St James Jr Canucks cement MMJHL dynasty

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This article was published 19/04/2024 (431 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Pembina Valley Twisters put up a strong challenge, but the St James Jr Canucks would not be denied their third consecutive Manitoba Major Junior Hockey League championship.

The Canucks clinched the 2024 banner on home ice, winning game five of the series 5-1. St James has put together a sparkling run over the past three seasons.

Last year the team lost a combined seven games , with an incredible plus-155 goal difference in the regular season. This year, they were a more pedestrian team in the regular season, with eight losses and a plus-110 difference.

That didn’t matter when the playoffs arrived, with two consecutive sweeps to start the playoffs, and a 4-1 victory in the finals.

Those wins didn’t come easy against a feisty Pembina Valley team. The Twisters would take game one, but couldn’t manage another win in the series, despite only losing by a single goal in game two, three and four.

Games three and four needed extra time, with Pembina Valley erasing a 3-0 deficit to force overtime, as Slade Sotheran tallied twice. Matthew Mason-Vandel would put the Canucks on the brink with a second-overtime winner, before the Canucks ran away with game five.

Tyrone Wilan, the MMJHL’s leading playoff scorer, provided the dagger. After Sotheran scored in the second period to cut St James’ lead to one, Wilan scored his first of the game to give the Canucks all the insurance they would need to clinch their third consecutive league championship.

The three-peat is the first in the league since the Charleswood Hawks won four straight between 2009 and 2012.