Moose Jaw Warriors advance to second WHL Championship in franchise history with overtime win
Lynden Lakovic’s goal just 36 seconds into overtime on Tuesday night helped the Moose Jaw Warriors to a 3-2 win over the Saskatoon Blades in game seven and into the Western Hockey League final.
The Warriors will now face the Portland Winterhawks for the Ed Chynoweth Cup. It’s the first time in 18 years and just the second time in franchise history that the club will make a finals appearance.
Ethan Semeniuk opened scoring for the Warriors in the first period on a deflection in front off a Kalem Parker shot.
The Blades drew even midway through the second period when Easton Armstrong picked up the puck in the high slot and fired a backhand attempt past Warriors’ netminder Jackson Unger.
Seattle Kraken prospect Jagger Firkus broke the deadlock nearly ten minutes into the third period. Brayden Yager stripped a Blades defender of the puck and found a wide-open Firkus in the slot for a one-timer. The Blades battled back to tie the game with under four minutes to play on a goal by Vaughn Watterodt.
Lackovic then ended it 36 seconds into overtime, the sixth time in seven games the two teams needed extra time to decide a winner.
“Just excitement. It’s such a tight group and we’ve said it all along, they just don’t’ want to let each other down. Whether you get scored on early or you give up a lead like a couple of games ago, there’s just nothing that phases this group and we saw that here tonight,” Warriors head coach Mark O’Leary said.
The Warriors team bus received a police escort to the rink upon arriving in Moose Jaw, complete with flashing lights.
Once they arrived, dozens of fans cheered and ushered the team into the arena with captain Denton Mateychuk leading the way.
The Warriors have little time to celebrate and recharge. The WHL Championship begins Friday night in Portland. Moose Jaw Will host Games three four and if necessary five. Portland will host games one two and six and seven if necessary.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Drive one of these vehicles? You may pay 37 per cent more than average insurance costs due to thefts
As the number of auto theft incidents rises in Canada, so have insurance premiums for drivers, even the ones whose vehicles aren't stolen.
'I'm not wealthy': Ontario senior shocked she owes $40,000 in capital gains after gifting land
An Ontario senior who wanted to help her daughter and grandson eventually own homes one day decided to give them two lots on her property as a gift—but she didn’t know it would eventually cost her tens of thousands of dollars.
NDP want Liberals to scrap proposed election date change that could secure pensions for many MPs
The federal New Democrats want to amend the Liberal government's electoral reform legislation to scrap the proposal to push back the vote by a week and consequently secure pensions for dozens of MPs, CTV News has learned.
Largest vaccine production plant in Canada opens in Toronto
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is announcing the opening of a major vaccine production plant in Toronto today — part of Canada's efforts to build up the domestic biomanufacturing sector in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic.
These are the world's 20 best cities for foodies, according to Time Out
Some travellers pick a city break based on the destination’s cultural offerings. Others eye up cities with buzzy nightlife or opt for a destination hosting a festival or event. But for many vacationers, the most exciting part of any trip is the food.
Video shows driver in Toronto frantically getting out of car being pushed by truck
A CP24 camera caught the moment a driver frantically got out of her car as it was being dragged by a truck on Avenue Road Wednesday afternoon.
Israeli centrist party proposes vote to dissolve parliament
Israeli war cabinet minister Benny Gantz's centrist party proposed on Thursday holding a parliamentary vote on dissolving the parliament, but it was unclear whether he had enough support to bring about an early election.
Exorbitant fees get Gazans out with no help from Ottawa
The comforting sound of giggling grandchildren has chased away the cloud of anxiety that has loomed over Mohammed and Intisar Nofal's home for the past seven months.
BMO services restored following outage from data centre fire alarm, the bank says
Bank of Montreal clients saw services restored Thursday morning after an overnight, false fire alarm caused outages, the bank says.