BIG THIRD PERIOD LEADS MINTOS OVER BLIZZARD

Special teams can make or break a game, but in Tuesday night’s match-up between the Prince Albert Mintos and the Séminaire St-François Blizzard, they played a huge part in a 3-1Mintos win.

Despite taking 14 minor penalties and being outshot 35-26, Prince Albert managed to come away with the victory.

After the first 20 minutes the game remained scoreless, but with numerous opportunities on the powerplay for each team.

The Blizzard broke the deadlock early in the second period, as Michael Trudel converted on a powerplay.

But Prince Albert’s Tommy Brown rallied back to even the score close to the midway point of the second, another powerplay marker.

Despite being outshot 31-9 through 40 minutes, the Mintos refused to quit, and took the lead on another powerplay goal, this one coming off the stick of Ryan Fox.

They extended their lead to 3-1 just 53 seconds later as Lewis Laczko picked up the insurance marker

Along with special teams, goaltending also played a gigantic role. Carson Chubak of Prince Albert was peppered with shots early on in the game but managed to keep his team in it long enough for their offense to come alive.

In the dying minutes of the game he came up with a huge glove save to keep the score at 3-1, and thwart a possible Blizzard comeback.

“Obviously special teams are important, but our goaltender stood on his head and he is a big reason why we won,” said Mintos captain Tommy Brown following the win.

Chubak earned Player of the Game for the Mintos, while David Savard was received the honour for Séminaire St-François.

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PREVIEW: CARSTAIRS WELCOMES SAINT-FRANÇOIS, PRINCE ALBERT

The 2007 TELUS Cup moves to Carstairs, AB for the first time on Tuesday as the Séminaire Saint-François Blizzard take on the Prince Albert Mintos in one of the round robin’s marquee match-ups.

Looking for their 12th medal in 13 trips to the National Midget Championship, the Blizzard got off to a strong start with a 3-1 win over the St. John’s Maple Leafs on Monday afternoon.

Three players – Michael Trudel, Maxime Gravel and Mike Villeneuve – all had two points for the Blizzard, who scored two of their three goals with the man advantage.

Prince Albert got the defence of their 2006 national championship off on the right foot with a 2-1 win over Vancouver in the opening game of the tournament on Monday afternoon.

The Mintos’ stifling defense, the best in the Saskatchewan Midget AAA Hockey Legaue this season, held the Giants to only 23 shots, with ten of those coming in the opening 40 minutes.

These two teams have met once before at a National Midget Championship – in 1999 in Prince Albert, where the Blizzard (playing then as the Gouverneurs de Ste-Foy) topped the host Mintos 5-2, a result they will hope to duplicate on Tuesday.