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Surrey players power Team B.C. to WHL Cup win in Red Deer

Squad of 2006-borns beat Team Alberta
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Team B.C. celebrates with the WHL Cup in Red Deer on Sunday afternoon. (Photo: Rob Wallator/WHL)

Surrey-area hockey players helped power Team B.C. to a WHL Cup win on Sunday afternoon (Oct. 24).

The squad of 2006-borns beat Team Alberta 5-2 in Red Deer, Alberta, at Peavey Mart Centrium.

Five players from Surrey were named to the roster ahead of the tournament, which involved teams representing B.C., Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba.

The Team B.C. roster includes Surrey-raised players E.J. Emery (D, currently with Yale Hockey Academy), Cameron Sytsma (D, Burnaby Winter Club), Jordan Gavin (F, Delta Hockey Academy), Tomas Mrsic (F, Delta Hockey Academy) and Chase Valliant (F, Yale Hockey Academy). Langley’s Diego Buttazoni (F, Burnaby Winter Club) is also on the team.

Semifinal Saturday (Oct. 23) saw Team B.C. romp past Team Saskatchewan by a 9-2 margin in the early game, while Team Alberta blanked Team Manitoba by a 2-0 score later in the afternoon.

“Tomas Mrsic was electric for Team B.C., finding the back of the net four times, including three during the first period of play, one of which served as the game’s insurance goal,” says a game report posted to whl.ca.

Mrsic and Gavin were named to the tournament all-star team, and both were among the leading scorers, with nine points apiece over five days of games.

In Sunday’s gold-medal game, Chetwynd’s Cayden Lindstrom – who also plays for Delta Hockey Academy’s dominant U17 Prep team, along with Mrsic and Gavin – scored his first goal of the 2021 WHL Cup, striking 4:35 into the third period to give B.C. a 3-1 advantage. Lindstrom’s goal was the game-winner.

The majority of players at the tourney will be selected in the 2021 WHL Prospects Draft, or will be later “listed” by WHL clubs.

The list of past participants at the WHL Cup includes many current NHLers, including Morgan Reilly (in 2009, with Team B.C.), Brayden Point (2011, Alberta) and Mathew Barzal (2021, B.C.). Of note, Surrey’s Justin Sourdif, currently with Vancouver Giants and a Florida Panthers draft pick, was named to the 2017 WHL Cup all-star team.

This is the third time in WHL Cup history that B.C. has won it all, with previous victories in 2012 and 2017.

2021 WHL Cup All-Star Team

Goaltender – Ethan McCallum (Manitoba)

Defence – Keith McInnis (Alberta)

Defence – Jonas Woo (Manitoba)

Forward – Jordan Gavin (British Columbia)

Forward – Miguel Marque (British Columbia)

Forward – Tomas Mrsic (British Columbia)

2021 WHL Cup Leading Scorers

1. Miguel Marques (BC) – 5G-5A – 10pts

2. Jordan Gavin (BC) – 4G-5A – 9pts

3. Tomas Mrsic (BC) – 4G-5A – 9pts

4. Oliver Josephson (BC) – 4G-3A – 7pts

5. Zane Saab (Alberta) – 5G-1A – 6pts

2021 WHL Cup Leading Goaltenders

1. Evan Gardner (BC) – .953 SV%

2. Madden Mulawka (Alberta) – .935 SV%

3. Jesse Sanche (BC) – .908 SV%

4. Ethan McCallum (Manitoba) – .904 SV%

5. Chase Wutzke (Saskatchewan) – .889 SV%



tom.zillich@surreynowleader.com

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Tom Zillich

About the Author: Tom Zillich

I cover entertainment, sports and news stories for the Surrey Now-Leader, where I've worked for more than half of my 30-plus years in the newspaper business.
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