Crusaders capture WHSHL crown

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This article was published 28/02/2024 (896 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The St. Paul’s Crusaders expected a spirited rematch. They got that and then some from the Westwood Warriors.

Yet, after 60 minutes of regulation, a 10-minute overtime and a five-round shootout, the Crusaders still found a way to leave on top.

St. Paul’s planted its flag on the Winnipeg High School Hockey League for the second time in three years after defeating the Warriors 3-2 and sweeping the best-of-three championship series at Seven Oaks Arena on Wednesday.

Chase Thoendel, Sam Monin and Troy Boughton scored in the shootout for St. Paul’s while goaltender Ben Muise stopped three of the four shots he faced to go with the 20 saves he made in the regulation and overtime periods. Cole Warsaba was the lone player to score for Westwood in the shootout.

“In that shootout, once we got that first one, I thought it was over because I thought we got the boys rolling,” said Muise, who earned series MVP for the Crusaders after stopping 39 of 41 shots faced in two contests.

“It feels amazing for me. I haven’t played a lot of high-level hockey before, this is by far the best I’ve played. All the boys, they’re always supporting me. When we’re going on the ice, they’re saying ‘Release us Muisey, release us!” and it feels great. I feel like they have a lot of confidence in me and it’s amazing.”

After being rolled 5-0 in Game 1, the desperate Warriors squad tightened its defensive structure and held the Crusaders’ potent offence to no goals through the first two periods on the back of some sparkling play from goaltender Brandon Hachey.

A scoreless 40 minutes saw both teams trade high-danger chances and momentum without anything to show for their efforts.

That changed less than five minutes into the third period when Hachey, who finished with 24 saves in the loss, fumbled a clearing attempt from behind his net. A wrap-around attempt from Monin was scooped up by teammate Noah Brigg in the crease and buried into the empty net.

It was a timely play from the Crusaders’ horses. Brigg led St. Paul’s with 34 points during the regular season and again in the playoffs with 13 points in eight games.

“My line helped me out a lot,” said Brigg. “We play very well together. Obviously, we played a big role in our team’s success but it’s four lines. It’s not just our line that was playing good, it’s all lines.”

The Warriors got a lucky bounce less than two minutes later as Warsaba’s centring attempt deflected off the skate of a Crusaders and into the net. A goal from Davis Krut looked like it might be enough to send St. Paul’s home with a win in regulation time with five minutes remaining, but a response from Carter Shabaga with a Warriors empty net knotted things back up in the final two minutes.

“To be expected, we faced a team that was desperate and strong-willed and really showed a lot of character,” said Crusaders head coach Rob Puchniak. “We were very fortunate tonight, I thought. Our guys battled too, but we knew it was going to be very difficult and it was.

“A tough way to resolve it in the end with a shootout instead of an actual goal but I thought our guys stuck with it and the word is ‘resilient.’ Really pleased for our players, really satisfied for them.”

The Crusaders are now 5-0 against the Warriors this season, but they may not have seen the last of each other.

The Manitoba High School Athletic Association provincial tournament will feature both WHSHL finalists from March 8-11. Typically a five-team tournament, this year’s provincials expanded to six teams with Westwood as the host school (and qualifying as a WHSHL finalist).

The Neepawa Tigers will occupy the third sead while the winner of the Zone 4 league — W.C. Miller (Altona) Aces or the Morden Thunder — will fill the fourth spot.

The final two berths will be set Sunday when the River East Kodiaks play the Oak Park Raiders (noon) and the Sturgeon Heights Huskies play the Vincent Massey Trojans (2 p.m.) at Seven Oaks Arena.

“We expect to see these guys again and it’s going to be tough again,” said Puchniak. “So, everybody’s going to have to reset, but really happy for our guys tonight.”

joshua.frey-sam@freepress.mb.ca

X: @jfreysam