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The Saskatoon Blazers are once again Saskatchewan AAA Under-18 Hockey League champions.
For the second year in a row, the Blazers defeated the Regina Pat Canadians in the championship final.
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Saskatoon defeated Regina 5-3 on Tuesday night at SaskTel Centre to sweep the best-of-three series in three straight games.
Lee Shurgot tallied twice to lead the Blazers, who got singles from Dayne Beuker, Jake Missura and Raiden Zacharias.
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Jonah Sivertson, with a pair, and Michael Donovan replied for the Pat Canadians, who trailed 2-1 and 3-1 by periods.
Saskatoon outshot Regina 44-37.
Both teams were good on one of four power play opportunities in the game.
Grayson Malinoski made 34 saves for the win. Taylor Tabashniuk stopped 40 shots in the loss.
The Blazers and Pat Canadians finished one-two in the SMAAAHL regular season. Saskatoon placed first with a 34-7-3 record and 71 points. Regina was next with a 32-11-1 record and 65 points.
Beuker led all SMAAAHL scorers this season with 41 goals and 43 assists for 84 points in 44 games played. That was 22 points better than both Pat Canadians’ Steven Steranka (34-28—62) and Blazers’ Zacharias (19-43—62).
The Blazers now advance to the 2024 Telus Cup West Regional under-18 male hockey championship tournament, to be held April 4-7 in Winnipeg and hosted by the Winnipeg Wild.
Joining the host Wild and Blazers are the Brandon Wheat Kings and Thunder Bay Kings.
The 2024 Telus Cup national championship will be played April 22-28 at Membertou, Nova Scotia.
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