Photo by Photo Submitted
DYNAMITE DAWSONITE 鈥 Charles Dagostin was part of a strong Kimberley Dynamiters team that won the Kootenay International Junior Hockey League title this season. Photo courtesy of JODI L鈥橦EUREUX
Photo by Photo Submitted
DYNAMITE DAWSONITE 鈥 Charles Dagostin was part of a strong Kimberley Dynamiters team that won the Kootenay International Junior Hockey League title this season. Photo courtesy of JODI L鈥橦EUREUX
Charles Dagostin is revelling in his first major hockey championship with the Kimberley Dynamiters.
Charles Dagostin is revelling in his first major hockey championship with the Kimberley Dynamiters.
The 20-year-old Dawson City native and his teammates won the Kootenay International Junior Hockey League (KIJHL) title in six games over the Kamloops Storm.
The Dynamiters clinched the championship with a 5-1 win Mar. 29.
鈥淭his was my first-ever league championship, so it was a pretty exciting moment for me,鈥濃圖agostin told the Star. 鈥淚t was a surreal feeling.
鈥淲e had a really good year. We started off by going 6-0 in the first month, then hit a rough spot where we were a little over .500.
鈥淭hen we came back and didn鈥檛 lose a game in regulation in 2015. Everyone really came together in the second part of the year and the playoffs.鈥
Dagostin, a second-year defenceman, recorded two assists in 18 playoff games after a notching three assists in 45 regular season games.
He was a big-body presence on the back end, killing penalties in a leadership role.
The KIJHL championship was the first won by Kimberley since 1980.
The Dynamiters knocked off the Creston Valley Thundercats, Ferne Ghostriders, Beaver Valley Nitehawks in best-of-seven series before meeting the Storm in the final.
The title win earned the Dynamiters a berth in the Cyclone Taylor Cup, where they finished second in the provincial Junior B championship, losing the final 6-5 to the Campbell River Storm.
The Yukoner said it was his team鈥檚 heart that led to their success.
鈥淭hat was a defining factor for us,鈥 he said. 鈥淓veryone was sacrificing and making plays that needed to be made. There wasn鈥檛 anyone pulling the rope in the opposite direction.鈥
The eldest son of Ray Dagostin and Marjorie Logue will return to the Klondike this summer.
Dagostin wasn鈥檛 the only Yukon hockey player vying for a league title this season.
Brett Roulston鈥檚 Nanaimo Clippers came agonizingly close to a Junior A crown, dropping the final series of the British Columbia Hockey League to the Fred Page Cup-winning Penticton Vees in six games.
The Vees eliminated the Clippers with a 3-2 overtime win Apr. 17. Roulston scored the goal to force overtime.
The local right-winger finished tied for the team lead in playoff scoring with seven goals and 10 assists in 23 games, and went on to win the Clippers鈥 coach鈥檚 award Saturday night.
Meanwhile, Craig Berube of the Notre Dame Hounds just missed out on a Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League title, after his Junior A team was swept 4-0 by the Melfort Mustangs, who won the Canalta Cup.
The Mustangs shut out the Hounds 4-0 in Game 4 Apr. 16 to earn a berth in the Western Canada Cup.
Berube recorded one goal and 30 penalty minutes during the Hounds鈥 17-game playoff run after recording two goals and four assists in 44 regular season games.
In professional hockey, the Mississippi RiverKings were swept from the Southern鈥圥rofessional Hockey League finals by the Knoxville Ice Bears Apr. 18.
Knoxville beat the RiverKings 4-2 in Game 2 to win the best-of-three series and earn the President鈥檚 Cup.
Haines Junction鈥檚 Reid Campbell played 45 regular season games for the RiverKings, scoring two goals and adding nine assists, to go with a plus-nine rating.
In order to encourage thoughtful and responsible discussion, website comments will not be visible until a moderator approves them. Please add comments judiciously and refrain from maligning any individual or institution. Read about our user comment and privacy policies.
Your name and email address are required before your comment is posted. Otherwise, your comment will not be posted.
Be the first to comment