Wotherspoon, Team B.C. Claims U-16 Challenge Cup Gold Medal

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Calgary, AB – Team BC struck Gold at the 2012 Western Canada U-16 Challenge Cup with a convincing 9-3 victory over Team Alberta in the championship game on Sunday afternoon at Father David Bauer arena in Calgary, AB.

Jansen Harkins racked up four goals, including a hat trick in the first period, and an assist for a five-point effort to pace BC to the victory over the two-time defending champion Alberta side.  Harkins, a first-round pick of the Prince George Cougars in the 2012 WHL Bantam Draft, earned Player of the Game honors for his five-point outing.

“Our whole team played well through the whole tournament, and I finally got my share of putting it in today,” said Harkins, a product of North Vancouver who plays for the Vancouver NW Giants of the BC Major Midget League.  “I’m happy to have been able to do this for my team.”

Matthew Barzal, the first overall pick from the 2012 WHL Bantam Draft, scored once and set up three more and Prince George Cougars prospect Brad Morrison scored two goals and three points while Swift Current Broncos prospect Glenn Gawdin scored once and chipped in two assists for Team BC.

“We knew it was going to be a tough game today, and we knew if we didn’t play the 60 minutes, they’d be getting that Gold medal,” said Barzal, who finished the tournament with three goals and eight points in four games.

Brad Forrest – with a goal and an assist – Braylon Shmyr and Jordan Xavier scored for Team Alberta, who couldn’t find a way to slow down BC’s collection of offensive stars.

“It took four games to get here, but everyone bought in and everybody took on their role,” said BC head coach Ryan Weber.  “There is a lot of high-end talent in our room, but if everybody doesn’t work hard and buy in, we don’t get the result we had today.”

Taz Burman turned in a 33-save effort in goal for Team BC, who led 5-3 after an exciting opening period then added three more in the second period and one more in the third to capture the Gold medal.

Patrick Dea stopped eight of 12 shots he faced in the Alberta net before giving way to Zach Sawchenko at the 14:30 mark of the first period.  Sawchenko, who was named to the tournament All-Star team, made 24 saves on 29 shots the rest of the way.

BRITISH COLUMBIA 9, ALBERTA 3

First Period
1 – BC – Harkins, 2:17
2 – AB – Shmyr (Gennaro, Forrest) PP, 3:42
3 – BC – Harkins (Morrison, Stukel), 6:52
4 – AB – Xavier (Merkley, Pawlenchuk), 7:34
5 – BC – Morrison (Gawdin, Barzal) PP, 9:46
6 – BC – Stukel (Harkins, Davis), 14:30
7 – BC – Harkins SH, 16:22
8 – AB – Forrest, 18:44

Second Period
9 – BC – Gawdin (Barzal, Reddekopp), 0:19
10 – BC – Harkins (Soy), 3:06
11 – BC – Barzal (Gawdin, Reddekopp), 8:57

Third Period
12 – BC – Morrison (Barzal, Wotherspoon), 4:16

SOG:
BC: 17, 15, 10 = 42
AB: 9, 9, 18 = 36

Goalies:
Burman (BC) – 33/36

Dea (AB) – 8/12
Sawchenko (AB) – 25/30

Players of the Game:
BC – Harkins
AB – Pawlenchuk

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For more information on the 2012 Western Canada Under-16 Challenge Cup, CLICK HERE

GAME RESULTS:
*All games played at Father David Bauer arena (Calgary, AB)

Thursday, November 1
Game #1 – Saskatchewan 6 - Manitoba 3
Game #2 – British Columbia 4 - Alberta 3 S/O 

Friday, November 2
Game #3 – British Columbia 4 - Saskatchewan 1
Game #4 – Alberta 8 - Manitoba 1

Saturday, November 3
Game #5 – Alberta 3 – Saskatchewan 0
Game #6 –British Columbia 5 – Manitoba 2

Sunday, November 4
Game #7 – BRONZE MEDAL GAME; Saskatchewan 2 – Manitoba 1
Game #8 – GOLD MEDAL GAME; British Columbia 9 – Alberta 3