The St. Albert Merchants are back in business in the junior B playoffs after Cam Mazur deposited the biggest goal of his career in Wednesday’s series clincher.
Mazur scored in double overtime on a breakaway against the Stony Plain Flyers at Akinsdale Arena to propel the Merchants into the best-of-five quarter-finals against the Edmonton Mustangs, starting tonight at 8 p.m. at Bill Hunter Arena.
“It was amazing,” said the overtime hero. “The fans were unbelievable. Coming down the ice I could hear them so there was a lot of pressure but as soon as we got it into the net it was a big relief. The boys were excited. We worked all year for that and it paid off.”
Matt Havens and captain Dan Rombough assisted on the highlight of the night.
“Their defenceman kind of pinched and I found some open ice and Matt fed me a great pass from across the ice. I had full speed and kept on skating and it was a breakaway. I don’t know how I broke away from the D but I got a little burst of speed there. I came in and I was thinking about going glove side (on Courtney Lane) but he had a hot glove all night so I just decided to take it on my backhand and shot it five hole,” Mazur said of his memorable marker.
“I scored one other double OT winner, back in my midget 15 year (with the Flyers in the North Cup playoffs to qualify for the minor midget AAA provincials in 2013) but I think this one was bigger personally. This one felt more special.”
The deciding game in the best-of-three west division qualifying round was a humdinger.
“This was playoff hockey at its very best, with a packed arena of Merchant fans and end to end action from both teams,” said head coach Scott Rodda. “There was almost 100 shots between the two teams, outstanding goaltending (by Ty Clelland of the Merchants and Lane), big hits, great battles and last minute heroics, including the winning goal in the second period of OT.
“We also managed to kill off a five minute major in OT, which was huge and a testament to the character of the team. The players never quit or got down. A few players saw excessive ice time and they met the challenge but the players not playing as much were every bit as important in the win. Their support and commitment to the team was what makes good teams great.”
The Merchants won the series opener 5-2 in St. Albert but lost 6-1 Sunday in Stony Plain as the Flyers racked up five unanswered goals to end the game, setting the stage for the dramatic must-win confrontation.
“They’re a good team. They’re a very hard working team and they’re very relentless on their forecheck. They’ve got a very good top line, guys that can score, and their goalie played phenomenal throughout the series,” Mazur said of the Flyers, who finished sixth in the west, with 13 fewer wins and 24 fewer points than the third-place Merchants.
“But we battled through all that and the better team won.”
The Flyers struck first in game three on the power play at 10:43 of the opening period and the Merchants replied at 14:47 by Brenden Passek with the man advantage and at 18:37 by Casey Reid shorthanded.
The Flyers potted a pair in the middle frame, with their second power-play tally making it 3-1 at 14:44.
Havens tied it up in the third on the power play at 7:29 and Thomas Rotundo put the Merchants on top at 13:58 while killing a penalty.
The Flyers forced overtime with 2:25 to play.
With 61 seconds left in regulation time, Jake Mercier was penalized with a hit to the head five-minute major but the Merchants persevered.
“It was just a hockey play. I didn’t think it was that dirty,” Mazur said. “We knew if we killed that penalty off we were going to win the game.”
The Merchants were penalized 11 times for 33 minutes and the Flyers were whistled on five infractions for 10 minutes.
“We killed off a lot of penalties and those two shorthanded goals by Casey and Tommy were huge,” Mazur said.
Reid, a fourth-year Merchant, recorded three points and Rombough, a defenceman, had three assists for five overall as the team’s top scorer in the series.
Shots were 16-8 in the third and 13-12 in sudden death for the Merchants for a total of 56-42.
The Merchants will now face-off against the Mustangs with Big Mo on their side. The Mustangs are coming off an opening round playoff bye.
“The boys are riding on a high right now and that will help us in the next series, especially since they’ve had a full week off and we’re into it all ready. We already know what the playoffs feel like and they haven’t had a taste of playoff action yet,” Mazur said.
Game two is 8 p.m. Sunday at Akinsdale Arena and game three is 7:45 p.m. Wednesday at Bill Hunter Arena.
If needed, game four is 8 p.m. Friday in St. Albert and game five is Feb. 28 at 8 p.m. at Bill Hunter Arena.
In league play the Mustangs, second in the west at 29-8-1, split the four-game series with the 24-12-2 Merchants.
The Mustangs averaged five goals a game and their top scorer was Tanner Cimino with 43 goals and 82 points.
“They’re a fast skating team with some real explosive fire power up front. They’re also a hard working team just like the Flyers were so hopefully that served us well in preparing for the Mustangs,” Rodda said. “If our guys stick to the game plan, play disciplined hockey and execute in the three zones as per our systems, we will be a handful for the Mustangs and it will be an excellent series of hockey.
“The coaching staff is confident we have the right ingredients and this last series proved we have the character to win tough games.”
Mazur, 18, is also positive the Merchants will rise to the challenge.
“Every team is going to be hard to beat in playoffs but I think we’re capable of doing it,” said the former midget AAA St. Albert Raider.
The high-scoring right-winger joined the Merchants after a cup of coffee with the Drayton Valley Thunder in the AJHL and turned down an opportunity in the SJHL to play with his hometown team. In 30 games he registered 21 goals and 46 points skating mainly on a line with Reid and Havens.
“I wouldn’t have been able to get most of those goals without those two. They’re phenomenal playmakers and I’m just kind of the guy who puts the puck into the net,” said the Bellerose Composite High School graduate who works at Riverside Motosports.
