Trojans face adversity early, drop Telus Cup opener 6-0

While the Trojans escaped the initial period unscathed, the Cantonniers struck first in the second period when Tristan Roy was fed a pass right as he left the penalty box and roofed a goal on a breakaway to make it 1-0.

Nearly four minutes later on the penalty kill, Cantonniers defenseman Isaac Belliveau’s breakout pass found Zachary Michaud skating up the right wing and rifled the puck high to make it 2-0 Magog after two.

Darrell Mann, Trojans head coach, told northeastNOW the game snowballed against them from that point on, as just fifteen seconds into the third, Justin Robidas – son of former NHL defenseman Stephane Robidas – used his speed to take the puck away from Martin as he attempted to play it, and a wraparound into an empty net made it 3-0.

Some penalty trouble in the third period went by, and the Trojans dropped their first game of the Telus Cup to the Cantonniers 6-0.

“Unfortunately we laid an egg today,” Mann said. “For whatever reason we weren’t ready to go tonight and they capitalized on their opportunities. They’re a very skilled hockey team. They remind me a lot of the Regina Pat Canadians – they’ve got some really good top-end guys and a really good defence – and we weren’t able to respond today.

“You have 16 days off and a long bus ride here, hopefully that’s getting the jitters and the bus legs out. Our plan here was to get better every game and obviously after this one, we expect to be a lot better.”

Although they won’t finish the Telus Cup with a perfect record, it hasn’t stopped a Trojans team coached by Mann from winning a national midget hockey championship.

Mann told his current day Trojans the story of the 2002 squad who defeated Sidney Crosby in the Air Canada Cup Finals to win the franchise’s one and only national title.

“We played game one against Quebec and they beat us 5-1, outshot us by 30 something,” he said. “We took it on the chin that night, we played them in the semi-finals, and beat them 4-1. You learn from your mistakes. I told our guys that this happened to us in 2002, so let’s make sure we make things continue to happen like they did in 2002.”

Mann said his Trojans need to let this result hurt for about an hour before they move on to the next game, as five other teams are fighting for the four semi-final spots over the next four days.

Their next opponent is a familiar face: the Telus Cup host Thunder Bay Kings, who the Trojans defeated twice en route to winning the Western Regionals in Tisdale.

The Trojans beat the Kings in a 3-1 defensive standoff in round robin play and a 6-5 overtime thriller in the finals. However, Mann expects a different Kings team on their home ice.

“They’re going to have a big crowd behind their back,” he said. “We beat them twice and they think they owe us one. It gives us a little bit of confidence knowing this is a team we’re familiar with and we have beat twice. We need to get off to a good start and realize this is a big game for us.”

The Trojans face the Thunder Bay Kings on Tuesday, April 23 at 5:30 p.m. SCT.

Day One Scoreboard:

Toronto Young Nationals (Central) 1 – Halifax Macs (Atlantic) 2

Magog Cantonniers (Quebec) 6 – Tisdale Trojans (West) 0

Thunder Bay Kings (Host) 4 – Calgary Buffaloes (Pacific) 7

Day One Standings (Win/Loss/Tie):

Magog Cantonniers (Quebec) 1-0-0 2 Points +6 GD (6 GF, 0 GA)*
Calgary Buffaloes (Pacific) 1-0-0 2 Points +3 GD (7 GF, 4 GA)*
Halifax Macs (Atlantic) 1-0-0 2 Points +1 GD (2 GF, 1 GA)*
Toronto Young Nationals (Central) 0-1-0 0 Points -1 GD (1 GF, 2 GA)*
Thunder Bay Kings (Host) 0-1-0 0 Points -3 GD (4 GF, 7 GA)
Tisdale Trojans (West) 0-1-0 0 Points -6 GD (0 GF, 6 GA)

*top four teams advance to semi-finals

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aaron.schulze@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @SchulzePANow

by Aaron Schulze

Trojans face adversity early, drop Telus Cup opener 6-0

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