The Cold Lake Ice are moving on to the next round of the NEAJBHL playoffs, after taking out the Onion Lake Border Chiefs in a dramatic 9-8 overtime win. "We battled.
The Cold Lake Ice are moving on to the next round of the NEAJBHL playoffs, after taking out the Onion Lake Border Chiefs in a dramatic 9-8 overtime win.
"We battled. We were down 6-3 but we kept battling, we never stopped, last goal wins and we got it. It feels good," said Ice head coach Scott Hood. "You don't want to give any team any kind of life, you want to finish it as soon as you can, but we'll take it. It feels good for the boys to win at home in front of their fans, and now we've got to prepare for round two."
Game 4 of the series saw the Ice head down to Onion Lake on Wednesday night. Despite goals from Dillon Kalinski, Mike Harbich, Austin Smyth and Guillaume St-Gelais, it wasn't enough to pull Cold Lake through to a win.
The Border Chiefs came out with a 6-4 win over the Ice, and put the series at 3-1 going into Game 5.
It was a nail-bitter game on Friday night as both teams were back at the Energy Centre looking for a victory. Curtis Witney was the overtime hero for the Ice, notching the goal that won them the series.
"It was pretty awesome. Honestly, I was just shocked when it went in but it was an awesome feeling," said Witney following the win.
Chase Brown got the scoring started for the Ice in Game 5, giving the home team an early lead not even two minutes into the game.
Onion Lake quickly answered a minute later, starting the back and forth pattern that continued throughout the game. Just over the seven-minute mark, Taylor Anshelm found the back of the net for his first of six-points. The Border Chiefs' Regan Yew managed to get the puck past Ice goalie Cody Janzen to tie the game 2-2 at the halfway point in the period.
With four-minutes to go in the first, Cold Lake's Curtis Gullackson netted his first playoff goal with the Ice. The Border Chiefs found themselves on the power play after an altercation landed the Ice with a total of 14 penalty minutes and Onion Lake with just two. Taking advantage of the extra man, they tied the game at three moving into the second period.
Starting on another power play, it was the Border Chiefs who grabbed the first two goals of the second to take a 5-3 lead. At the 4:11 mark, Nicholas Murrell found the back of the net to put the Ice back within one.
Following a sixth goal from the Border Chiefs, the Ice finally managed to hit their stride starting with a goal from Kurt Franklin. After Curtis Witney evened up the score for the home team, with one-minute left in the second Harbich gave the Ice their first lead of the night.
Heading into the final frame, the Ice had a 7-6 lead over the Border Chiefs. Twelve minutes into the period, Anshelm grabbed his second goal of the night to bring the home team up 8-6.
"I'm happy, we started getting bounces and that's huge in playoff hockey. It doesn't really matter who gets the credit right now, it's about getting the two points at the end of the game, that's all that matters," said Anshelm.
With the possibility of their season ending looming over the Border Chiefs, they fought back and managed to tie the game once again. Tied at eight by the end of the third, the game headed into overtime.
A penalty to Onion Lake in the final minutes of regulation time gave the Ice a 50-second advantage to start OT. Only four-seconds before they were back to even strength, Witney slid the puck in the net for the game winning goal.
"I honestly can't describe it, it's just an awesome feeling," said Witney. "It's pretty big, especially finishing the series off tonight and get some rest before we go play Wainwright - that's when the battle's really going to start."
The 9-8 Game 5 win for the Ice ended the series and propelled them on to the next round versus the first place Wainwright Bisons. Cold Lake will travel to Wainwright for the first two games of the series.
Hood said they'll be using their week off to prepare and make sure guys are rested up for the next series.
"(We'll just be going) back to the basics, just working and going over things and staying fresh. The biggest thing for us right now is rest. We've got guys with upper body injuries and lower body injuries and illness, they can get some rest in the next seven days."
As five-time league champions, the team has their sights set on a sixth-straight championship win and, with one series down, that goal is getting closer.
"We just have to keep to it. As you can see, we can take it to any team in this league. If we stay to our game, we're winning the league again," said Anshelm.
Witney added, "It's pretty big. I work in town here and every time I see somebody it's 'Oh, you play for the Ice? Six this year?' It's good community morale and it'd be awesome to bring home a sixth straight championship."
In the regular season the Ice went 3-1 against the Bisons. Wainwright finished the season with 58-points, and won their first playoff series 4-0 over the Lloydminster Bandits.
Game 1 of the Ice versus Bisons series will take place on Wednesday, Feb. 25 at 7:30 p.m. Game 2 is Saturday, Feb. 27 at 8:30 p.m. Both games will be in Wainwright.
