Tyler Boland of St. John’s is a national hockey champion.
Boland and the University New Brunswick Varsity Reds downed the University of Alberta Golden Bears 4-2 in Lethbridge, Alta., Sunday night to claim the David Johnson Cup and the U Sports men’s hockey crown.
It is UNB’s third Canadian university men’s hockey title in the last four years and the seventh in the school’s history. All have come since 2007.
However, it is the first for Boland, a second-year forward for UNB, which was ranked second at the event behind defending champion Alberta. The 22-year-old had a goal, two assists and a plus-four rating as the Varsity Reds won all three of their games at the nationals. This followed his four-goal, six-point, plus-five performance in UNB’s five games of the AUS playoffs and his 38 points in the regular season, which included 19 goals, second-most in the Atlantic conference.
One of Boland’s assists at the U Sport competition came on Kris Bennett’s second-period power-play goal Sunday, the tally that proved to be the game-winner.
Boland wasn’t the only Newfoundlander celebrating a win in Lethbridge on Sunday.
Earlier in the day, the St. Francis Xavier X-Men, coached by Goulds native Brad Peddle and with a roster featuring Newfoundlanders Aaron Hoyles (Gander), Adam Holwell (St. John’s) and Marcus Cuomo (St. John’s) claimed the bronze medal with a 5-1 victory over the Saskatchewan Huskies.
Holwell, a rookie rearguard with St. FX, scored twice in the game, including what proved to be the winning tally.
Meanwhile, the U Sports women’s hockey championship was in Charlottetown, P.E.I., where neither the St. Thomas Tommies, with goaltender Abby Clarke of Springdale, or host UPEI Panthers, with rookie forward Jolena Gillard of Deer Lake, were in medal contention after opening-round quarter-final losses.
The Guelph Gryphons took the women's championship.
