It was almost a Cinderella story on Master’s weekend, but the Fraser River GM squad put an end to that nonsense with an exciting 1-0 victory over the upstart Blue Collar Silviculture team in the Lumber Cup final.
Odds makers didn’t have either of the final combatants as favourites but early on in the week, they rose above the mediocre results put in by the regular season leaders, Serenity and Bear. For Serenity, it was a lack of finish to blame as they could only muster nine goals in their four games, with eight of those coming against BCS in a 3-3 tie and a 5-3 win. Combine that with a
3-0 loss to Fraser River and a 4-1 defeat at the hands of Bear, meant they needed an Easter miracle which didn’t come to pass for the Regular Season Champs.
It was almost as bad for the Bear Communications bunch who had the offensive power to dominate, but gave up far too many goals to play on Saturday afternoon. Their 5-4 loss to the Chevy Crew and 5-2 drubbing by BCS meant their 4-1 victory over Serenity gave them a slim chance of advancing if they could muster a two goal win over Fraser River in their rematch. The Saturday morning contest-up showed promise but a disallowed goal proved to be their undoing as the 3-3 draw relegated them to the sidelines.
Blue Collar actually won the round robin portion of the tournament, thanks to an incredible work effort that saw them win as many games in the week (two) as they did in 27 regular season contests. Leading them into the final was Ken (Quicksilver) McMillan who had a bevy of awesome goals thanks to his breakneck speed off the wing. Their only defeat heading into the final was a 5-3 loss to Serenity on Saturday morning.
Fraser River GM started the week shorthanded but, in playoff hockey it all starts with your net minder and Peter (The Wolf) Andrews was zoned in from the start. Even with a disappointing 3-2 loss to BCS on Friday night, their earlier results had them feeling confident after they broke Bears hearts with the 3-3 tie in their final round robin game.
Blue Collar and Fraser River began the 18th annual Lumber Cup final on a tentative note as neither squad wanted to give up any quality scoring chances with so much on the line. An early penalty to BCS seemed to liven up both benches and the games intensity increased with every missed scoring chance. Half way through the first period a shot from GM’s Chad (The Comet) Swanson made its way through to BCS net minder Mike (Grasshopper) Burke who easily swatted it aside. Unfortunately for BCS, the rebound came loose and Jarred (Bud) Atkins harkened one across the line for the all important first goal.
With the last Lumber Cup game ending in a shutout, also occurring on April 7, way back in 1997, it seemed inconceivable to believe that BCS would be held off the score sheet for long in the final period. But that’s when (The Wolf) really got down to business as he made a rapier-like glove followed by a larcenous toe save to thwart a pair of BCS second half power plays. Two consecutive penalties of their own stymied the Blue Collar momentum and when a last minute paddy stacker by (The Wolf) unbelievably kept the puck out it was time for the cheap champagne that GM Captain Chris (Crown) Royle has been saving since 2005, to finally be uncorked.