By Jeff D'Andrea

Mintos pick up big 3-2 win over Kings at Western Regionals

Apr 3, 2014 | 7:06 PM

The Prince Albert Mintos captain Teal Sobkowicz took some post-game chirps from goaltender Connor Ingram with a big grin on his face after Thursday’s Western Regional opener against the Thunder Bay Kings.

They were both in a whimsical, chirping mood after the 3-2 win over the Kings, giving the Mintos the all-important first win in the short, four-team tournament.

Although Sobkowicz scored the game-winning goal 3:43 into the third period on a water bottle busting beauty of a wrist shot, Ingram joked during post-game interviews saying, “that’s the first time I’ve seen him hit the net in a while.”

The game was knotted at 2-2 in the third period when Sobkowicz came blazing down the left wing, and blasted a wrist shot past Kings goaltender Bradley Hampton. Water exploded everywhere behind Hampton as Sobkowicz celebrated the goal.

“I was super excited. I never really do that in practice,” said Sobkowicz. “The whole time I was thinking, these D-men are a little bit on the slower side. We were told to try and drive it wide lots.

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“I just decided to shoot it once, and it went in so I was pretty psyched.”

Sobkowicz was also in on the Mintos’ first goal of the night, just 1:27 into the game. He set up linemate Ryan Duret in front of the net for first goal of the game. Brody Madarash later made it 2-0 for the Mintos in the first, putting the Art Hauser Centre crowd into a frenzy and forcing the Kings to take their timeout.

“When you get one like that real quick, it sets the other team back a bit, because they have to try and fight back right from the beginning,” said Sobkowicz. “It’s better for us when we get that first one out of the way.”

The Kings were able to claw their way back into the game, as Laine Mckay scored in the second period and Tyler Minoletti tied the game early in the third before Sobkowicz’s water bottle heroics.

Although he had two points in the game, Sobkowicz wasn’t the Mintos’ game star. That was deservedly given to the chirpy Connor Ingram, who turned aside 32 of 34 shots in the game.

Ingram, the 16-year-old rookie goaltender who was named the Saskatchewan Midget AAA Hockey League goalie of the year, made highlight reel saves throughout the game.

With the game at 3-2 Mintos on a Kings’ man-advantage late in the third, a puck snuck behind Ingram, who batted the puck out of mid-air, behind his back with his trapper. The Kings repeatedly put the puck on net as Ingram snowangeled several times as he scrambled to keep the puck out.

“That was frantic,” said Ingram. “I was just trying to find it, see where it was and do what I could to keep it out of the net.”

“It stayed out, so that’s cool.”

In the second period, Ingram robbed Minoletti on a clear 2-on-0 breakaway.

The Mintos will face the Winnipeg Wild on Friday for their next game. The Wild lost their opener 4-2 to the Notre Dame Argos. Should the Mintos win, they are almost guaranteed a spot in the finals, a do-or-die game to determine who goes to the Telus Cup Midget AAA National tournament in Moose Jaw starting April 21.

“A big win tomorrow sends us to the final, that’s just what we want to do,” said Ingram. “Obviously, we want to make it to the Telus Cup. It’s a great city to host this, it’s well organized. You couldn’t ask for a better place.”

Argos 4 Wild 2

Notre Dame Argos defenceman Evan Werle had two goals to lead his Argos to a 4-2 win over the Winnipeg Wild in the first game of the Telus Cup Western Regionals at the Art Hauser Centre Thursday.

Werle scored in the first period to tie the game, and the 3-2 go-ahead goal midway through the third period. Dillon Dube scored 46 seconds after Werle’s third-period goal to give the Argos a 4-2 lead, one they would hold for the remainder of the game.

The Argos outshot the Wild 41-24 for the game, including an 18-6 advantage in the second period. Wild goaltender Tyler Brown made 37 saves on the night to keep his team in the game.

Argos goalie Dylan Ferguson was much less busy, making 23 saves on 25 shots for the first victory of the tournament.

Gage Ramsay scored a shorthanded goal in the second period for the Argos.

Reid Stefanson and captain Mark Taraschuk scored for the Wild.

Friday games

The Argos and Kings will play the early 5 p.m. Friday at the Art Hauser Centre.
The Mintos will play the Wild at 8 p.m.

Saturday

The Wild and Kings will play at 12:30 p.m., with the Mintos playing the Argos at 3 p.m. The tournament banquet will be held in the Ches Leach Lounge at 7 p.m.

Sunday’s final

The top two-ranked teams in the tournament will do battle for the finals on Sunday at 2 p.m.

jdandrea@panow.com

On Twitter: @jeff_dandrea