BANDITS STEAL CENTENNIAL CUP AGAIN

For the third straight year, the Brooks Bandits, champions of the Alberta Jr. A Hockey League, won the Centennial Cup, emblematic of CJHL supremacy. This year’s tournament was held at Stride Place in Portage la Prairie and the invaders from Alberta, who had four outstanding Manitobans in their lineup, easily became the first team to win three consecutive national titles. PORTAGE LA PRAIRIE, MB – Sam Court has never had a season last this long in his 14-plus years of playing organized hockey. However, the 19-year-old from Winnipeg is not complaining. After all, he was one of four Manitoba players who got to skate with the Centennial Cup in their own province. On the evening of May 20, Court and teammates Hughie Hooker (Winnipeg), Hunter Wallace (Oak Lake) and Jordan Hughesman (Winnipeg) lifted the Centennial Cup aloft as they helped the Brooks Bandits defeat the Battlefords North Stars 4-0 in the final of the 2023 CJHL Championship game at Portage’s Stride Place. “It was awesome,” said Court, who won Winnipeg AAA U15 championships with the Winnipeg Monarchs in 2018 and 2019. “Obviously to have the tournament in Portage was great. To have my whole family and my friends there to watch and give me support was awesome. The rink in Portage is just 40 minutes from my house so that was great. “But to win the national championship was surreal,” added Court, who had an assist in the championship game. “To do it with such a great group of guys on our team and with such a great coaching staff was amazing. We had a great year. We set a couple of records with the most points and most wins in the league and to just finish it out with a national championship was awesome.” This was the third consecutive year the Bandits have claimed the National Jr. A Championship, becoming the first team to win three consecutive national titles in succession. The Bandits won the 2019 championship in Brooks, Alta., then after the tournament was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and 2021, they came back and won again in Estevan, Sask. last year. Overall, the Bandits have won a record 18 straight games at the tournament. Hudson Malinoski scored twice as part of a four-goal second period for the Bandits. Malinoski, Wallace and Heath Armstrong put the game away with three goals in a span of 97 seconds midway through the second period to break open a scoreless game. Meanwhile, Ethan Barwick from St. Albert, Alta. made 30 saves for his second-consecutive shutout “This is an amazing feeling,” said Wallace, who finished with a goal and an assist. “Nobody has ever three-peated before. I’m going to steal a line from our captain last year who said ‘This is Brooks Bandits hockey, and this is what we do.’ I’m proud of this group, we knew the Stars were going to battle hard tonight and once we got one, we knew we were in control.” Brooks went undefeated in the tournament and allowed only five goals in six games, including a 3-0 win over Ottawa in the semifinal. Head Coach Ryan Papaioannou told hockeycanada.com, “Every time you win it feels a little different. I think last year’s win was a bit more stressful just with how the game went, but this one I feel like we controlled the entire game very well.” While Brooks had four Manitobans on the roster, Battlefords had one Manitoban in their lineup: Colby Bear from Peguis First Nation. They also had the Saskatchewan Jr. A Hockey League’s Top Defenceman, Tynan Ewart, an Albertan who was the former captain of the Pilot Mound U17 Buffaloes. “With four Manitobans on the team, to have our friends and family come and support us at all of our games was huge,” said Court, who plans to play NCAA D-1 hockey next season. “The crowds were great in Portage. I had a lot of my Team Manitoba tryouts and stuff at Stride Place so to win it there was like winning at home. It gave us four Manitobans a lot of energy. It was such a great time.”