Sign up for the paNOW newsletter

Minto gets soaked by teammates after big ‘W’

Feb 11, 2016 | 9:01 PM

For the first time in what seems like forever, the Prince Albert Mintos are hoping to squeak into the Saskatchewan Midget AAA Hockey League playoffs.

But Maguire Blair made that initial goal almost a guarantee with two clutch moments in Thursday’s 4-3 win over the Beardy’s Blackhawks Thursday at the Art Hauser Centre.

The Blackhawks had a 3-2 lead late in the game before the Mintos got heroic performances from Maguire Blair and captain Erik Gardiner. Blair scored the game’s tying goal with just over four minutes remaining, and then set up Gardiner for an absolute laser beam in the top corner for the go-ahead goal with 38.2 seconds left.

After the game, Blair received an unusual but enthusiastic congratulations from his teammates. At least four Mintos, who were led by rookie Kyle Schneider, burst out of the dressing room with water bottles and squirted Blair while he fielded questions in his postgame interviews.

“I don’t know, the boys are sparked,” smiled Blair. “Big ‘W’!”

“I just think when we got down there, all the boys stayed confident in themselves,” added Blair after the super soaker session had ended. “We just battled back and put our nose to the grindstone. We wanted that win. We put in a lot of heart and just went out there and did it.”

With the win, the Mintos stay in sixth position with and improve to 44 points with four games remaining. The Blackhawks are stuck in ninth with 36 points with five games left. The Mintos can guarantee themselves a playoff spot with two wins, even if the Blackhawks win the remainder of their games.

The win was made even more important as the Saskatoon Blazers and Battlefords Stars are nipping at their heels. The Stars beat the Blazers 6-5 on Thursday and are now one point back of the Mintos, the Blazers now sit three points back after the loss.

Late in the game, Blair was out on the ice again and found Gardiner, who stepped up to the left faceoff circle and snuck one narrowly by the glove of Blackhawks goaltender Cody Kushniruk.

In his post-game comments, Gardiner complimented the refreshing voice of Ken Morrison, who coached his third game behind the Mintos bench this year after coming in to replace Tim Leonard. The Mintos are 2-1 since Morrison has taken over the coaching duties.

“There was a small space around where his glove was, so I shot it and was lucky it went in,” said Gardiner. “It was nice. We’ve been on a slump these last few months but now we’ve turning it around with Ken being here.

“It’s nice to have a different voice behind the bench.”

Jake Hobson and Connor Pyne also scored for the Mintos. Derrick Hucul made 20 saves in goal for the Mintos.

Former Minto Brody Madarash, who was a late season call up for the Mintos in 2014 and won the Telus Cup with them that year, scored the first goal of the game for the Blackhawks. Jared Hamm and Graehme Fiolleau also added tallies for Beardy’s. Kushniruk made 25 saves in goal for the Blackhawks.

Final countdown

The Mintos have just four games remaining on their schedule. The first two are road contests against the Saskatoon Contacts Feb. 13 and the Battlefords Stars Feb. 18. The Mintos will wrap up their season with two homers, Feb. 20 against the Moose Jaw Generals and Feb. 21 against the Regina Pat Canadians.

“We got two in the road in tough rinks and at home we’re back against two of the top teams,” said Morrison. “We tried to emphasize the importance of this one for sure. It was a big win for us.”

jdandrea@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @jeff_dandrea