Congratulations goes out to the Prairie Blaze who won this years Provincial Championship. It took all 5 games before the champions were crowned as this final series lived up to everyone’s expectations with a tightly contested series where each team showed signs of dominance and determination.
Leading up to the finals the 3rd place Prairie Blaze first had to survive a quarterfinal scare by losing game 1, 5-0 to Maggie Medock (Selkirk) and her 6th place Manitoba Blizzard. Taylor Morden (Stonewall), Kenady Christensen (Lundar) and Haley Steciuk (St. Andrews) along with their Prairie Blaze teammates rallied to win games 2 and 3 advancing them into the semi finals to face last years champions Silvertips. Kiera Dawson (St. Andrews) and her Silvertips teammates had to contend with a shortened bench due to some key injuries. As a result, the Tips were no match for the surging Blaze who prevailed by winning the best of 5 in three straight games.
The 1st Place Northern Stars, awaited the winner of the other quarter final as they earned a first round bye, finishing the regular season with an impressive 18-6 record. Coach Rod Goetz (East Selkirk) and his Northern Stars also experienced a scare as the last place Polar Ice took them to game 5 before Rayley Goetz (East Selkirk) and her Northern Stars decisively beat them 5-0 to advance to the finals. Goetz who had an exceptional regular season amassing 33 points finishing second overall in the league, helped propel her team into the finals.
The Championship Best of 5 started with the Prairie Blaze winning game one by a score of 2-1. The Northern Stars rebounded with a game two win (4-1). With each game, the crowds became larger and more boisterous urging their teams to victory. The Prairie Blaze won a hard fought game three by a 3-2 score. With their backs to the wall, Northern Stars roared back by shutting out the Blaze 4-0 in game four. The 5th and deciding game – winner take all. The crowd erupted at the Hockey For All Centre when Steciuk opened the scoring in the second period, but that lead was short lived as the Stars tallied to even the score. Jenna McLennan’s shot from the blueline found its way to the back of the net giving the Blaze a 2-1 lead heading into the 3rd period. This would turn out to be the game winning goal as the Blaze would add another goal late in the 3rd period to make the final 3-1. However, the final few minutes of the game did have some controversy as each team, initially the Blaze then the Stars had goals disallowed due to the play being whistled down prior to the puck crossing the goal line. Blame the crowd noise in the building which made it very difficult to hear the whistle.
When asked after the game if winning championships ever gets old, head coach Dale Bear’s smile said it best; he responded by saying that you never know if this will be your last one, so he enjoys the moment by taking it all in with the players, coaches, and management. This was the Prairie Blaze 2nd win in the last 3 years and 3rd win in the last 5 (excluding the year lost due to COVID restrictions). Bear continued by saying that he was very proud of how his team responded to each and every setback throughout the season. He concluded by sharing that once his team survived the initial onslaught of Northern Stars pressure in that final game, he knew his team stood a very good chance of outlasting their opponent and coming out on top. Congratulations to Blaze goalie Abegael Glass who was named Playoff MVP and the entire Prairie Blaze organization for their championship season.
Tribune Photos Submitted
Submitted by Mike Steciuk
