By Tyler King - Brooks Bandits

Bandits advance to AJHL South Division Final

Mar 26, 2018 | 9:02 AM

DRUMHELLER, AB — The Brooks Bandits earned a spot in the Alberta Junior Hockey League South Division Final for the seventh consecutive year, after eliminating the Drumheller Dragons on Sunday night with a 6-3 win in Game 6 at the Drumheller Memorial Arena.

Arnaud Vachon opened the scoring just 11 seconds into the game, but the game remained tight until the final minutes, with Brooks outshooting the Dragons 27-21 in the game.

Vachon’s opener came on the first shift when he sped in along the left side and fired a perfectly placed wrist shot by the glove hand of Drumheller goalie Hunter Virostek. But the Dragons tied it before the period was out, with Brayden Nicholetts backhanding a low tipped shot between the pads of Bandit goalie Mitch Benson to even things up.

Shots were tied 8-8 after the first, but the Bandits controlled puck possession in the second, outshooting the Dragons 12-4 and scoring twice. The first came on a power play at 12:09 when Ryan Mahshie fired a centering pass from the right corner that caught a Dragon’s skate and deflected by Virostek to give Brooks the lead back. Less than four minutes later, Conner Jean recorded a point for the sixth straight game, firing a pass from neutral ice to a streaking-in Will Garin , who sniped short side to put the Bandits up 3-1.

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Drumheller pulled closer in the third, however, when Brett Edwards drove to the front of the net, was denied on a point blank chance, but backhanded the rebound by Benson to make it a one-goal game again.

Less than two minutes later, though, Nathan Plessis fired home a goal from the left point to make it 4-2 and notch the eventual game-winning goal.
Team captain Dennis Cesana slapped an important insurance goal in from the right circle at 9:22 to make it a 5-2 game, set up by Simon Boyko who recorded a point in his series debut.

After a too-many-men call against Brooks, the Dragons converted on a tipped centering pass by Tyler Kreklewich that Nicholetts knocked home to pull Drumheller back within 2 with more than six minutes remaining.

But Nolan Thompson put an end to the Dragon comeback hopes with a wraparound goal at 17:11, giving Brooks the 6-3 lead.

The Bandits will next take on the Okotoks Oilers in the league semifinal, with Games 1 and 2 in Okotoks on Friday and Saturday nights. Extended pre-game coverage will begin on Real Country 105.7 at 6:30 PM both nights.

Tickets will be on sale for Games 3 and 4 in Brooks soon and will be available at tickets.brooksbandits.ca; fans wishing to access reserved Bandit seats for Friday and Saturday in Okotoks can phone the team office at (403) 501-0122 starting Monday morning.