The Peter Ballantyne Cree Nation (PBCN) Selects are moving on in their league playoffs, winning the first series in the team's history March 8.
After finishing third in the league in their inaugural season, the Selects won their first playoff game March 4, opening their first Keystone Junior Hockey League (KJHL) playoff campaign with a best-of-three series against the Cross Lake Islanders, the league’s last-place finisher.
In Game 1, held at the Whitney Forum March 4, PBCN took a 9-3 victory.
PBCN picked up goals from Dwayne McKenzie, Carson Favel and Flin Flon call-up Gage Gogal in the first period, giving them a 3-2 lead at the first intermission. The Selects would add six more goals, with McKenzie scoring two more times to complete the hat-trick, Antonio Constant adding two third period goals and a pair of talents from Nunavut - Leo Kaludjak and Israel Maktor, both from Rankin Inlet - scoring one goal each.
Kaludjak added two assists, as did Flin Flon product Brycen Francoeur, Pinehouse’s Leon Natomagan and Rankin Inlet’s Terence Pilakapsi - McKenzie, the team’s leading scorer through the regular season, added an assist for a four-point night.
Flin Flonner Odin Church made 36 saves in the win, his 12th win in 15 games since coming home from Ontario, where he was playing junior A with the SIJHL’s Sioux Lookout Bombers.
In Game 2, played in Cross Lake March 8, the Selects came back from an early deficit and picked up a 4-3 win, finishing the series and moving on to the next round.
Kadin Ross scored for the Islanders midway through the first and gave Cross Lave the lead, but Carson Favel tied things up early in the second. Julius Scribe would add a goal for the home team, but Owen Angootealuk tied the game before Flin Flonner Nole Pearson put in the go-ahead goal for the Selects. Draydin Garrick tied the game once more for Cross Lake, but PBCN pulled ahead for good on a goal by Maktor midway through the second and held on for the win.
Pearson and Angootealuk led the way with three points each, while Church made 39 saves on the night to clinch the victory.
The Selects will now play the second seed Peguis Juniors in a best-of-five series. A series with Peguis will begin with Games 1 and 2 March 11 and 12 at the Peguis Multiplex - dates for future games have not yet been announced by the league. The Nisichawayasihk Cree Nation (NCN) Flames and the league-leading OCN Storm will play in the league's other semifinal series.
Church also received an honour as the league's best goaltender before Game 2. Since joining the Selects in December, Church had an 11-2 record, a .899 save percentage and a goals-against-average of 3.53 - sterling numbers in a high scoring league.
PBCN took time to find their final lineup this season, dressing a total of 46 players throughout the season. The club’s lineup for the first game of their playoff run consisted of six players from either Flin Flon or Creighton, one from Cranberry Portage, five from Nunavut, one player from the U.S. and the rest from northern Saskatchewan.
Through 32 games played this regular season, McKenzie led the way with 78 points in 32 games, with Natomagan second with 60 points, Freddy Ledoux (a Flin Flon player) with 55 points and Caden Joanis scoring 50 points.
