The Tisdale Trojans salute their fans at the Tisdale RECplex after defeating the Notre Dame Hounds 3-0 to advance to the Telus Cup Western Regionals Final (Aaron Schulze/northeastNOW Staff).

By Aaron Schulze

Trojans to Telus Cup

Tisdale Trojans advance to Telus Cup

Apr 6, 2019 | 3:32 PM

It’s uncommon when a hockey team advances to a national championship when they’re not on the ice.

However, that’s exactly what happened to the Tisdale Trojans during Day Three of the 2019 Telus Cup Western Regionals at the Tisdale RECplex on Saturday.

The Trojans, the host team for the Western Regionals, advanced to the 2019 Telus Cup national midget championship in Thunder Bay, Ont. when the Saskatchewan champion Notre Dame Hounds and the Northern Ontario representative Thunder Bay Kings tied their final round robin game 1-1.

The Tisdale Trojans celebrate near the rink boards as they looked on to see the Notre Dame Hounds and Thunder Bay Kings tie 1-1 (Aaron Schulze/northeastNOW Staff).

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Going into Day Three, the standings were:

1. Tisdale Trojans (Host) 2-0-0 6 GF 1 GA +5 GD

T-2. Notre Dame Hounds (Saskatchewan) 1-1-0 4 GF 5 GA -1 GD

T-2. Thunder Bay Kings (Northern Ontario) 1-1-0 6 GF 7 GA -1 GD

4. Brandon Wheat Kings (Manitoba) 0-2-0 6 GF 9 GA -3 GD

The Trojans booked their spot to Sunday’s Western Regionals Final with a 3-0 shutout over the Hounds on Day Two. The win put the Trojans at a 2-0 record, where only one of the other three teams could match.

With the Kings hosting this year’s Telus Cup in Thunder Bay, they had already booked their spot to the national midget championship, meaning if they were in the Western Regionals Final, their opponent would automatically advance to the Telus Cup.

The Hounds needed a win to save their season and advance to the Western Regionals Final. They had outshot the Kings 21-10 after two periods and a Drew Englot goal two minutes into the second period gave them a 1-0 going into the third.

Unfortunately for the Hounds, Thunder Bay’s Christian Veneruzzo tied the game 1-1 early in the third and the Kings never looked back. The Hounds pulled goaltender Thomas Wardle late for the extra attacker but to no avail.

The Notre Dame Hounds (red and white) grinded until the bitter end to get the game winning goal (Aaron Schulze/northeastNOW Staff).

The Western Regionals tie-breaking format is prioritized by:

• head-to-head record
• highest goal differential
• most goals for

Because the Hounds and Kings tied and had an equal goal differential, the one extra goal the Kings had over the Hounds throughout the tournament was the eventual tie-breaker.

The Trojans have one remaining round robin game against the Brandon Wheat Kings at 3:30 p.m.

The Trojans will play the Kings in the 2019 Telus Cup Western Regionals Final on Sunday at 2 p.m.

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aaron.schulze@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @SchulzePANow