The Kootenay International Junior Hockey League's Teck Cup finals got underway at the Jack Goddard Memorial Arena last Tuesday, with the first-seeded Kootenay Conference champion Border Bruins hosting the Okanagan Conference-winning Revelstoke Grizzlies in a seven game series dubbed the "Battle of the Bears".
The home team took the lead through the first 30 minutes, with first period goals from Jace Koole (unassisted) at 4:33 and Nash Wassing (Levi Astill, Tyler Burke) on a power play at 18:25, followed by quick second period goals at 0:16 from Alex Edwards (unassisted) and Theo Naidu (Ben Edwards) at 1:43. After going ahead 4-0, the Bruins had a bit of a lull mid-second period, allowing three Revelstoke goals by Daniel Wittenberg (power play), Mark Lafleur, and Keiran Keilly, bringing the game within one. The Bruins padded their lead with a late power play goal by Tyler Burke with 16 seconds left in the period.
The Bruins controlled the third period in front of the home crowd, with power play goals from Jace Koole and Tyler Burke just 37 seconds apart early in the period. Devin Degenstein started in net for the Grizzlies, but was chased after the Bruins' third goal and replaced by Ryder Ponto. Eric Kahl continued to start for the Bruins and blocked 21 of 24 shots.
Grand Forks had the goal of winning both home games at the start of the series, and on Wednesday night in Game 2 they once again got off to a quick start. Burke scored his 11th of the post-season less than a minute into the game, and Alex Edwards added another at 13:36. The Grizzlies tied the game with a first period goal from Jake Phillips-Watts and another in the middle of the second from Kaidon Mah.
The Bruins have had strong third periods all season, and it continues through the playoffs. Levi Astill scored at 4:23 (Burke, Logan McCabe), and Reid Schechtel added his second of the playoffs 21 seconds later (Alex Edwards). Finishing things off, Brandon Gray added a short-handed goal at 7:54, giving the Bruins their second win of the series.
The match moved to Revelstoke for games three and four on Saturday and Sunday nights.
There was no scoring in the first period, but the Border Bruins adapted their game to the Revelstoke arena in the second, scoring at 7:38 (Wassing from Schechtel). The Bruins added another 44 seconds later from Burke (Carter Price, Levi Astill), but the Grizzlies took one back with less than three minutes left in the first period by Jett Patola (Lafleur, Phillips-Watts) on a power play.
In the third period, Alex Edwards added the Bruins' sixth short-handed goal of the playoffs, unassisted at 11:29, to put the Bruins ahead by two. Theo Naidu (Ashton Schram, Hunter Paterson) added another at even-strength at 15:27 and Tyler Burke (Levi Astill, Russell Kosec) finished it out with a power play goal at 17:50, giving the Bruins a 5-1 victory on the road in game 3 putting them ahead in the series 3-0.
With an eye toward wrapping the series with a third sweep, the Bruins came out strong on Sunday night, while the Grizzlies were focused on avoiding elimination on home ice.
Once again, the Bruins scored first on a goal by Alex Edwards at 3:06 (Tyler Burke), but 28 seconds later the game was tied on a Revelstoke power play goal from Nathan White (Jett Patola). The Bruins responded with a power play goal of their own at 6:09 (Logan McCabe from Kosec and Astill), and McCabe added another at 13:12. The Bruins penalty kill, usually among the best in the league, was a bit less effective on Sunday night, going 2/3, with Jake Neufeld adding a second PP goal at 17:33 of the first.
Up 3-2 after the first intermission, the Bruins added the only goal of the second period at 3:16 by Brandon Gray (Burke, Astill), and just over a minute into the third period Carter Price put Grand Forks ahead by three (Wassing). The Grizzlies struggled in the third period with penalties, and were unable to close the gap while short-handed for almost six minutes.
With a final score of 5-2, the Bruins completed the sweep, their third of four rounds of the playoffs, and were declared the 2024/25 winner of the Teck Cup. The Border Bruins are an original founding member of the KIJHL and have, in the past 58 years only been to the league final one time, losing to the Cranbrook Colts.
This commanding victory, winning 16 playoff games and losing just one, is a testament to the players the coaching staff recruited and assembled this season, and to the hard work and dedication those players showed with full commitment to the Bruins program.
Bruins Captain Carter Price said after the game that the team really felt strongly that this outcome was possible after some player acquisitions early in the season. "It speaks volumes to the culture we have, the work ethic, and the kind of character we have on this team. I'd say around the two-month mark we knew we had something really really good."
Coach Dave Hnatiuk added "[it's] an amazing accomplishment for the program. I'm super proud of the guys and the way they bought in right from the start of the year... To be here and make it happen is just unreal."
In the push through the playoffs, the Bruins faced some of the League’s top goaltenders, including Connor Stojan and Landan Uzeloc from Beaver Valley, Josh Hager from Kimberley, and Ryder Ponto and Devin Degenstein from Revelstoke, collecting 82 goals-for in 17 games, while Bruins’ netminders Eric Kahl and Jasper Tait only allowed 42 goals-against – a differential of +40. Grand Forks was the only team in the playoffs with a double-digit differential, 31 better than then next-best Kamloops Storm.
The Bruins finished the regular season at the top of the league, winning the Presidents' Cup, won their Division with wins against Castlegar and Beaver Valley, then took the Conference title with a win over Kimberley.
Hockey season isn't quite over yet - the newly-minted KIJHL Champs will play the winner from the Pacific Junior Hockey League, the Ridge Meadows Flames, in a five-game series for the Mowat Cup. The best-of-five series starts in Langley on April 22 and 23, then comes back to Grand Forks on April 26, with further games at the Jack on April 27 and 29 as necessary.
Congratulations to this year's Border Bruins team for an outstanding season and an unforgettable playoff run.
