Mission accomplished for the St. Albert Source for Sports Crusaders.
Last year’s finalists in the Northern Alberta Hockey League were not to be denied in their quest for midget AA playoff honours.
“We really wanted it bad,” said left-winger Noah Fayad. “We put a lot of work into this year and even last year I thought we did too but this year everything came together for us."
The Crusaders capped off a riveting playoff run in Friday’s 3-2 decision against the Beaumont Braves at Go Auto Arena in game four in the best-of-five series.
“It was a blast. It was even better it was Friday night and it was at home so it was really fun,” Fayad said.
Last year’s final ended with a three-game sweep by the Strathcona Warriors.
“It was crazy just the difference of how exciting it was to be winning it after being on the other side last year. It felt really good,” said right-winger Rhys Mazur.
The Crusaders finished 20-9-3 for second place in the Besa division, 1-4 at provincials and 9-2-1 in the playoffs compared to 19-11-2 in the regular season, 2-2-1 as provincial finalists and 6-5-1 in the post-season in the 2016/17 campaign.
Both teams were “very similar,” Mazur said. “We had the same coach (Dave Ridd) first of all so it was kind of the same style we run as a team, a very team based system wise, and that kind of helped out.”
Mazur, Fayad, Cole Ridd, Brett Leibel and Adam Jereniuk up front, Zach Giacobbo on defence and netminder Shane Zilka were the returnees on the championship-winning Crusaders.
“We weren’t the most skilled team out there, everyone kind of knew that, but we played our systems and everyone kind of fell into place and played their roles,” Mazur said. “Our chemistry really worked in the playoffs.”
The turning point was the six-team Besa division playoff tournament in Morinville as the Crusaders qualified for the best-of-three Metro conference final against the Canadian Athletic Club.
“That’s probably when we started playing pretty good,” Fayad said. “Instead of a more individual type of game we all came together as a team and everyone gave it one hundred per cent instead of being passengers.”
The division final was a tight 4-3 overtime affair against the Sherwood Park Oilers (17-11-4) March 13 as the Crusaders closed out the tournament at 4-1-1. They also doubled the Oilers 4-2 in the round robin.
“That final was probably one of our best games of the season. Everyone was just in that game, everything was working well and as soon as we won our team just came together,” said Mazur, who slotted the equalizer with 6:48 left in regulation time.
Fayad’s winner before the seven-minute mark in the extra period was arguably the team’s most important goal in the playoffs.
“The puck came in front of the net and it was kind of a one-timer,” Fayad said. “It was fun. It was crazy. I just remember jumping up and everyone jumping on me. It was nuts.”
The Crusaders went on to sweep the Canadians (20-7-5), the top team in the Anderson division, 5-2 and 5-1 for another shot at the championship plus a return trip to provincials.
This year’s final was also the fourth in five years for the Crusaders, the 2014 champions.
The provincial opener was 5-3 against the Braves on March 29.
“In the regular season they kind of beat us pretty hard (6-0 March 2 in St. Albert) so we went into that provincial game wanting to send a message for playoffs knowing that we could play with them,” Mazur said.
“A lot of people had doubts beforehand saying we’re the underdogs but when we won that game it was a big deal,” Fayad added.
The Braves (22-4-6) placed first in the CanAccom division and the overall playoff record for the Rural conference winners was 7-4-1.
“They’re a good hockey team but their main goal is just run us out of our rink and play physical hockey and we kind of stuck our ground and stuck to our systems and it worked out in the end,” Mazur said.
Leading up to game four, the Crusaders were victorious 2-0 in Beaumont and 3-1 in St. Albert before the Braves prevailed 3-2 on home ice.
“We played pretty good for the most part,” Fayad said. “We knew it was going to be a battle.”
The Crusaders didn’t dwell on the game three loss.
“We stayed positive,” Mazur said. “We went into Friday’s game thinking end it now. We didn't want to give them any hope that they could still beat us.”
Leibel put the Crusaders on the board in the first period and Logan McKinley’s fifth goal and 14th point of the playoffs made it 2-0 on the power play at 5:57 of the second.
McKinley produced a team-high 43 points in 32 games in league play.
Ryan Deets sniped the 3-1 insurance marker halfway through the third.
Shots were 34-24 for the Braves as Spencer Hutson (4-1, 2.01 GAA) backstopped the Crusaders to the series clincher.
“There was a lot of energy in that game. Everyone was just kind of flying, just playing for their lives. It was a fun game,” said Mazur, who chipped in with two assists.
The Grade 12 St. Albert Catholic High School student led all playoff scorers with 20 points and was the team’s co-leader in goals with Deets at eight apiece.
Deets was the runner-up in the playoff scoring race with 16 points as the centreman between Mazur and Fayad.
In league play, Deets generated 11 of his team-leading 22 goals on the power play and was second in points with 38 in 30 games.
“The chemistry really worked between us in the playoffs. Everyone was finding it each other,” said Mazur, 17, who posted eight goals and 31 points in 32 games before the playoffs.
Fayad produced five goals and 10 points with Mazur and Deets as linemates.
“The last half of the season we started playing pretty well together so I think Dave kept us together for that reason,” said Fayad, who contributed 13 goals and 25 points in 27 games.
Fayad, 17, celebrated a major milestone earlier this month with his last chemo treatment after being diagnosed with Childhood Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia on the eve of 2015 John Reid Memorial Tournament while playing for the bantam AAA St. Albert Gregg Distributors Sabres.
“It's relieving but it's kind of startling at the same time. You get so used to things and now that it’s done I'm looking forward to doing some things,” said the Grade 12 Paul Kane High School student. “I felt almost one hundred per cent this season because I think I got used to it. It's been like almost four years so my body just adapts. I guess that's why I was able to have a lot of fun playing hockey.”
