By Hockey Canada

BATHURST, N.B. - The Tisdale Trojans (Western Region) were crowned 2002 Air Canada Cup champions Sunday afternoon in Bathurst, in front of 2,943 spectators at the K.C. Irving Regional Centre. The Trojans defeated the Dartmouth Subways (Atlantic Region) 6-2 to claim the sixth championship for the Western Region in the last 10 years.

Tisdale jumped out to an early 2-0 lead thanks to goals from Adam Flick and Myles Zimmer. Zimmer would add his second of the game with just under a minute to go in the period to give the Trojans a 3-0 lead heading into the second period.

In the middle period, Brett Parker increased the Trojan lead to four goals just over a minute in, but 14 year-old tournament Top Scorer and Most Valuable Player Sidney Crosby put his team on the board with his 11th goal of the championship at the 13:52 mark. A late goal in the second period gave the Trojans a 5-1 lead with only 20 minutes to go.

Dartmouth tried to make a game of it in the third with a Colin Ledaire goal at the 8:35 mark, but Tisdale put the game out of reach when Myles Zimmer completed his hat trick with a shorthanded marker with less than five minutes to go.

Trojan goaltender Nathan Fischl made 21 saves to claim the victory. Zimmer was named player-of-the-game for Tisdale while Matt Silver took the honours for Dartmouth.

In earlier action on Sunday, Les Riverains du College Charles-Lemoyne (Quebec Region) defeated the Red Deer Chiefs (Pacific Region) 6-4 to capture the bronze medal.