Blizzard win second MHL championship
For the second time since moving from Dieppe to Madawaska County in 2017, the Edmundston Blizzard are Maritime Junior Hockey League champions.
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The Blizzard swept the Pictou County Weeks Crushers in four straight games with a 3-1 victory in Game 4 of the best-of-seven Metalfab MHL Cup Final April 24 at the Pictou County Wellness Centre in New Glasgow, N.S.
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The win gave the Blizzard their second MHL title since 2018 and their 13th championship in franchise history. The team won the league in 2015 as the Dieppe Commandos and was the runner-up at the former Fred Page Cup tournament that year.
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The franchise also captured the MHL banner in 1995 as the Moncton Beavers, combined for three New Brunswick Junior Hockey League and Metro Valley Junior Hockey League titles in the 1980s, and won six NBJHL championships in the 1970s and early 80s.
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Edmundston's Game 4 win followed a 7-2 triumph in Game 3 April 23 in New Glasgow. The Blizzard took the series opener 6-3 April 19 and prevailed by a 7-3 margin in Game 2 April 17 at the Jean Daigle Centre.
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Scorers for Edmundston in the fourth contest were Philippe Collette with a pair of goals and Jérémy D'Astous with a single. Frédéric Cousineau made 26 stops for the win, finishing the post-season with a 6-0-1 win-loss record, a .920 save percentage, and a 2.56 goals-against average in seven games between the pipes. Austin Caley went 6-0 with a 2.44 GAA and .890 save percentage.
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Thomas Fontaine turned aside 39 shots for the Crushers in the losing cause. Logan O'Neil netted the lone Pictou County goal.
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Massé was named playoff MVP. The 20-year-old from Rivière-du-Loup, Que., finished the post-season with 22 points (10 goals, 12 assists) in 13 games, good for the most among players in the playoffs.
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Crushers defenceman Drew Maddigan received the inaugural United General Insurance Corporation Lighthouse Award for the player in the playoffs who demonstrates excellence in athletics, academics, and community service.
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Maddigan, 20, of Hammonds Plains, N.S., led all defenders with 14 points (two, 12) in 13 playoff games.
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The Blizzard went on a 12-0-1 run in the playoffs after finishing first in the 12-team MHL and six-team Eastlink North Division in the regular season. Edmundston also ended the year in the top spot in the Canadian Junior Hockey League's weekly Top 20 power rankings.
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