THE MONCTON FLYERS were the class of the first Chronicle Herald East Coast IceJam.
The New Brunswick squad made an emphatic comeback from a two-goal deficit to down the Valley Wildcats 5-3 on Sunday afternoon in the finale of the five-day major midget hockey tournament at the BMO Centre in Bedford.
Moncton finished with an unblemished record in six games, winning three round-round starts and three more in the playoff round.
“We played as good as we could, the best we’ve played so far this year,” said forward Kyle Ward, who scored twice for the Flyers, including the tying goal 45 seconds into the third period.
Valley, which had lost to Moncton 5-4 in the round robin, led 3-1 after the first and seemed to be in control as the second stanza wound down.
But a pair of undisciplined penalties in the final four minutes helped swing the momentum in Moncton’s favour.
Alexander Jacob tipped in a Philippe Myers point shot on the power play at 16:15 to put the jump back into the Flyers attack and Moncton never looked back.
Ward backhanded a rebound past Valley netminder Justin Ritcey for the equalizer at the start of the third, while many fans were still trickling back to their seats.
Kari Belec got credit for the eventual winner when Ritcey stopped his shot but the rebound bounced in off a Valley defender’s skate at 11:55.
Ryan Chiasson added some insurance with about five minutes left when he intercepted a pass high in the slot and went in all alone to snap a shot past Ritcey.
The Flyers outshot the Wildcats 17-4 in the third period and 45-27 overall.
“We just couldn’t keep it going,” a dejected Grant Janes, who tallied twice for Valley, said outside the locker-room.
“Until they got the tying goal, I still thought we were in command for the whole game and then once they got the tying goal, we just couldn’t keep up. They just outskated us and outworked us.”
Janes opened the scoring at 5:48 of the first frame, pouncing on a rebound six seconds into a Wildcats power play.
Ward tied it just a half-minute later, redirecting a centring pass from Jacob in the slot.
But Valley regained the lead at 8:45 when Steven Brooker’s wide point shot caromed off the end boards and trickled into the Moncton net after bouncing off Flyers goalie Alex Collette.
Janes gave Valley a two-goal cushion, his tap-in finishing off a pretty three-way passing play with Eric Chipman and John Deacon at 11:23.
Ward said he and his teammates may have been overconfident going into the game and had to take stock during the first intermission.
“We just had to get our heads back in it,” he said.
Jacob rang a shot off the right post 30 seconds into the second and Ritcey stoned Samuel LeBlanc, the tournament’s leading scorer, on a short-handed breakaway halfway through the period.
Valley still appeared in control, though, until Eli Hughes was sent off for tripping at 15:47, the first of three straight Wildcat penalties.
That changed the complexion of the game, Janes said.
“Definitely. They were on the offence for quite a bit of time ’cause we had so many penalties.”
Janes, a second-team all-star, finished the tournament with six goals, sharing the lead in that category with LeBlanc. His 11 points were one fewer than LeBlanc’s total.
In Sunday morning’s semifinal contests:
Valley 2, Halifax 1 (OT): Jacob McNutt sent the Wildcats into the final by scoring 3:45 into overtime against the defending Nova Scotia champions.
Jordan Yochoff gave the Titans a 1-0 lead with 51/2 minutes to go in the second period. Janes netted the equalizer halfway through the third.
Ritcey kicked out 25 shots. His counterpart, Jacob Dempsey, made 16 saves.
The loss was the first of the tournament for the Titans, who finished 4-1.
Moncton 4, Rothesay Netherwood 2: The Riverhawks drew first blood but the Flyers responded with four straight goals to punch their ticket to the championship game.
LeBlanc, Chiasson, Joey Richard and Nolan Alward had the Moncton markers.
Jordan Boyd opened the scoring and Devon Earle closed it out for Rothesay Netherwood.
(bfreeman@herald.ca)
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