A pair of Swift Current Broncos prospects helped the Notre Dame Hounds win the Saskatchewan Male U18 AAA Hockey League championship. Forward Van Eger and goaltender Joey Rocha helped the Hounds sweep the Warman Wildcats in three games.
The host Hounds defeated the Wildcats 6-3 on Tuesday to close out the series after winning the first two games in overtime.
Eger finished with seven points in nine playoff games, including the opening goal in the championship-clinching win on April 19. Rocha finished with a 4-1 post-season record with a 2.30 goals against average and a .921 save percentage.
Eger was a fourth-round pick out of Willow Bunch, while Rocha was selected in the fifth round out of Nanaimo, BC.
Eger finished with 16 goals and 21 assists in 37 regular season games for the Hounds. Rocha posted an 18-4-0 record with three shutouts, a 2.71 GAA, and an .891 save percentage.
Warman featured three players from the Southwest as well as Broncos prospect Connor Gabriel.
Lucky Lake’s Jaydon Jessiman was second on the Wildcats with 24 goals and 30 assists in 43 regular season games. Swift Current’s Rhett Dekowny was third with 21 goals and 47 points. Swift Current’s Rylan Silzer added two goals and 11 assists from the blueline.
Gabriel, a fifth round pick in 2020, was fourth on the team with 19 goals and 44 points in 41 games.
Gabriel finished with nine points in the playoffs, while Jessiman and Dekowny each added six. Silzer posted four assists in 11 playoff outings.
The Hounds had won the regular season with a 35-8-0-1 record. Warman placed third with a 32-10-0-2 record during their first full season in the league.
