Led by former Trail Smoke Eater Logan Proulx, the Selkirk College Saints closed out a historic regular season on a high note Saturday, topping Eastern Washington University Eagles by a 7-3 score in front of a lively crowd at the Castlegar Recreation Complex.
Proulx netted a hat trick as the Saints brought to an end Eastern Washington’s hopes of a playoff berth. The Eagles needed a win combined with a University of Victoria loss to secure the fourth and final place in the B.C. Intercollegiate Hockey League playoffs. They got neither, meaning that Selkirk will host the Vikes in a best-of-three first round series next weekend.
The Saints jumped out to a 3-1 lead after 20 minutes on goals by Logan Proulx, Jackson Garrett and Connor McLaughlin, while Nick Redding countered for the Eagles on a power-play. Proulx and Tyler Mort then exchanged markers in the second to send Selkirk up 4-2 heading into the third.
Proulx completed his hat trick early in the final frame when he converted a cross ice pass from Garrett with the Saints on a 5-on-3 man-advantage. Kam Crawford and Beau Taylor capped the scoring late in the game.
“We were looking for our offence to get back on track after a couple of tough efforts against Eastern and we accomplished that,” says Saints head coach Jeff Dubois. “You want to be firing on all cylinders heading into playoffs, so this was a solid performance overall and a good way to cap off the regular season.”
Alex Sirard picked up his 13th win of the season in net for Selkirk, stopping 25 shots on the night. Jason Greenwell, who had stoned the Saints on the road a night earlier, was busy throughout and allowed seven goals on 54 shots.
Selkirk captain Jordan Wood picked up two assists on the night and wrapped up the BCIHL scoring title with 43 points. Proulx had three goals and an assist Saturday and finished in a tie for second place with UVic forward Shawn Mueller.
The Saints and Victoria will open their first-round series on Friday at the Complex with a 7:30 p.m. faceoff, with Game 2 set for Saturday and Game 3 slated for Sunday.
Saints Notes: Selkirk handed out their team awards in a pre-game ceremony. The winners were Jordan Wood - MVP, Logan Proulx - Rookie of the Year, Kam Crawford - Top Defenceman, Lucas Hildebrand - Unsung Hero and Connor McLaughlin/Scott Swiston - Coaches Award.