UNH Commit Liam Blackburn, West Kelowna Warriors Win RBC Cup

Liam Blackburn
Leading Scorer in RBC Cup

Liam Blackburn and the West Kelowna Warriors completed an incredible playoff run by capturing the top prize in Canadian Junior A hockey - the Royal Bank of Canada Cup. Blackburn helped seal the deal by netting a short-handed goal in the third period of the 4-0 win over the Lloydminster Bobcats in the Championship Game on Sunday evening. The Canadian Junior A season began with 131 teams in 10 leagues across the nation and now, the West Kelowna Warriors are #1.

West Kelowna qualified for the RBC tournament by first winning the BCHL Fred Page Cup Championship then the Western Canada Cup. The RBC Cup competition includes the winners of the Eastern (Carleton Place Canadians) , Central (Trenton Golden Hawks), and Western (West Kelowna) Championships, plus the Western Runnerup (Brooks Bandits) and host team (Lloydminster Bobcats). En route to winning the RBC Cup, the Warriors defeated all 5 teams and finished with a record of 5-1-0.

Liam Blackburn was the leading scorer in the RBC Cup competition. In six games, Blackburn scored 4 goals, including 2 shorthanded, 1 even strength, and one shootout tally, plus 4 assists. Here are the video highlights of his 4 goals:



Prior to the tournament, the International Scouting Services identified Liam Blackburn as one of the "Players to Watch" at the 2016 RBC Cup. They wrote:

"Skilled offensive forward … good vision … very good agility … can handle the puck in traffic … good hockey sense … dangerous on the power play and penalty kill."

He certainly lived up to the billing. Blackburn signed a National Letter of Intent with the University of New Hampshire in November, 2014. He is on track to enroll at UNH this Fall.