2004 National U18 Club Championship

QUEBEC 1 - WEST 2

Gold Medal Game
April 25, 2004
Kenora, ON

The gold medal game looked to be a dandy as the first time these two teams met, Quebec narrowly edged out the Wheaties 5-4 in overtime. The game would feature stellar goaltenders on both sides, and the tournaments two top scorers in Francis Pare (Quebec) and Tyler Dittmer (Brandon). The game was extremely close for the first two periods, as neither team could solve the two outstanding netminders. As the third period started with a 0-0 tie, overtime started to look like a possibility. Brandon finally broke the deadlock with a power-play goal by Andrew Clark at 5:33 of the third. Quebec quickly responded at 8:45 on a goal by Hugo Martin to tie things up at 1-1. With the game going into overtime, the two goalies were both equally sharp, and the extra frame went right down to the wire. Brandon captain, Taylor Langford was the hero when he scored on the far side of Quebec netminder, Simon Leblanc to end the game with only 12.9 seconds remaining in the first overtime period. The players poured onto the ice as the Brandon Wheat Kings captured their first ever National Midget Championship. This was the first time a Manitoban team has ever one a medal at this event. College Charles Lemoyne will take home the silver medal for the first time, having previously won the bronze (2002) and gold (1998).