The Corner Brook Royals went a long way towards booking a spot in the West Coast Senior Hockey League final over the weekend with a pair of wins as the double round robin semifinal got underway.
On Sunday at the civic centre in Corner Brook, the Royals doubled up the Port aux Basques Mariners 6-3.
Tyler Hunt, Matt Colbourne, Josh Smith, Nick Childs, Ryan Hawco and Kurt Etchegary all found the back of the net in the win.
Cody Musseau (2) and Darren Dean replied for the Mariners.
Brad Power picked up the win in goal over Ryley Nadon.
On Saturday night, the Royals downed the Stephenville Jets 7-4 at the Stephenville Dome to open the double round robin.
David Budgell and Etchegary both picked up a pair of goals in the victory, with Andrew Stagg, Alex Hillier and Colbourne doing the rest of the damage.
Josh Oake, Nathan Ellsworth, Josh White, and Tim Caines put up the offence in the losing cause.
Steve Day was the winning netminder, while Ryan Hancock took the loss.
Friday night saw the league’s regular season finally come to a proper conclusion after poor weather prevented games from going ahead two weekends in a row.
In that game, the Mariners beat the Jets 7-6.
Greg Edgar (3), Luke Parsons (2), Brett Robinson and Robert Parsons all scored for the Mariners, while Jasper Dicks racked up four helpers.
Liam Frigault, Cory Perrier, Brad Lucus, Shane Columbe, David Chubb and Pat Alexander replied for the Jets.
Byron Francis earned the goaltending victory, while Andrew Murley and Tristan Hynes split the cage in the loss.
A few annual awards were also announced on Sunday, Royals’ Steve Gillard was named top defenceman, and teammate Colbourne earned the league’s most gentlemanly and effective player honours.
Jets’ Ryan Perrier was named the league’s rookie of the year, while Jets bench boss Rob French was given the nod for coach of the year.
The Royals also announced their team MVP was Etchegary, with Ellsworth picking up the same for the Jets.
Awards featuring Mariners players will be revealed at the next Mariners home game at the Bruce II Sports Centre on Saturday night.
