The Merritt Centennials Junior 'A' Hockey Club would like to offer congratulations to the Pittsburgh Penguins on winning the 2009 Stanley Cup.
The Cents would also like to congratulate former goaltender Brad Thiessen, who got to hoist the Stanley Cup after being passed it by Penguins captain Sidney Crosby.
Although Thiessen won't get his name etched onto the Cup as he didn't play enough regular season games or any games in the Final series, he did skate and practice with the Penguins during the playoffs as one of the “Black Aces”.
Thiessen, 23, joined the Centennials in a trade with Prince George in January 2006. He went 8-4-0 with two shutouts in his 12 regular season games with Merritt. The Aldergrove product also went 3-3 with one shutout in the playoffs that season as the Cents lost in the second round to Penticton.
He then went on to a stellar three year career with Northeastern University in which he set single season Huskies records for wins (25), goals-against-average (2.12), save percentage (.931), saves (1195), games played (41) and minutes played (2495:44) in 2008-09.
Thiessen became Northeastern's second-ever Hobey Hat Trick finalist as a top-three finalist for college hockey's player of the year award. He was named a first-team All-American and Hockey East Player of the Year. Thiessen was also the only unanimous selection for the Hockey East All-Star team. He also won the New England M-V-P and was named a New England All-Star.
Thiessen signed a two-year contract with the Penguins on April 3, 2009.
Again, the entire Centennials organization congratulates Brad on his accomplishments and on getting the opportunity to raise the Stanley Cup!
