After knocking the Flin Flon Bombers and Kindersley Klippers out of the playoffs, the Notre Dame Hounds are headed to the SJHL final.
The Hounds will vie for the Canalta Cup against the Melfort Mustangs. Game 1 goes Friday in Melfort.
The Hounds disposed of the Klippers in the semi-finals, wrapping things up with a 4-3 overtime win in Sunday’s Game 6 in Wilcox. Star blueliner Spencer Trapp was the OT hero.
The previous night, the Mustangs sent the Nipawin Hawks packing after a convincing 7-2 decision in Game 5 in Melfort. The match-up saw potent Melfort wingers Justin Boyer and Adam Fauchoux earn four points apiece.
The ’Stangs enter the final as the favourites, but not by much. Melfort finished 2014-15 atop the league standings with 87 points, only eight points ahead of fourth-place (third-place if you ignore conference standings) Notre Dame.
Goal output
In the post-season, Melfort has scored a league-leading 4.9 goals per game, far ahead of Notre Dame’s 3.2 goals. The Mustangs have surrendered just 2.6 goals per game compared to the Hounds’ 3.2 goals.
Tristan Frei (9G, 9A in 10 games), Adam Fauchoux (9G, 8A in 10 games) and Travis Mayan (8G, 8A in 10 games) have led the Melfort offence.
Notre Dame’s output has relied on the likes of Sam Aulie (2G, 16A in 13 games), Garrett Dunlop (7G, 9A in 11 games) and Evan Mignault (4G, 9A in 11 games).
Statistically speaking, neither Melfort starter Richard Palmer nor Notre Dame’s Alexi Thibaudeau have been stellar between the pipes these playoffs.
Palmer enters the final with an unexceptional 0.908 save percentage and a more respectable 2.48 goals-against average in 10 games. Thibaudeau brings a 0.901 SP and a lacklustre 3.09 GAA in 13 games.
This marks Notre Dame’s first trip to the final since 1988, when they defeated the Yorkton Terriers. Melfort’s last appearance in the final was 1996, when they also bested Yorkton.
Flin Flon bowed out in the quarter-finals after a heartbreaking Game 7 overtime loss to Notre Dame on March 24.
Last year’s league champs, the Terriers, failed to qualify for the playoffs after posting a league-worst 41 points, winning just 17 times in 56 games.
