Trojans win bronze at Telus Cup

However, the Trojans still had one more meaningful game to play as a group: the bronze medal game.

Darrell Mann, Trojans head coach, said the message after any loss throughout the entire Telus Cup tournament in Thunder Bay, Ont., was to let it hurt for an hour before moving forward.

There was no exception to that message, even after losing in the semifinals.

The Trojans entered the final day of Telus Cup play on Sunday, April 28 playing the Pacific Regional champion Calgary Buffaloes in the bronze medal game still wanting to come back to Tisdale with a medal.

However, the Trojans would have to do it without two of their regulars. Forward Skylar Olson left the April 26 game against Toronto with a shoulder injury, and the team’s leading scorer Cade Hayes suffered a gash in the back of his calf during the semifinals game against Magog and had to watch from the stands.

Alternate players Dylan Lindal up front and Drayton Hvidston on defence stepped into the line-up, and Mann said there was even more motivation to take home bronze.

“I thought both Lindal and Hvidston played unbelievable for us,” Mann told northeastNOW. “They didn’t play a lot of shifts, but they played some quality ones, and that’s what counts. It hurt seeing our top scorer Hayes watching the game on crutches and Olson being out with a shoulder injury, those two guys are big parts of our hockey club. We wanted to make sure we won it for those guys and got them a medal because they weren’t able to participate.”

The Trojans struck first, four minutes into the first period when Jayden Wiens scored on the rebound after a Zac Robins slap shot from the blue line.

The Buffaloes answered back shortly after when 15-year-old forward Dylan James put back a rebound goal of his own on a power play, but it was Trojans’ forward Davis Chorney’s individual effort to strip Buffaloes defenseman Jack Zayat and score on a breakaway which gave Tisdale the 2-1 lead.

The Trojans were outshot 20-7 in the first period but led 2-1. Despite the lopsided shot total, Mann said his bench wasn’t concerned.

“I think they got seven shots on their one power play, and I thought there were lots from the outside that didn’t really do any damage,” he said.

The Trojans controlled possession and prevented the Buffaloes from sustaining long-term pressure in the second period. It was capped off with Jayden Wiens’ second goal of the night to put the Trojans up 3-1 after a setup behind the net by Trenton Curtis.

However, the Trojans’ bad habit of allowing late goals throughout the Telus Cup emerged once more when Buffaloes’ forward Carter King was left alone in front and made it a 3-2 game with 28 seconds left in the period.

Once again, Mann wasn’t too concerned on the bench.

“That’s just young players nowadays,” he said. “They all wanted to do too much and they both went racing over to block the shot. I thought we did a great job in between the periods; our guys were focused and knew what the task was at hand. We weren’t rattled like we were against Magog; we knew if we just stuck with the plan that we had a good opportunity to get a bronze medal.”

In the second intermission, the Trojans knew they were about to play their final 20 minutes as a team.

Even with all the success throughout the season to make it to a national championship bronze medal game, they all wanted to end their season with one last win.

“Our players sing a song every time we win,” Mann said. “We talked about singing that song one last time as a group and making sure we win the last game that we ever play together. You sit there in the offseason and talk about what you did all season long, and you always remember that last game.

“Claiming a bronze medal at the national championship is going to be a great memory these kids are going to carry with them forever.”

In their final 20 minutes as a team, the Trojans played a typical Trojans shutdown hockey game by clogging the neutral zone and only leaving both teams with six shots in the period.

Goaltender Tanner Martin made 34 saves in his final midget hockey game – many of them spectacular – although none were as crucial as his final glove save with 0.4 seconds remaining to secure his Trojans a bronze medal as the third best AAA midget hockey team in Canada.

Mann said winning the bronze medal was right up there with anything the Trojans have done in their 31-year franchise history.

“It’s a special group of kids,” Mann said. “You’re all winners when you play like that and represent your province the way they did here. As coaches, we couldn’t be any prouder. We asked them to leave it all on the table and they did. They worked as hard as they could for seven days here, and to be able to play a game like this in your seventh game in seven days just shows the character of our hockey club through and through.

“They’re twenty-two amazing individuals that are going to have a great future in both hockey and life.”

The Trojans will spend one more evening in Thunder Bay before returning to Tisdale with medals around their necks.

Looking at the support the Trojans received throughout the regular season, playoffs, Western Regionals, and the Telus Cup, they’ll receive a warm welcome home.

Who are the best fans @HC_TELUSCup in ThunderBay??? I was going to use analytics from a number of measures, and then decided to go with my unabashed bias. And the winner is… @TisdaleTrojans …SUPER FANS!!! @sask_hockey pic.twitter.com/5six2cVpKP

— Randy Magnus (@r_mags1) April 25, 2019

“The fans are second to none,” Mann said. “When you grow up in the town of Tisdale and watch the Trojans play, it’s a part of the community. Tisdale supports whatever event goes on and they’re just amazing how they support our hockey club whether we’re in Tisdale, Saskatoon, or all the way to Thunder Bay. Hats off to all our fans, without them we wouldn’t be able to achieve goals like this.

“Once a Trojan, always a Trojan.”

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aaron.schulze@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @SchulzePANow

by Aaron Schulze

Trojans win bronze at Telus Cup

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