MJHL Champs Set for Western Canada Cup

  It’s highly unlikely the Winnipeg Blues are still flying under the radar.
 
  The Manitoba Junior Hockey League champions are looking to continue their cinderella post-season run when they open the Western Canada Cup in Dauphin Saturday afternoon against the SJHL champion Yorkton Terriers.
 
  The Blues finished the regular season in fourth-place in the Addison Division, but caught fire at the right time and won 14 of 17 playoff games to claim the Turnbull Cup.
 
  Blues’ forward Liam Bilton gives a lot of credit to GM/Coach Don MacGillivray for helping them put it all together at the right time.
 
  "After the trade deadline, Don had a lot of confidence in the lineup we had.  He didn’t make many changes, so we knew he was confident in us, we were confident in him," said Bilton, who led the MJHL in playoff scoring with eight goals and 17 points, "We knew we could do it, and ever since trade deadline we somewhat turned our season around."
 
  Bilton doesn’t think the layoff between clinching the Turnbull Cup on April 15 to the start of the Western Canada Cup this Saturday will hurt the Blues, especially since all the other teams that’ll be in Dauphin have faced similar layoffs.
 
  The 19-year old Bilton also knows their approach to the next week will have to be a little different than what it was for the playoffs.
 
  "You always have to be ready to perform in a tournament format.  It’s one game, and every game is a huge game," said Bilton, "It’s definitely a different mentality, you can’t prepare specifically for one team.  We’re going to have to be ready for all four teams that are in the tournament."
 
  The opening game of the tournament on Saturday afternoon will feature the Blues against the SJHL Champion Yorkton Terriers, with the host Dauphin Kings facing the AJHL Champion Spruce Grove Saints on Saturday night.
 
  The BCHL Champion Coquitlan Express see their first action on Sunday.
 
  "We have to respect our opponents, because we know they’re great hockey teams too, obviously, champions in their leagues.  We have to stick to our game plan because it’s worked against good teams and these are good teams as well," added Blues’ goaltender Byron Spriggs, the MJHL’s playoff MVP, "Just a matter of sticking to our game plan, not worying about outside influences, do what we do best, just work hard and I think the results will speak for themselves there."
 
  Spriggs led all goaltenders in the playoffs with an outstanding 14-3 record, 1.67 GAA and .936 save percentage.
 
  The top two teams from the Western Canada Cup will advance to the RBC Cup National Junior A Championship, which takes place in Vernon, B.C. from May 10-18.