HOCKEY CANADA
2013 RBC Cup
Star of the Day
DAY 9 – SUNDAY, MAY 19
Cam Maclise (F) – Brooks BanditsThe best player in the country was the best player on the ice Sunday night. Cam Maclise scored once and added an assist, leading his Brooks Bandits to a 3-1 win over Summerside and the first national championship in team history. Maclise helped get the offence ctarted early, feeding Anthony Petruzzelli for the game’s first goal just seven minutes in, and clinched the national title with an empty net goal with just 29.6 seconds remaining. The victory makes Maclise the first player to win RBC CJHL Player of the Year honours and Canada’s National Junior A Championship in the same season since Greg Johnson in 1989. Ironically, Johnson, as a member of the Thunder Bay Flyers, also beat the Western Capitals, in Summerside, to win the national championship.
DAY 8 – SATURDAY, MAY 18
Kevin Bailie (G) – Summerside Western Capitals
This spot could very easily have gone to Christopher Caissy, who scored the overtime winner and was in on all three Summerside goals in its semifinal victory over Surrey, but Caissy would not have had a chance to be the hero were it not for Bailie, who backed up his Top Goaltender selection at Friday night’s awards banquet with a 50-save performance, leading the Western Capitals to the championship game. Bailie’s best arguably came in the opening minutes of overtime, when he turned aside three point-blank chances by the Eagles, but he was spectacular for the entire 77 minutes of action, stopping 12 shots in the first period, 10 in the second, 13 in the third and 15 more in overtime for his second 40+-save performance against Surrey this week.
DAY 6 – THURSDAY, MAY 16
Philip Fife (F) – Truro Bearcats
It must be something about playing the Summerside Western Capitals in high-profile games that brings out the best in Philip Fife. For the second time in less than two weeks Fife scored a breakaway winner to lead the Bearcats over the Western Capitals, helping Truro to its first victory of the RBC Cup and keeping Summerside out of second place in the preliminary round. On May 5, Fife converted a breakaway in double overtime to give the Bearcats a 3-2 win and the Fred Page Cup. It was almost a carbon copy goal on Thursday night, with Fife shrugging off a Western Capitals defender and going high to the blocker side. The only difference was the goaltender – Fife beat Kevin Bailie in the East Region final, and scored on Jacob Riley on Thursday.
DAY 5 – WEDNESDAY, MAY 15
Michael Santaguida (G) – Surrey Eagles
He wasn’t always busy, and he wasn’t spectacular, but he was perfect. Michael Santaguida turned aside all 29 shots he faced Wednesday afternoon, becoming the first goaltender to shut out the Minnesota Wilderness and help the Eagles remain the only undefeated team at the 2013 RBC Cup with a 5-0 victory. Santaguida made eight saves in the first period, 10 in the second and 11 in the third for his second shutout of the national championship and seventh in 25 playoff games. Surrey is the first team to post multiple shutouts in one preliminary round since the Eagles themselves did it en route to the national title in 1998, with current head coach Matt Erhart patrolling the blue line.
DAY 4 – TUESDAY, MAY 14
Mike Dietrich (F) – Minnesota Wilderness
With the Wilderness needing a win to keep alive its hopes of taking part in Saturday’s semifinals it was captain and leading scorer Mike Dietrich who stepped up. Dietrich opened the scoring just 3:43 in, speeding away from the Truro defence and converting a shorthanded breakaway, and added three assists, including helpers on the game-winning and insurance goals in the third period, to help Minnesota earn victory No. 1, and clinch a playoff spot after Summerside beat Brooks. The win put Minnesota in the record books – it’s the first time an American team – the Wilderness play out of Cloquet, Minn. – has won a game at Canada’s National Junior A Championship.
DAY 3 – MONDAY, MAY 13
Adam Tambellini (F) – Surrey Eagles
Eagles captain Brett Mulcahy may have been the hero, scoring the overtime winner to beat Summerside, but Surrey would not have even reached the extra period were it not for the efforts of Adam Tambellini, who was in on all four of his team’s goals in regulation time, scoring twice and adding two assists. The younger brother of 2001-02 national Junior A player of the year and former NHLer Jeff Tambellini, who played in an RBC Cup himself with Chilliwack in 2002, Adam saved his best for the third period, setting up Devon Toews for the 4-3 marker on an Eagles power play before sending the game to overtime with his second goal, batting the puck out of mid-air with 4:25 remaining.
DAY 2 – SUNDAY, MAY 12
Demico Hannoun (F) – Surrey Eagles
The honour could have gone to any one of a number of Eagles after a seven-goal performance in their tournament debut – Michael Stenerson had a goal and four assists, Brady Shaw had two goals and a helper, Devon Toews and Craig Wyszomirski had two assists each in a 7-0 Surrey win over Truro – but it’s Demico Hannoun who gets the nod. The North Delta, B.C., native scored a pair of goals in the first 12 minutes, both on the power play, added an assist in the opening frame as the Eagles took early control, and rounded out his hat trick to cap the scoring in the third and lead Surrey to its biggest offensive output of the playoffs in its first game on Junior A hockey’s biggest stage.
DAY 1 – SATURDAY, MAY 11
Cam Maclise (F) – Brooks Bandits
Brooks’ leading scorer in the regular season and playoffs, Cam Maclise was once again front and centre for the Bandits’ offence in their RBC Cup debut on Saturday, scoring three times – all in a five-goal second period – and adding an assist to help the AJHL champions rout Truro 7-1. Maclise converted on both halves of a 5-on-3, scoring 22 seconds apart, and finished his hat trick with a beautiful individual effort nine minutes later as the Bandits showed why they were ranked No. 1 in for 22 consecutive weeks during the regular season. The hat trick was Maclise’s fourth of the year – second of the playoffs – and he recorded four points for the third time this season, the first since Nov. 23.
