The Alberta Cup Final kicks off tomorrow between the top two seeds in the division – the Brooks Bandits and the Sherwood Park Crusaders. We have a full breakdown of the series in our Alberta Cup Final preview.
#1 Brooks Bandits vs. #2 Sherwood Park Crusaders
Head-to-Head:
Brooks won the season series 4-1 in BCHL play, with one of their wins coming in overtime.
Top Playoff Performers:
Brooks – F Logan Sawyer (8 points), F Nathan Free (7 points), F Caelen Fitzpatrick (7 points), G Johnny Hicks (.930 save percentage)
Sherwood Park – F Kale Dach (8 points), F Hunter Price (7 points), F Logan Hauer (7 points), F Noah Wills (7 points)
Breakdown:
Brooks was pushed to the limit in the semifinals by the Okotoks Oilers, needing the full seven games to advance. The two teams exchanged wins for the duration of the series before the Bandits finally put the Oilers away with a 5-1 win on home ice in Game 7 on the strength of a Caelen Fitzpatrick hat trick. Brooks boasts a plethora of high-end forwards that can outscore teams on any given night, including four of the top-eight scorers in the regular season in Parker Lalonde, Hunter Wallace, Mirko Buttazzoni and Nathan Free. Their defence group is maybe just as impressive, led by standouts like Ethan Beyer, Keith McInnis and Quinn McCall, two of which were named to the Alberta Division year-end all-star teams. Last, but not least, Brooks goaltender Johnny Hicks led the regular season in both save percentage and goals-against average, and through seven playoff games, he again leads Alberta in both categories.
While Brooks went the full seven games in their series, Sherwood Park had the opposite experience. The Crusaders swept their semifinal series against the Blackfalds Bulldogs, putting up a staggering 28 goals in those four games. Their series contained several impressive individual performances, including Ethan Merner’s two-goal effort in Game 1, Logan Hauer’s four-point night in Game 3 and Noah Wills’ hat trick in the Game 4 clincher. Spruce Grove enjoyed a highly successful regular season in the BCHL, which resulted in them leading the division in year-end all-stars, including four of six players named to the First-Team. Wills was the Alberta Division leading scorer in the regular season with 30 points in 20 games and he has continued that pace in the playoffs with seven points through their four postseason contests. On the blueline, Connor Gengle and Cade Christenson were the two highest scoring defencemen in the regular season, while goaltender Erick Roest was named a First-Team All-Star.
Schedule:
Game 1: May 10 – Brooks at Sherwood Park – 7 p.m. MT
Game 2: May 11 – Brooks at Sherwood Park – 7:15 p.m. MT
Game 3: May 17 – Sherwood Park at Brooks – 7 p.m. MT
Game 4: May 18 – Sherwood Park at Brooks – 7 p.m. MT
Game 5: May 22 – Sherwood Park at Brooks – 7 p.m. MT*
Game 6: May 24 – Brooks at Sherwood Park – 7 p.m. MT*
Game 7: May 26 – Sherwood Park at Brooks – 7 p.m. MT*
*If necessary
