As they did all series, the Powell River Kings bent, but they did not break on Friday, March 23, at The Q Centre in Victoria.
And now they’re headed to the BC Hockey League semifinal series after beating Victoria Grizzlies 4-3 in overtime to take game five and win the Island Division final series 4-1.
Ben Berard, headed to Cornell of the NCAA in the fall of 2019, played overtime hero for the Kings, firing a high slapper past Grizzlies netminder Kurtis Chapman 10:36 into the extra frame.
Kings move on to face either Surrey Eagles or Prince George Spruce Kings in the BCHL semifinal series. Surrey leads that series 3-2 with game six taking place on Saturday, March 24.
“It’s a game of details and we’re a very offensive team and we didn’t capitalize on our chances,” said Grizzlies GM and head coach Craig Didmon. “But Powell River is a very strong team defensively and that’s the best I’ve seen them play all year, so you have to tip your cap to them. They’re very deserving of winning the series.”
The Grizzlies finally got what they were looking for all series: offence from their veteran players. After a sluggish start by the Grizzlies, which saw Hunter Findlater score with 50 seconds remaining in the first period to give the Kings a 1-0 lead at the break, 20-year-old winger Ethan Nother scored twice to give Victoria the lead.
But like they have all series, the Kings had an answer for everything. Carter Turnbull, headed to University of Connecticut in the fall, and Berard scored 45 seconds apart midway through the third period to silence the crowd and put the heat back on the home team, who were 4-0 when facing elimination prior to Friday’s game.
T.J. Friedmann then awoke from his series-long scoring drought, flipping one past Kings' goaltender Matteo Paler-Chow with seven minutes remaining in regulation. It was 19-year-old Friedmann’s first goal of the series.
The Kings, with 12 players who were part of last year’s Powell River team that was eliminated by the Grizzlies in the Island Division final in seven games, continued to throw a blanket over Grizzlies' high-scoring wingers Jamie Rome and Justin Michaelian, who were again held off the scoresheet. And Powell River outshot Victoria 54-38.
“Obviously, they remember last year and were on a mission to not let it happen again, and played very determined hockey,” said Didmon. “For us, it certainly wasn’t our best hockey, but not for lack of effort. We just have to learn that the little details, like playing without the puck, mean a lot come playoff time.”
For 20-year-old Victoria players Nother, Michaelian, Shawn O’Malley, Dayne Finnson and Matt Doran, it means the end of their junior careers.
“It’s obviously tough for those guys to take right now, but they can hold their heads high because they gave everything they had,” said Didmon. “It just didn’t go our way.”
