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Quesnel Kangaroos will face Terrace River Kings in Coy Cup final

Terrace takes down three-peat champs from Dawson Creek

The two teams relegated to the semi-final game of the Coy Cup tournament knew it was do or die, Friday night (March 31).

The three-time defending champion Dawson Creek Canucks hadn’t won a game yet and entered the game 0-2; the Terrace River Kings had a record of 1-1 after losing to the host Quesnel Kangaroos on opening night, then defeating the Canucks in their round-robin matchup.

The Kangaroos got a bye to the finals on Saturday at West Fraser Centre in Quesnel. The River Kings and Canucks had one last chance to win their way to that championship game.

Dawson Creek got on the board first, but it took awhile. With less than two minutes to play in the first period, in what would have been the first scoreless period of the entire tournament, the Canucks lit the lamp on a goal by Brett Norman. It was the first lead the Canucks had enjoyed so far.

It didn’t last. One minute into the second period, the River Kings drew even on a goal by Ryan Roseboom.

The Canucks have won the last three Coy Cups in a row (with two years off for COVID behaviour), and they weren’t about to turtle. Again they took the lead, with Wes Shipton making it 2-1 Dawson Creek just past the five minute mark of the second period.

Again - as they have all playoffs long in the Central Interior Hockey League - the River Kings clawed back. At about the seven minute mark, they pulled even when Chapen Leblond scored.

The River Kings pushed back into the lead when Colin Bell scored on the power play, but once again it was short-lived. Brett Norman scored for the Canucks near the end of the second period, just to remind everyone in the building, especially on the Terrace bench, that there was still 20 minutes yet to play.

The third period started in a 3-3 tie, which gave fans the strange sensation of deja vous-vous-vous. All games in this Coy Cup tournament have ended with a score of 6-3. When Jakob McLean broke in alone and made it 4-3 Terrace, and then Roseboom broke in alone and scored his second of the night (he also added an assist), the scoreclock had all the hallmarks of a remarkable coincidence. It was not to be, and that made the final all the more exciting. When Evan Weaver wired an in-close power play marker with 10 minutes to go, and the score sat at 5-4 with the time winding down, every rush, every outlet pass, every interception had the potential to spin the game in an entirely new direction. It was a battle of attrition to the final buzzer. The Canucks pulled their goalie but neither team could catch the break they were hoping for, unless you were the River Kings content to see the seconds tick away.

It ended in a 5-4 victory for Terrace who now go up against the hometown Kangaroos in what promises to be an epic final game starting at 7:30 p.m. Saturday (April 1) night. These two teams have played four times in the past three weeks, pushing their best of three CIHL championship series to the full three games, two of them needing overtime.

It’s a storybook buildup to the greatest game on the B.C. AA-Senior Amateur calendar - the Coy Cup itself.



Frank Peebles

About the Author: Frank Peebles

I started my career with Black Press Media fresh out of BCIT in 1994, as part of the startup of the Prince George Free Press, then editor of the Lakes District News.
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