Skip to content

Former King nets natural hat-trick as former BCHLers play role in Pioneers Frozen Four championship

A trio of B.C. Hockey League alum won the National Collegiate Athletic Association’s Frozen Four.
web1_170410-PWN-S-D-Pioneers
Former Powell River King Jarid Lukosevicius scored a natural hat-trick for the Denver Pioneers to win the NCAA Frozen Four championship 3-2 over the University of Minnesota-Duluth on April 8. Lukosevicius is among three former BCHLers, including Penticton’s Adam Plant, on the team. Submitted by BCHL

A former King helped crown the University of Denver Pioneers as Frozen Four champs.

Jarid Lukosevicius, a Powell River King alum, scored a natural hat-trick to lead the Denver Pioneers past the University of Minnesota-Duluth 3-2 at Chicago’s United Center on April 8. Lukosevicius scored in a span of 7:39 – the first two coming 16 seconds apart – in the national title game to give the Pioneers theier eighth NCAA championship in program history. Former Vees goalie Hunter Miska made 25 saves for the Bulldogs.

Also contributing to the win were Liam Finaley (Vernon, Penticton) and Penticton product Adam Plant (West Kelowna), who recorded two shots and was minus-one on the night.

“Thanks to my linemates Troy Terry and Dylan Gambrell,” Lukosevicius, a Squamish native, said to the Denver Post after the game. “I pretty much just stood in front of the net and got three lucky goals. Gams and Troy did an incredible job and I wouldn’t have scored any of those goals without those guys.”

Lukosevicius is the first player to score a hat trick in a national title game since 1993. Plant, a junior on the Pioneers, put up three goals and 13 points in 43 games.