CALGARY – The Kam River Fighting Walleye started their Centennial Cup charge on a winning note.
Captain Daxton Lang scored 4:29 into overtime on Friday afternoon to propel the Superior International Junior Hockey League champions to a 2-1 win over the Trenton Golden Hawks.
The win snapped the league’s 0-12 record at the national Junior A hockey championship since the tournament switched to a 10-team format in 2022.
It was also the first win at the Centennial Cup for the Fighting Walleye, who went 0-4 at the 2023 event.
Carter Nailen broke a scoreless tie midway through the first to give Kam River the early 1-0 lead, but Trenton’s Cooper Matthews evened things up on the power play, beating Ashton Sadauskas at the 15:34 mark of the second period.
Sadauskas stopped 25 of 26 shots to pick up the win between the pipes.
Trenton’s Braydon Spry took the loss for the Ontario Junior Hockey League representatives, allowing two goals on 19 Kam River shots.
The Fighting Walleye take on Grand Pairie on Sunday at 9:30 p.m. EDT, then play the Northern Manitoba Blizzard on Sunday. They’ll wrap up round-robin play on Wednesday against the Greater Sudbury Cubs.
All games are played at the Max Bell Centre in Calgary.
