SELKIRK, Man. -- A boy named Brittain has guided the Calgary Buffaloes to the Canadian Midget AAA hockey final.
Netminder Sam Brittain made 38 saves, including a game-changing stop on a penalty shot in the second period, that propelled the Buffaloes to a 7-0 thumping of the host Winnipeg Thrashers in Telus Cup semifinal action last night.
Calgary will meet Saskatchewan champion Notre Dame in today's final at 4 p.m. (TSN2) after the Hounds beat the Laval-Bourassa Rousseau Sports 6-4 in yesterday's other semifinal.
"We have an opportunity to do something that no Buffaloes team has ever done, and that's win the Mac's tournament and win the national championship in the same year," said Buffaloes bench boss James Poole.
"The kids are pretty focused on that."
The Buffs captured their one and only national midget championship in 1989, while Notre Dame last won in 1986. The Buffaloes made it to the final three years ago, but lost in triple overtime to the Prince Albert (Sask.) Mintos.
Dylan Nowakowski potted a pair last night for the Buffs. Drydn Dow, Greg Lamoureux, Joel Lowry, Doug Jones and Cody Irving also scored for the Calgary club, which had 39 shots.
"We proved to everyone that we are a top-notch team and we deserve to be here," said Brittain. "Our team definitely comes to play in the do-or-die games. Hopefully, we can do that (today)."
FLYERS CLAIM BRONZE
The Calgary Flyers didn't leave the Max Bell Centre empty-handed.
The Flyers topped the Edmonton Thunder 3-2 yesterday in the Esso Cup National Female Midget AAA Championship bronze-medal match.
Sadie Lenstra, Ferran Brown and Shawna Griffin scored for the Flyers.
The Westman Wildcats won gold, beating the Scarborough Sharks 5-2 in the final.
