B.C. league continues dominance
The Doyle Cup format returned after a five-year absence and the B.C. Hockey League champions picked up right where they left off.
Seven players shared the scoring as the visiting Wenatchee Wild thumped the Alberta league champion Spruce Grove Saints 7-2 on Friday to take the best-of-seven series 4-1.
The Wild advance as the Pacific region champions for the RBC Cup national Junior-A championship May 12-20 in Chilliwack.
Josh Arnold, Sam Morton, August Von Ungern, Matt Dorsey, AJ Vanderbeck, Jasper Weatherby and Cooper Zech into an empty net scored for the Wild, who built period leads of 2-1 and 5-2.
Logan Ganie scored both goals for Spruce Grove, who fell behind 3-0 in the series before staying alive with a 5-2 home-ice victory in Game 4.
Austin Park – pulled in the Game 4 defeat – bounced back with 29 stops for the Wild, while Nolan Kent had 31 saves for the Saints.
The Doyle Cup was introduced in 1985 with the trophy donated by then-Penticton businessman Peter Doyle. The BCHL champs beat the AJHL champs 19 times before the format was scrapped after 2012 in favour of the Western Canada Cup.
The Penticton Vees won the last Doyle Cup in 2012 over Brooks Bandits en route to winning the RBC Cup in Humboldt, Sask.
Wenatchee will face BCHL rivals and tournament host Chilliwack Chiefs in their first round-robin game at the RBC Cup this Saturday at 7 p.m. The Chiefs have been idle for almost two months after losing to Prince George in the first round of the BCHL playoffs.
Wenatchee – in just their third season in the league — beat Merritt, Vernon, Trail and Powell River to become the first U.S.based team since the 1979 Bellingham Blazers to win the BCHL championship.
The five-team competition also includes the Wellington Dukes (Dudley-Hewitt Cup, Central region champs), Ottawa Jr. Senators (Fred Page Cup, East region champs) and Steinbach Pistons or Nipawin Hawks (Anavet Cup, West region champs).
Steinbach leads Nipawin 3-2 going into Game 6 of the Saskatchewan-Manitoba championship series tonight. Game 7, if necessary, goes Tuesday. Both games will be played in Steinbach,