The stage was set.
It was the Brandon U18 Wheat Kings up against the Saskatoon Blazers in front of an incredible crowd at the Hockey for All Centre in Winnipeg on Sunday. The winner would earn the right to compete at the Telus Cup, Canada's U18 National Championship, from April 22-28 in Membertou, Nova Scotia.
Brandon had downed the Blazers in the round-robin. The Blazers doubled up the Winnipeg Wild, 4-2, the night prior for a chance to go up against the Wheat Kings once again, a team that lost their first game in regulation the day prior against Thunder Bay. Brandon had already earned a berth in the finals after two straight wins to open their tournament.
Brady Turko had already put together a great tournament with three goals and two assists in the team's first three games. It was; however, the goaltenders that stole the show in the final as Grayson Malinoski of the Blazers made 30 saves throughout regulation while Burke Hood of Brandon turned away 29 and 60 minutes after no goals were scored, overtime was needed.
It was winner-take-all.
"We weren't nervous going into overtime, we were a confident group," said Turko. "We also had a power play to start overtime which was nice for us."
Brandon would not score on the man advantage. But, shortly after Kristian Lacelle of Saskatoon stepped out of the box, Turko went into highlight reel mode. He picked up the puck deep in Brandon's zone and worked his way down the ice, ultimately ending up in a 1-on-1 situation now in Blazers territory. Turko made a fantastic move to step around the Blazers defender and then he lifted the puck over the glove of Malinoski as Brady's fourth goal of the tournament confirmed Brandon's trip to Nova Scotia.
"It's such an amazing feeling, I don't know what else to say," offered Turko. "It's just incredible, we worked so hard and to win that game, special."
Brandon will now make their way to Nova Scotia on April 20 ahead of their first game two days later against the champions from Quebec. Brandon will then play the following day against the host Sydney Rush before games against the Atlantic, Pacific, and Central champions. The two semi-finals are on April 27 and the medal games will be the following day.
"This is only the second time that a Brandon team has advanced to the national tournament so it's a huge honour for us," offered Turko. "We're excited to play against the top U18 teams in the country."
While this will be Turko's first opportunity to play nationally, he's ready for the challenge.
"It's just another set of games, I'm not nervous, I'm just very excited," ended Turko. "This is what we play for, to fight for a national crown and I can't wait to get to Nova Scotia."
A team from Manitoba has not won a medal since 2008 when the Winnipeg Thrashers lost to the Sudbury Nickel Capital Wolves in the gold medal game. So when Brandon arrives, they will be looking to break a 13-year run of a Manitoba team not finishing in the top three.
