The Hazelton Wolverines made it interesting for CIHL hockey fans last weekend, but in the end it was the Terrace River Kings who moved on to face the Williams Lake Stampeders for the Senior A men’s league 2024 title.
The Wolverines, who have now made it to the West Division final three years in a row, went into Terrace one game down on March 2 after losing to the River Kings the week before at home.
But the plucky Hazelton squad were not going to just hand the division to the Kings coming out hard and fast in Game 2. Taking advantage of an early penalty by the home team, the visitors put up the first marker less than five minutes into the game. They would add another before the end of the frame to take a 2-0 lead after 20 minutes.
The momentum continued in the second with another goal for the Wolverines less than two minutes in for a 3-0. Immediately following that, Terrace almost got into the game following a tripping penalty, but Hazelton managed to hold on.
The River Kings were far from done, though, finally getting on the board at the 12:36 mark.
A couple of minutes later, they would get another chance with a man advantage and this time they made good dumping past the flailing netminder from a sharp angle on the left wing.
While the puck had spent the better part of the game in the Terrace end to that point, the momentum shifted. The River Kings rallied bringing the game to a tie with just 1:45 remaining.
Hazelton didn’t waste any time taking back the lead in the third though, taking advantage of another five-on-four situation less than two minutes into the period. They followed that up with another six minutes later and never looked back. The final wound up 7-4.
Sunday’s (March 3) game was a defensive battle. Hazelton picked up where they left off Saturday night with a goal at 3:19 of the first period, but that would be it for the Wolverines.
Before the period was over, Terrace would tie it up leading to a scoreless second period. It would all come down to the last 20 minutes. Both goaltenders held firm for another 16 minutes. Finally following a face-off in the Wolverines zone and a breakdown in defence, the River King’s Trevor Ebeling found himself wind open in front of the net with the puck. He did not miss delivering the winner and ending Hazelton’s run for the Cameron Kerr Cup for the third year in a row.
The league championship trophy was renamed this year in honour of Cameron Kerr, a former River Kings player who was killed by a vehicle in a hit-and-run incident on Hwy 16 as he was walking home.
Meanwhile, hockey fans got their money’s worth in Williams Lake March 2 as the Stampeders battled it out with their rivals, the Quesnel Kangaroos, at Cariboo Memorial Recreation Complex to sweep the series.
The evening began with a prayer and song in memory of Stampeders fan Anna Kalelest, followed by the singing of Canada.
After that, the teams got down to business with the Stamps finding the back of the net first.
A number of undisciplined penalties taken by the Roos had them struggling to stay alive, but their goalie kept them in the fight. The Roos came back in the third to tie the game in the last minute of play.
Ultimately the Stamps fended off multiple scoring chances thanks to the efforts of their goalie, and went on to score the overtime winner on a power play with 2:59 seconds left in the 10-minute overtime period.
The league championship, also a best-of-three series will start in Terrace for Game 1 on March 9 moving to Williams Lake for Game 2 on March 16. If necessary, the deciding game will be played on March 17, also in Williams Lake.
-with files from Angie Mindus