Wenatchee Wild claim BCHL championship

The Wenatchee Wild are the champions of the British Columbia Hockey League (BCHL).

The Wild dominated the Prince George Spruce Kings, allowing the visiting team only eight shots on goal, as they skated to an impressive 3-0 win Thursday night in Wenatchee, Wash., to take the best-of-seven championship series in five games.

The Wild joined the BCHL only four years ago.

Just under 4,000 fans jammed into the Town Toyota Centre to cheer on the hometown Wild, who became the first American team to win the Fred Page Cup since 1979 when the Bellingham Blazers captured the league title.

The Wild opened the scoring less than three minutes into Thursday’s contest as Zak Galambos scored a power play goal.

Although the Wild dominated play, they didn’t put the game out of reach until Galambos scored another power play marker early in the third period.

Team captain AJ Vanderbeck scored an empty net goal with just over two minutes left to secure the 3-0 victory as the hometown crowd went wild.

Goaltender Austin Park didn’t have much action, but did what he had to do to secure the shutout victory.

The Wild will now play the winner of the Alberta Junior Hockey League championship series between the Spruce Grove Saints and Okotoks Oilers. The Saints lead that series 3-1 and can win the league championship on home ice Friday night.

The winner of that series gets a berth in the national championship Royal Bank Cup tournament, which will be held this year at Prospera Center in Chilliwack from May 12-20.