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Season ends for Fernie Ghostriders

Nitros battle back from three-game deficit and win game seven on home ice
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The Kimberley Dynamiters made history on Monday, Mar. 13. They won 1-0 in game seven on home ice, their fourth consecutive win after going down 3-0 in round two of the playoffs against their rivals the Fernie Ghostriders.

A reverse sweep is not something that happens often. For context, according to nhl.com, in NHL history 190 teams have trailed in a playoff series by three games to zero and only four of those teams wound up winning the series.

It was certainly a first for the Dynamiters.

“We’ve even only ever had one other game seven and it was in my very first year in 2016/17 against Beaver Valley,” said Derek Stuart, head coach and general manager.

There’s no denying that things were looking grim after losing three games in a row to Fernie, a team they handled with relative ease throughout the regular season. The series started with a 4-0 loss and a 5-3 loss at home, followed by a 4-1 loss in Fernie.

Then in game four, the momentum shifted and Kimberley burst back into the conversation with an 8-2 win.

“We had a quick little talk in Fernie after we go down 3-0 and the guys just said it’s not over and we’ve got to go one at a time here,” Stuart explained. “The guys did a fantastic job of focusing just on the game at hand that we had in the last four games.”

After two more nail-biting games where Kimberley came out on top, the stage was set for a dramatic game seven with the series tied and Kimberley holding all the momentum coming off three wins and having the home-town advantage.

The game started out slow. It was clear both teams were feeling the nerves in the first ten minutes.

“I thought the first ten minutes we were very nervous,” Stuart said. “They looked a little nervous too, but there were so many people in the crowd, I don’t really blame them. I would say the last six minutes of the second we started to play more of our style.

“I think after we got used to the crowd and the noise and what was going to happen if we won or lost, I think after that the guys settled down quite a bit.”

After a two and a half period stalemate, the tension was finally broken with a goal from Christian Mealey, assisted by Cash Regan, causing an explosion from the fans in the stands.

The final minutes of the game were agonizingly tense for the nearly 2000 fans in the stands. Fernie pulled their goalie making it six on five, and then a late penalty called on Carson Cleland for holding was a real cause for concern.

However the Nitros held tough and nearly put it in the empty net twice, once being stopped in the paint by a Fernie player, the other by the post.

The Ghostriders gave everything they had and made the Dynamiters do nearly impossible things to win the series.

“They’re a very hard team to play, they do their systems well, they buy in and they’ve got some really good players over there and I think after Christmas they were one of the better teams in our league and it showed,” Stuart said.

“I watched a bunch of their games on tape against Columbia Valley and they deserved to win that series and they deserved to be up 3-0 and they have nothing to hang their heads about over there it’s a good hockey team.”

With this win, the Dynamiters are Eddie Mountain Division Champions for the seventh straight year. Stuart said it’s a “nice accomplishment to be the last one standing from the best division in our league.”

The Dynamiters will now take on the Beaver Valley Nitehawks, after they won their series in game seven against the Creston Valley Thunder Cats.



paul.rodgers@kimberleybulletin

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