Kurtis Luke is finishing his junior hockey career in Winnipeg and he's looking to ride off into the sunset as a champion.
The Ste. Rose native is back with the St. James Jr Canucks and he's having a career year and the team has also dominated all season long. The Canucks were crowned regular season champions as they won 37 of the 45 games they played and they beat out Transcona by 11 points for first place.
In the first round of the playoffs, the team hammered Charleswood in four straight games, scoring 20 goals in the process and giving up just four.
"It's definitely one of the best teams that I have been on," said Luke. "We have a lot of depth and we can score a ton. Even our defence is extremely solid, but offence is definitely what pushes us ahead the most."
Kurtis was efficient offensively two seasons ago with his 14 goals and 15 assists. This year, the Ste. Rose sniper has taken his game to the next level. He scored 38 times and finished second in league scoring with 84 points, just seven back of TJ Matuszewski who won the regular-season scoring crown. Then Luke followed that up by torching Charleswood in the first round of the playoffs as he scored five times and had five assists in just four games. His 10 points have him in second in playoff scoring so far.
The Jr. Canucks are super strong, evidently, Kurtis is as well and he's just happy to be helping the team win games at the most important time.
"It feels pretty good but I couldn't do it without my teammates, they help me succeed," offered Luke. "It's a great feeling as well getting past the first round, it's the first time in my life that I have been into the second round of the playoffs."
Next up for the Canucks is a best-of-seven semifinal against the Raiders Jr. Hockey Club. They upset the St. Vital Victorias in the first round in six games. That series begins this weekend.
