The Melfort Mustangs had one goal: to win the Centennial Cup national junior A hockey championship.
Unfortunately, they were unable to score any goals against the Collingwood, Ont., Blues in the national championship final on Sunday in Oakville, Ontario. Collingwood’s lone goal, and eventual game-winner, came on a power play early in the second period, giving the Ontario squad a 1-0 victory.
“A game of inches, really,” said Mustangs head coach and general manager Trevor Blevins, whose team went unbeaten in the preliminary round and downed the Alberta Junior Hockey League champion Calgary Canucks 2-1 in semifinal action the night before. “We were simply on the wrong side of it today. I think they did a great job blocking shots. We didn’t get anything done, but we did have opportunity.”
Ryan Duguay had two of the finest scoring opportunities, the second of which grazed the post. He departed the game during the second quarter due to injury and did not return. The Mustangs were already playing without forwards Zac Somers, Tye Evans, Mathieu Pigeon, and Hayden Prosofsky up front. Losing Duguay added insult to injury.
“It was kind of unfortunate the last few games where we lost Tye Evans against Oakville and Matt Pigeon against Calgary and then you lose Ryan Duguay and he was having a heck of a game,” Blevins said. “I figured if anyone was going to break it open for us, it might be Clay Sleeva-Aidyn Hutchinson-Duguay. They have done it all year. It definitely hurt, but I’m glad of how everyone stood up, including Logan Belton, who fired right up on that line and did an excellent job.
“We had opportunities. It simply didn’t go in. We also missed the net a lot. But hey, we defended hard, and I felt our penalty kill was fantastic. We played hard as if we needed to succeed. I believed we were taking it to them at times. Shots were slightly slanted after their first power play, when they received seven or eight shots right away. Aside from that, I didn’t feel the game was rigged; it might have gone either way. It’s just the way things went.” Melfort was competing in Canada’s national junior A tournament for the third time, and the Mustangs finished second again.
The Mustangs finished second in the event in 1996, when they hosted what was then known as the Royal Bank Cup. Blevins played for the Kevin Dickie-coached team.
“Don’t remind me of that,” quipped Blevins, who has now lost twice in the national finals. In that final, the Mustangs outshot the Vernon, B.C. Vipers but were unable to score on Beau Riedel. This time, they were unable to score against NCAA Yale University recruit Noah Pak.
Blevins believed the Blues played well defensively. “They did what they needed to do. I believe we scared them. I believe we would have been one of the best teams we faced this year. You could tell they were clinging on and were quite defensive. We simply couldn’t tackle it.” Mustangs goalkeeper James Venne, a Saskatoon minor hockey product, performed admirably on the other end, making 35 saves and giving his team a chance.
Collingwood went 1 for 4 on the power play. Melfort went 0-for-3, but their second power play was cut short after 27 seconds due to an interference penalty by Mustangs captain Leith Olafson.
It wasn’t for a lack of trying; it wasn’t for a lack of work, competition, or will — that’s why I’m so proud of the squad,” added Blevins. “They truly did leave everything out there. They can hold their heads up high knowing that an organization, parents, family, friends, and the city of Melfort are all extremely happy of them for how they played and behaved off the ice.
