2008 RBC Cup

KODIAKS OPEN 2008 RBC CUP WITH WIN OVER UPSTART CRUSHERS

New year, new city, same result for the Camrose Kodiaks.

Andre Herman scored twice and Dylan Olsen, Karl Stollery and Dean Petiot added singles as the Pacific Region champions opened the 2008 RBC Cup with a 5-1 win over the Weeks Crushers on Sunday afternoon.

The win moves the Kodiaks to an impressive 18-6 all-time at the National Junior A Championship, spanning five visits (2001, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2008). It also moves Camrose head coach Boris Rybalka to within one of Dwight McMillan’s record of 19 wins by a head coach at a Canadian national hockey championship.

A team usually led by snipers Jesse Todd, Mike Connolly and Joe Colborne, the Kodiaks relied on offense from the defense against the Crushers, getting goals from blueliners Olsen, Stollery and Petiot to rebound from an early 1-0 hole.

The East Region champions, who beat three league champions in four days at the regional championship to cement their underdog status, opened the scoring just shy of the eight-minute mark, as Andrew Joudrey took a pass from the corner and beat Camrose goaltender Allen York.

The Camrose powerplay took over from there, capitalizing on three of their first four chances to take control of the game. The Kodiaks finished 3-for-7 with the man advantage.

Olsen got the powerplay onslaught started, taking a backdoor pass from Connolly and snapping it past Weeks netminder Alexandre Quessy, and Stollery made it 2-1 just three minutes later with a blast from the point.

Connolly was awarded a penalty shot moments before Stollery’s goal, but was turned aside by Quessy.

Goals by Herman – again on the powerplay – and Petiot in the second period pushed the lead to 4-1, and Herman drove to the net seven minutes into the third to round out the scoring for the Kodiaks, who held a 35-18 advantage in shots on goal.

Herman was a deserving recipient of the player of the game award for Camrose, as was Quessy, who was rewarded for his 30-save performance.

The Kodiaks hit the ice next on Monday afternoon (2:00 p.m. ET), when they take on the Humboldt Broncos in what could be a preview of Sunday’s championship game, while the Crushers face the Oakville Blades on Monday night (7:00 p.m. ET).