Submitted by Bill Lothian
The Senior Rebels managed to squeak out a pair of victories over the Gravelbourg Hornets to advance to the Notekeu League finals versus the Coronach Merchants, the season’s second place team.
The Merchants took out Hodgeville, last year’s league champs, with a score of 3-1 in their best of five games, so the finals have the potential to be a real barn burner of a series.
With their backs clearly to the wall, the Senior Rebels skated into Hornetville on March 1 and pulled out a 6-3 win on the strength of two goals each from Aussie Grywachewski and Carson Cayer, along with singles from Sean Whelan and Zach Evans.
The score was tied 1-1 after the first period then the Senior Rebels opened with a 4-2 lead heading into the all important third. The boys scored two more goals, before the Hornets answered with one, along with some strong defensive play, but the Rebels sealed the door shut in this decisive game.
During the showdown match on March 2, both teams came out hard.
Bushell made some key saves in the first period, and no goals were scored. In the second, Sean Whelan scored an unassisted shorthanded marker and the score ended up 1-0 for the Rebels.
In the third, both teams had their chances, but Bushell remained a strong goaltender. The Senior Rebels were able to score two late empty nets, with both Braydon Delorme and Bryce Hall able to preserve the 3-0 win, allowing the Rebels the opportunity to move on to the league final against Coronach.
The final will begin this weekend with game one in Assiniboia on Friday night, March 8 at 8:30 p.m. Game two will be in Coronach on Saturday night, March 9 at 7:30 p.m. Games three and four will continue the following weekend on Friday, March 15 in Assiniboia at 8:30 p.m. and Saturday, March 16 in Coronach at 7:30 p.m. This will be a best of seven series.
If necessary, games five, six and seven will bring the season to a close on the weekend of March 22, 23 and 24. (Assiniboia @ 8:30, Coronach @ 7:30, and Assiniboia @ 4:00 PM). Come out and enjoy a competitive series along with some great senior hockey action as the season draws to an end.
