Ryan Watson has helped B.C. capture the WHL Cup for the first time in five years.
The 15-year-old defenceman from Ladner scored in the third period and assisted on the game winner as B.C. produced a thrilling 4-3 overtime triumph over Alberta in Sunday’s gold medal game played in Calgary.
Watson gave B.C. its first lead of the game earlier in the third period. It remained 3-2 until Alberta’s Connor McClennon equalized with less than two minutes remaining. That set the stage for Watson to set-up Kelowna’s Ben King for the winning goal at the 2:37 mark of overtime.
The result capped an impressive comeback for B.C. after opening the tournament with two straight losses, including a 6-2 setback to Alberta on Friday. That came after being trimmed 3-2 by Manitoba in a shootout to open the four-province event.
The B.C. boys battled back into contention with a 6-0 win over Saskatchewan to conclude round-robin play with a 1-1-0-1 record, then routed Saskatchewan again in the semi-finals — 7-0.
Watson was among the top scoring blueliners at the tournament with five points in as many games. He was one of four members of Delta Hockey Academy’s Midget Prep team on the B.C. roster — joined by Cole Shepard, Payton Mount and Dylan Garand.
Watson was selected 65th overall in last May’s Western Hockey League Bantam Draft by the Medicine Hat Tigers. He was the lone South Delta player to crack DHA’s top Bantam Prep team last season.
The WHL Cup, formerly known as the Western Canada U16 Challenge Cup, features the highest-rated U16 players from Alberta, B.C. Manitoba and Saskatchewan.
The round-robin format is the first step in the Hockey Canada Program of Excellence (POE) and assists the western provincial hockey branches in evaluating the top prospects in this age group for future high-performance programs.
The Team B.C. roster was finalized earlier this month following an extensive selection process that included a week-long provincial camp at Shawnigan Lake in July.
