U18 Rangers win Major Hockey League Championship for second year in a row
March 23, 2026, 11:00 am
After an up and down season, the Moosomin U18 Celebration Ford Rangers are once again Major Hockey League champions.
After a slide to end the regular season, going 3-4-1 in their last eight games, Moosomin marched into the playoffs as the third seed.
The Rangers defeated Fort Knox (Fort Qu’Appelle) in the first round of the MHL playoffs in a two-game sweep, by scores of 5-1 and 3-1. Then in the second round, Moosomin took down their rivals, the Langenburg Warriors, in another series sweep. Game 1 ended 6-3, and Game 2 was 8-3 for the Rangers. This set up a repeat of the 2024/25 A Final, this time with the seeding reversed, as the first overall Yorkton Terriers faced the third seeded Rangers.
Game 1 was on March 15 in Moosomin. It started off slow, but the Rangers took over late in the game, and won at home in the Mike Schwean Arena 4-1 to take the lead in the series. Moosomin’s Pacey Skulmoski, Nevin Dodd, Kendry Lewis, and Cohen Haines all picked up two-point games, and Rangers goalie Dane Thorn played a solid game in net.
That gave the team a chance to end the series and capture the league in Game 2. On March 18 they traveled to the Westland Arena in Yorkton to accomplish their goal from the start of the season. Despite going down 1-0 early in the night, Moosomin stayed calm. Cohen Haines tied up the game with a beautiful goal, splitting the defence and going to the backhand for his third goal of the playoffs late in the first period. In the second peroiod, the teams stayed even until Nevin Dodd buried a rebound, giving the Rangers a 2-1 lead.
Finally, in the third period, Pacey Skulmoski scored late to strengthen the lead, and Austin Boardman scored on the empty net to seal the victory.
Moosomin celebrated their second straight A Championship after making it to the finals for the fourth time since 2021-22.
