Corey Koop's junior hockey career is over but the 麻豆社国产Minor Hockey Association (SMHA) product left on a high note.
Koop and his Steinbach Pistons won the Manitoba Junior Hockey League (MJHL) championship and went on to participate in the first Western Canada Cup (WCC). The Pistons failed to win a game at the WCC, which wrapped up on Thursday (May 2) for the squad, but Koop said it was still a memorable experience.
"To all the players just starting their junior careers, don't trade it in for anything," he tweeted after the final game on Thursday. "Best time of my life."
Koop played all four games for the Pistons at the WCC, posting a save percentage of .898 and a goals-against average of 3.51. Brendan Hopkins, another SMHA product on the Pistons, contributed one assist. Hopkins still has two years of junior eligibility remaining.
Meanwhile, Josh Thrower will not join his brother Dalton Thrower at the Memorial Cup after the Calgary Hitmen were eliminated by the Edmonton Oil Kings in Game 7 of the Western Hockey League's (WHL) Eastern Conference final.
Edmonton beat Calgary 3-0 on April 30 to send the younger Thrower brother packing. Dalton and his Saskatoon Blades teammates are still waiting for the rest of the field to qualify for the Memorial Cup, which kicks off on May 17. The Blades will have home-ice advantage at the biggest junior hockey tournament in the country when they welcome the top teams from Ontario, Quebec and Western Canada.
For more details on the tournament, visit www.mastercardmemorialcup.ca.
