Castlegar Midget Rebels forward Hayden Klashinsky scored twice including the winning goal as the Rebels defeated the Kelowna Midget Rockets 5-1 in the final to win top spot in the Greater Trail Tier 2 Midget Tournament on Sunday.
Castlegar jumped out to a 3-0 lead on goals from Matthew Brind’Amour, Klashinsky and Amit Bhabra, before Kelowna’s Kolby Turk replied for the Rockets at 3:23 of the second. But Castlegar iced it in the final frame on goals from Eric Pilla and Klashinsky’s second with 1:17 to play for the win.
Castlegar tied Kelowna 1-1 to open the tournament, but dumped Campbell River 9-2, before edging out Winfield 4-3 to take first seed in the round robin and advance directly to the final.
The Trail Midget Smoke Eaters, meanwhile, started strong beating Campbell River, Cranbrook, and Spokane, before falling to Kelowna 3-1 to complete the round robin. The extra game may have sapped the Midgets of their energy for the semifinal match on Sunday as they lost to the Rockets in a close 2-1 tilt, but all in all it was a good showing for the Trail team.