The Delta Ice Hawks have used two different scripts to get themselves to Sunday’s gold medal game at the Cyclone Taylor Cup provincial junior “B” hockey championships.
One night after shutting out the Revelstoke Grizzlies 2-0, the hosts needed an offensive explosion to outlast the Peninsula Panthers 8-7 on Friday, in one of the wildest playoff games you are ever going to see with provincial title implications on the line.
The result, coupled with the Langley Trappers’ 3-1 win over Revelstoke hours earlier, sets the stage for an all-Pacific Junior Hockey League final with another day’s worth of round-robin games to spare.
It’s a scenario that has rarely happened in this tournament and few would have predicted, especially with the now 0-2 Grizzlies and 0-2 Panthers riding impressive runs to win their respective league championships.
The first two-days of results, sets the stage for what amounts to a dress rehearsal today (Saturday) with Revelstoke taking on Peninsula at 3:30 p.m., followed by Delta and Langley at 7:30 p.m. The rematches on Sunday will have bronze and gold medals on the line respectively.
Here’s a recap of Friday’s action:
Delta 8
Peninsula 7
The Ice Hawks’ ability to bail themselves out of trouble by scoring in bunches was on full display.
The Panthers appeared to be well on their way to a crucial win when Logan Speirs made it 3-0 at the 10:55 mark of the opening period. Less than two minutes later it was a tie game, thanks to a pair of goals from Delta’s Carson Merriman, and the stage was set for a crazy night.
The teams combined for a whopping seven goals in the final 20 minutes, including two from Kyle Kalamaras that gave the Ice Hawks a 6-4 lead.
An empty net goal from Carson Hemenway, that was shot from behind his own goalline with 1:53 remaining, proved to be the winner as the Panthers kept coming back, led by the brilliance of captain Riley Braun. His hat trick goal with 28 seconds left capped a six-point night.
“They are a dangerous team that is heavily loaded (with those top end players). I never would have predicted a game like that but we still found a way,” said Delta GM and head coach Steve Robinson. “I honestly felt Revelstoke would have shown their true colours in the earlier game and would have found a way to win and that would have made everything more interesting (heading into Saturday). You don’t write the script and you can’t control it. Now it’s the dynamic of playing the same team the night before the gold [medal] game.”
Jamie Fuchs, Alec Scouras and Nico Marini had the other Ice Hawks’ goals. Logan Spiers also had a hat trick for the Panthers, while Ryan Grambart rounded out their scoring.
Langley 3
Revelstoke 1
There will be a new Cyclone Taylor Cup champion in 2022 as the Grizzlies are out of gold medal contention.
The Kootenay International Junior Hockey League champions, that many believed was the team to beat in Ladner, fell for the second straight day to a Pacific Junior Hockey League opponent, this time a 3-1 decision to the Trappers.
The PJHL champions erased a 1-0 deficit after 40 minutes on goals by Evan Clare and Brendan O’Grady, who also added an empty netter to cap the comeback.
Brandon Kasdorf opened the scoring for the Grizzlies in the first period, but it’s the only goal the defending Cyclone Taylor Cup champions have mustered in the tournament after falling 2-0 to host Delta on Thursday.
The Trappers are now an impressive 14-2 in this post-season.
