Blizzard weather the storm on the road

As the clock struck midnight in Dauphin Friday, the Northern Manitoba Blizzard booked their ticket to the Centennial Cup, defeating the Kings in triple-overtime.

Quincy Supprien was the Game 7 hero, sliding the puck underneath the blocker of Dauphin goaltender Cole Sheffield with 5:57 to play in the sixth frame for the 2-1 victory.

Supprien, an assistant captain for the Blizzard, was recruited from Quebec by second-year head coach Eric Labrosse. He’s one of four Blizzard players who followed Labrosse from Quebec.

Supprien’s game-winning goal came on the 94th shot of the game. 56 of those shots came from Dauphin, but rookie goaltender Taye Timmerman’s 55-save performance helped clinch the Blizzard’s first Turnbull Cup since 2003.

Timmerman, who turned 18 in February, was cut last year by his regional AAA team. Now, he’s an MJHL champion, whose .937 save percentage and 1.68 goals-against average led all goaltenders in the post-season. Timmerman was the MJHL Playoff MVP co-winner, sharing the award with Dauphin’s Sheffield.

The game

Scoring began at the 17:38 mark of the first period, when 16-year-old Alexandre Andre won a race to the net and buried the rebound to give the Blizzard a 1-0 lead.

Dauphin outshot the Blizzard 15-7 in the first frame and showed no signs of slowing in the second. At the 15:31 mark, Dauphin centre Declan Hoad tied the game, beating Timmerman glove side on an offensive rush.

No one would score again for nearly 80 minutes.

When these two teams met in the first-round of last year’s MJHL playoffs, it required seven games and eleven overtime periods to determine a winner.

Now, in Game 7 of the Turnbull Cup final, they were off to triple overtime for the second time in the series.

Late in the first overtime period, Blizzard forward Louis-Jacob Beauregard slipped into the boards. The game was halted as Beauregard was transported to the Dauphin Regional Health Centre. He’s since been released.

Two periods later, Supprien’s game winner sent the Blizzard — and their fans who had travelled roughly 400 kilometres from The Pas and surrounding areas — into a frenzy.

Youthful spirit

The Blizzard become the youngest team to win the Turnbull Cup in decades.

Marlen Edwards, 18, Tyler Dahms, 19, and Supprien, also 19, finished atop the MJHL post-season scoring race. They are part of 20 players eligible to return next season to the Blizzard, who graduate six.

The MJHL champion Blizzard begin their quest for the Centennial Cup on May 8 in Calgary.