Smith meanwhile lacked goal support in his two postseason starts while sporting a solid 1.54 average and a .921 save mark.

He did lead all LJHL netminders in both goals-against average and save percentage at 1.71 and .940 to go with a 6-1 record.

McKay was 6-2-1 vs. LJHL squads and had a 2.44 GAA.

He was credited with all three victories over Kenora in the districts.

KINGS’ NOTES: The Kings are coached by Darrin Nicholas, Jesse Pyatt and Chris Bruno. … The Kings have won the West Regional four times in their history claiming the title in 1992, 1995, 1996 and 1997. … The organization also went on to medal all four times they competed at the then Air Canada Cup (now TELUS Cup) Canadian National Midget Championship. … The Kings won it all in 1995 and 1997 and earned silver medals in 1992 and 1996. … Thunder Bay fell is last year’s West Regional final to the Regina Pat Canadians in Manitoba. … The Kings are one of nine organizations to have won multiple national midget crowns. … Notable major midget Kings NHL alumni include Trevor Letowski (Phoenix Coyotes, Vancouver Canucks, Columbus Blue Jackets & Carolina Hurricanes; Jeff Heerema (Carolina Hurricanes/St. Louis Blues), Jason Jaspers (Phoenix Coyotes) and Aaron MacKenzie (Colorado Avalanche). … Letowski was also a member of Team Canada side that captured the gold medal at the 1997 World Junior Hockey Championship. He is just the second person in Canadian history to win a gold medal as both a player and a coach helping on the staff of the nation’s latest WJHC title in January. The current head coach of the Ontario Hockey League’s Windsor Spitfires, Letowski was the Spitfires’ associate coach that won the 2017 Memorial Cup. … Kings’ assistant coach Chris Bruno played two seasons for the major midgets from 2002-04. … Bruno was also a goaltender on the roster of the 2005 RBC Cup Canadian Jr. A champion Weyburn Red Wings. … Head coach Darrin Nicholas’ son Nolan Nicolas is a Kings alumnus and is a sophomore defenceman at the University of Alaska-Anchorage where he competes on NCAA scholarship with the Seawolves. He was named to the Western Collegiate Hockey Association All-Academic Team for 2017-18. … Thunder Bay last hosted the West Regional back in 2003. … The Kings, HNO, Thunder Bay Minor Hockey Association and the City of Thunder Bay will host the 2019 TELUS Cup next April at the Fort William Gardens.

Awaiting the 2018 West Regional winner will be a berth to the TELUS Cup Canadian National Midget event, April 23-29, in Sudbury, Ont.