They Langley Trappers are your 2021-2022 Cyclone Taylor Cup Champions!
The Trappers accomplished the Triple crown on the weekend of April 7th -10th 2022 by finishing the season atop of the Provincial Jr. B mountain competing for and claiming the Cyclone Taylor Cup.
The Trappers finished the Pacific Junior Hockey League Regular Season with 33 wins and 68 points, claiming the League Champion Banner and a first place birth in the standings heading into playoffs. They met the likes of the Mission City Outlaws in the first round and fought to a 4-1 series victory.
The second round saw the likes of the Ridge Meadows Flames, a talented offensive threat with three players in the top ten of league scoring throughout the regular season. Yet, the Trappers competed hard and finished the series in 4 games. Solid performances were had by the likes of Taje Gill, the Trappers 17 year old net minder who sported a 1.54 GAA and a .952 SV% in the series.
Brendan O’Grady, the team Captain, had 4 goals and 1 assist for 5 points in the 4 games played. Lleyton Shearon, A Trappers second year player, tallied 3 goals and 4 assists for 7 points in the four games played. Shearon would also lead Trappers players in overall scoring through the playoffs with 7 goals, 12 assists and 19 points in 14 playoff games played.
The Ray Stonehouse Cup Pacific Junior Hockey League Championship round saw the Trappers face-off against the White Rock Whalers; a big tough, skilled and disciplined team. Three of the league final games were decided in the last three minutes of play, tilting the ice in the Trappers favour. Game 1 was a 2-2 draw through regulation. The Trappers gained momentum through the early stages of the extra frame and Cody Bathgate, a 17 year old second year player for the Trappers made an unbelievable individual effort to walk around a Whaler defender before pulling the puck to his forehand and scoring top corner.
Game 2 had the Trappers in control for most of the game with a late third period push by the Whalers to make it interesting. Game 3 was played at South Surrey Arena. An Olympic sized ice sheet located a few blocks north of the Whalers regular home of Centennial Arena. The Trappers got out to a 2-0 lead in game 3. However, the Whalers were persistent in their efforts to draw back into the game. They tied the game at 2’s mid-way through the third period and took momentum late into the game. The trappers were rewarded a Power Play with just under four minutes remaining in the third period. Lleyton Shearon, sitting unchecked off the back post would gather the puck and fire it hard into an open net, regaining the lead for the Trappers at 3-2. The Whalers pressed back and went on the offensive. Net minder Taje Gill was tested one last time, point blank and make a miraculous glove hand save with .16 seconds remaining in the game. The Trappers took a stranglehold on the series at 3 games to 0. Game four was a heavy hitting affair as White Rock would not be denied. They controlled most of the games puck possession, Power Plays, and shots on goal and would walk away with a 2-1 victory forcing a game 5 in Langley. The Whalers took an early 1-0 lead in game five. Though, the Trappers would not back down. they battled back and tied the game at 1’s early in the second period. However, White Rock would regain the lead late in the 2nd frame with a goal by Cole Svendson, a Langley native, who was parked alone, unchecked in the slot. He made no mistake when receiving the puck and placed it top corner over goaltender Taje Gill’s Shoulder to regain the lead for the Whalers at 2-1. The Trappers started the 3rd frame on fire and took advantage of a Power Play opportunity when Ryan Tong took a slap shot from the point that found its way into the back of the net. Momentum was behind the Trappers as they pressed hard late into the period. It was Anthony Bosnjak on a solid forecheck who picked up a loose puck behind the Whalers net and stuffed a wrap around puck under the pad of Whalers Goaltender Keagan Maddox with 37 seconds remaining. The Trappers would hold onto the lead and close the series 4 games to 1 and win the Ray Stonehouse Cup Pacific Junior Hockey League Championship.
The win solidified the Trappers as the PJHL’s representative in the Cyclone Taylor Cup held in Ladner, hosted by the Delta Ice Hawks, April 7th to 10th 2022. The Vancouver Island Junior Hockey League saw the Oceanside Generals and the Peninsula Panthers battle to six games before the Panthers ultimately rose to victory clinching the series 4 games to 2. The Kootenay International Junior Hockey League’s, Tek Cup was battled out between the Nelson Leafs and the Revelstoke Grizzlies with the Grizzlies taking the championship series 4 games to 1.
The Trappers met Peninsula in the first game and started off shooting every puck from every vantage point with success as they led the game by a score of 4-1 after the first period. The Trappers would go onto win the game by a score of 6-2 while making a statement at the tournament on day one. Game two was against the Revelstoke Grizzlies who had lost to the Delta ice Hawks the previous night by a score of 2-0. Revelstoke would draw first blood against the Trappers with a goal by Brandon Kasdorf, a Grizzlies 20 year old player from the town of Rosemary Alberta, with 1 minute and 25 seconds remaining in the period. The game remained 1-0 for the Grizzlies through the second period. Evan Clare, a 20 year old Trappers defensemen would get his team on the scoresheet with a seeing-eye shot beating Grizzlies net minder Brandon Weare. Trappers Captain Brendan O’Grady would rip twine next for the trappers capitalizing off of a blue-line turnover handed over by the Grizzlies. O’Grady placed a nice shot mind net, blocker side on goaltender Weare, on a partial breakaway. O’Grady would seal the game with an empty Net insurance goal late in the period to solidify the win and a birth in the Cyclone Taylor Cup Gold Medal Game with a 2-0 tournament record.
The Delta Ice Hawks played the Peninsula Panthers that evening and won the game 8-7 in an absolute barnburner. The win would also solidify the Ice Hawks in the Gold Medal Game with their tournament record moving to 2-0. The Tappers and Ice Hawks met in what would be a prelude and final round robin game with home ice advantage on the line. The Trappers decided to rest some of their payers for this game in an effort to give some of the younger players and next years stars ice time as well as opportunity on the Cyclone Taylor Cup stage. The Game was a tight battle. But, the Ice Hawks were victorious at the end of the game by a score of 5-2. Peninsula and Revelstoke would play to a 1-1 draw needing a shootout in their final round robin game. Played to determine home ice advantage in the Bronze Medal game, Revelstoke eventually won the game 2-1 off the stick of Curtis Kinoshita in the 12th round of the shootout. Revelstoke took third place with their Bronze Medal Victory by a score of 3-2 with the third goal coming off of the stick of Owen Chamberland, a 19 year old product of Whitecourt Alberta.
The Trappers and Ice Hawks duked it out at the Gold medal game with the first goal scored on the Power Play by Jacob Astles, an 18 year old third year veteran for the Trappers. Delta battled back and tied the game early in the second period with a Power Play goal of their own by Conner Merriman. Delta would take a 2-1 lead with just under 8 minutes remaining in the period, again on the Power Play this time by Conners brother Carson Merriman. Trappers power forward Cody Bathgate found himself in an opportune spot to tie the game, gathering a rebound off of a Ryan Tong wrist shot that found its way to the net. Bathgate gathered the rebound and slid the puck into a partially open net to tie the game at 2’s. Momentum quickly shifted the Trappers way in the third period and it was Benjamin Weys scoring the go-ahead goal just before the mid point of the period for the Trappers. Delta pushed hard while time was quickly ticking off of the clock. Taje Gill remained calm, cool, and collected in the net gathering every shot thrown at him. Delta Pulled their goalie Brady Euraby with two and a half minutes to go but the Trappers gained position of the puck right as Euraby made it to the bench and attacked down ice. O’Grady entered the offensive zone and made a pass to Jamie Hylands who shot the puck into the empty net giving the Trappers a 4-2 insurance marker goal.
That is how the game would end and the Trappers solidified their triple Crown Cyclone Taylor Cup victory by walking through the front door and winning the gold medal game in the oppositions home rink. The Trappers won 15 games in the playoffs and Round Robin Tournament to solidify the Cyclone Taylor Cup while only losing 3 games. The Trappers played a total of 62 games throughout the course of the season. They were victorious in 48, while learning necessary lessons in the 14 total losses. The Langley Trappers become the first team to win the Cyclone Taylor Cup in the Pacific Junior Hockey League since 2018 when the Richmond sockeyes defeated the very same Delta Ice hawks by a score of 5-1.
Ladies and Gentlemen, Your Langley Trappers are the 2021-2022 Pacific Junior Hockey League Regular Season Champions, Pacific Junior Hockey league Playoff Champions, and Cyclone Taylor Cup Provincial Champions!
GO Trappers GO!
