By Jeff D'Andrea

Mintos off to the ‘ship; beat Wild 3-2

Apr 4, 2014 | 7:15 PM

Although they’re the only team at the Telus Cup Western Regionals to not win their league, the Prince Albert Mintos are headed to the finals.

They beat the Manitoba Midget AAA champion Winnipeg Wild 3-2 Friday at the Art Hauser Centre. With the win, the Mintos are the only team in the tournament with two wins.

The Mintos have been with heavy hearts throughout the last several weeks as their long-time president Zenon Markowski suffered a stroke during the Mintos’ March 13 game against the Battlefords Stars. The Mintos dedicated Friday’s game to Zenon, and were happy that game ended up being a big win.

“We wanted it bad for him,” said Mintos head coach Ken Morrison. “We wanted it bad for each other. The guys played really well as a team, we worked really hard I thought.

“I’m really proud of them.”

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The game was 1-1 heading into the third period before Mintos forward Jared Blaquiere was approached by Mintos captain Teal Sobkowicz.

“Teal Sobkowicz came up to me right before we went out and said ‘we need a garbage goal,’” recalls Blaquiere, who had a goal and an assist. “’You need to muck and get one.’”

Well, Blaquiere outdid Sobkowicz’s expectations as he scored the highlight reel goal of the game. After receiving a seeing-eye pass that snuck through a crowd from Loch Morrison, Blaquiere was in on a breakaway.

He faked the shot, and did a little shimmy before going forehand, backhand and in past a sprawling Wild goalie Evan Johnson.

Blaquiere said he got that move from older brother Joel, who played for the Mintos last season and had 13 points in 11 playoff games.

“My brother (Joel) does that move every single time,” said Blaquiere. “I went for it and I buried one.

“It was exciting, I guess I have to do it more often.”

Blaquiere had seven goals in eight playoff games this year to lead the Mintos in that category.

“I couldn’t be more happy for him, he’s been really good for us down the stretch and in the playoffs,” said Morrison. “Here, he’s a gritty competitor and he showed a little composure with the puck and made a great play. A big goal.”

Shortly after Blaquiere’s go-ahead, Ryan Duret scored to extend the lead to 3-1. The Wild got a power play goal off the stick of Ezra Hall with 4:43 left in the game. The Mintos were able to hold a late surge by the Wild for the 3-2 win.

Connor Ingram again was very sharp for the Mintos, making 33 saves on 35 shots. In two games Western Regional games, Ingram has made 65 stops on 69 shots for a .942 save percentage and a 2.00 goals against average.

“He’s been outstanding,” said Morrison of 16-year-old rookie goalie Ingram, who was named the SMAAAHL Goaltender of the Year. “He’s a kid that I coached when he was just a young kid. I’ve known him for a while and we really wanted him on our team. We were lucky enough to get him. He’s just blossomed into a really good goalie and he’s a clutch performer.

“He always has been. I just love the kid’s attitude.”

The Mintos are off to the ship, but do not know who they will face just yet.

Before then, they’ll play the Notre Dame Argos. The Mintos got just one win against the Argos in four games this year, and Blaquiere said it would mean a lot to reverse that trend.

“If we beat the Argos, that means everyone’s hearts are going to be in the games,” said Blaquiere. “Everyone’s going to be into it, and we’re going to come into the finals, in our home barn and it’s going to be good.”

Kings 2 Argos 2

The Thunder Bay Kings (0-1-1) tied the Notre Dame Argos (1-0-1) with a 2-2 score in Friday's early game. 

Argos forward Jordan Berger scored two goals in the first period, giving the Argos a 2-0 advantage heading into the second period.

But the Kings scored two in the second period from Trevor Kavanaugh and Brad Arabia.

There were all kinds of shenanigans and scoring chances at the end of the game. Arabia was absolutely robbed by Kustra on a rebound attempt. With three seconds left, the Argos went back down the other way and Gage Ramsay had a wonderful backhand deke opportunity, but was robbed by Kings goalie Brock Aiken.

Saturday's games

The Wild (0-2) and Kings (0-1-1) will play at 12:30 p.m., with the Mintos (2-0) playing the Argos (1-0-1) 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