The league finalists have been decided in the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League, and there will be no shortage of former Moose Jaw Warriors, Moose Jaw AAA Warriors and Moose Jaw Minor Hockey products taking the ice with the Estevan Bruins and Flin Flon Bombers.
Estevan has an especially strong local connection, with no less than five former denizens of Mosaic Place taking the ice for the regular-season champion Bruins.
Leading the way is overage netminder and SJHL goaltender of the year candidate Boston Bilous.
After suiting up for the Warriors in the East Division Hub last season, Bilous joined the Bruins prior to the 2021-22 campaign and had an outstanding campaign, playing 40 games and posting a 2.11 goals against average to go along with a ,923 save percentage and five shutouts to go along with a 25-9-2 record. In the playoffs, Bilous has been even better, boasting a 1.58 GAA and .938 SP.
Bilous had a couple of familiar faces taking the ice with him this season in former Warriors defenceman Nolan Jones and forward Kade Runke.
Jones -- a Moose Jaw Minor Hockey product -- joined the Bruins in the off-season and the 20-year-old was one of the team’s top-scoring rearguards, putting up five goals and 27 points in 43 games. He’s added two goals and five points in nine playoff games.
Runke was released by the Warriors out of training camp and promptly had an impact upon joining the Bruins, finishing the season with 22 goals and 44 points in 54 games. The 19-year-old forward has picked it up further in the playoffs, with five goals and 10 points in nine games.
Former Moose Jaw AAA Warriors standout Caelan Fitzpatrick enjoyed a productive campaign in his first full season with the Bruins, with the 18-year-old forward emerging as the second-highest goalscorer on the team with 28 to go along with 48 points in 57 games. He’s added three goals and seven points in eight playoff games.
Estevan product and former Moose Jaw AAA forward Cody Davis has also been a productive member of the Bruins, putting up 11 goals and 32 points in 56 regular-season games, followed by a goal and four points in the playoffs.
And if that isn’t enough of a connection to the Moose Jaw area, the Bruins also feature Keagon Little, who played for the Prairie Hockey Academy U17 Cougars in the 2018-19 season. Little had 11 goals and 32 points in 56 games for Estevan along with a goal and four points in nine playoff games.
Estevan finished the regular season with a SJHL-best 43-10-2-3 record, and after losing their opening playoff game to Notre Dame in double overtime, have won eight straight. That includes finishing off the Hounds four-games-to-one in their division semifinal and following with a four-game sweep against the Yorkton Terriers.
Up north in Flin Flon, the Bombers have a single former Warrior in their midst in defenceman Cory King. The 19-year-old rearguard joined Flin Flin after training camp in Moose Jaw and put up eight assists in 37 games. King has one assist in 10 games in the playoffs.
Flin Flon has had a longer road to the final, picking up a pair of upset wins in the process. After finishing with a 34-21-2-1 record and second place in the Sherwood Division, the Bombers defeated the Battlefords North Stars in six games before stunning the Global Ag Risk Solutions Division champion Humboldt Broncos in five games in the league semifinal.
Be sure to follow along on www.sjhl.ca for all the latest on the league championship final.
