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Photo by Marcel Vander Wier

LEAGUE CHAMPS 鈥 From left, Klondyke Dental Molars players Mike Jim, Gord Campbell, James Billy, Tim Turner- Davis and Mike Blower pose with the league trophy after winning the old-timer hockey championship.

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Photo by Marcel Vander Wier

SHUT OUT 鈥 Jets forward Gerry Rivest, left, handles the puck while Molars鈥 Mark Caswell closes in Monday.

Molars shut out Jets 2-0 to win old-timer league

Sean McLeish and Gord Campbell provided the scoring,

By Marcel Vander Wier on April 8, 2015

Sean McLeish and Gord Campbell provided the scoring, and goalie James Billy did the rest as the Klondyke Dental Molars won the old-timer hockey league championship Monday night.

The Whitehorse league鈥檚 playoffs concluded at the Canada Games Centre with the Molars shutting out the Joe Sparling-less Air North Jets 2-0.

McLeish was the first to beat Jets goalie Shay Mortimer, who was filling in for Sparling between the pipes. The goal at 13:58 of the first put the Molars up 1-0.

Then with 3:30 left in the first, Campbell slipped a shot past Mortimer to pad the lead to 2-0.

Meanwhile, at the other end of the ice, Billy was brilliant en route to a shutout performance 鈥 his first of the season.

鈥淚 said I retired two years ago,鈥 said the long-time goalie, who makes the two-hour trek from Carmacks to Whitehorse for each of his team鈥檚 games.

鈥淚 drive in every two days. It鈥檚 always fun to play in this league. You play with a lot of different guys and gain friendships throughout the years.鈥

The 2015 title marks the third straight championship game won by Billy.

Last year, he helped the Firth Rangers claim the league cup after backstopping Yukon Inn to the title in 2012.

鈥淲ith every team, it鈥檚 good to win. Mostly, this win is for the guys in the (dressing room) who won it for the first time,鈥 Billy told the Star Monday.

鈥淎nd now I鈥檝e come full circle with KDM, because when I鈥坒irst started, I was on the KDM鈥坱eam and we won the league and playoffs, too.鈥

The game was a clash of the league鈥檚 second and third seeds, after Kilrich was eliminated from the playoffs early following a dominant regular season that saw them lose just one game.

Kilrich鈥檚 season record of 35-1-6 is widely regarded to be the best in league history. The league began in the 1980s.

Second seed Air North would have had to beat Klondyke Dental twice to win the trophy, as the playoffs employ a double-elimination format.

The final was a physical affair, with several bodychecks being dished out.

Yukon Premier Darrell Pasloski and Education Minister Doug Graham refereed the contest, assessing six minor penalties.

鈥淭hey forechecked really well,鈥濃圝ets captain Chad Cowan said of the Molars game plan. 鈥淭hey played good positionally and were making good first passes. We weren鈥檛, as forwards, giving our defence any space or helping them out.鈥

The centre felt the Jets played a good first period, but just weren鈥檛 able to beat Billy. Then in the second frame, they 鈥渟tarted to panic,鈥 said Cowan.

鈥淥ne of the teams that we played the best against is Kilrich,鈥 he added. 鈥淲e beat them once, tied them three times and we lost to them once.

鈥淚t was a great bunch of guys. We always had 12 or 13 guys out, so commitment was great.鈥

Klondyke Dental beat the defending champion Firth Rangers 7-2, Air North 4-2 and EDI 3-2 to reach the championship final.

The team received offensive contributions from a variety of players, but were led by Mike Jim and Tony Park, who had six playoff points apiece.

鈥淲hat I noticed in the playoffs is that we started to talk a little bit more to each other,鈥 said Billy. 鈥淲e made sure everybody knew when we played and all that.鈥

Members of the Molars鈥 championship squad include: Dave Bakica, Russell Bamford, Billy, Mike Blower, Campbell, Mark Caswell, Dermot Flynn, Gregor Gabb, Jim Giczi, Rick Gingell, Jim, Mike Knutson, McLeish, Tony Park, Rick Seaman and Tim Turner-Davis.

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