Princeton storms into 2-0 lead vs. Revelstoke in KIJHL playoffs
Published 2:04 pm Thursday, March 26, 2026
Andy Siegel contributed reporting.
It saw a tough weekend for the Revelstoke Grizzlies, who lost back-to-back battles against the Princeton Posse on home ice as their best-of-seven playoff series began.
With Princeton netting wins 4-2 Friday, March 20, and 3-2 Saturday, March 21, the Grizzlies face potential early elimination from the KIJHL quarterfinals — and Bill Ohlhausen Division finals — if they don’t win one of their next two games.
Game 1
Starting Friday at the Revelstoke Forum, Ethan Hofstrand rounded the Posse up for an early score two minutes in.
Halfway through the second frame, Justice Loewen rushed the puck to the right side of the Grizzlies’ zone and snapped a pass to Will Bell on the left side of the crease, from where he buried the second marker.
READ: Princeton and Revelstoke face off once again in KIJHL quarterfinals
Hoping to close the gap a couple minutes before the buzzer, Revelstoke’s Maguire Nicholson stole the puck behind the Posse’s goal line on the left side of the cage. He slid it out to Jaylen Forsyth, who peeled off to his right just above the keys and made a nifty low shot into the lower left corner of the cage.
Just 18 seconds into the third, Bryton Morrow found himself alone inside the right key and released a hard wrist shot that sailed into the upper net behind Revelstoke goaltender Austin Seibel.
Nearly 15 minutes through the period, Jalen McRae netted a punishing fourth and final goal past Seibel, with teammate Ben Dods registering three assists that night.
It wasn’t over for Jett Patola, though, who connected with Jake Neufeld in the last two minutes to score the final goal, end things 4-2 and give fans some excitement ahead of Saturday.
Game 2
Back at the Forum for their second match with Grizz, the Posse had another early-scoring night as Loewen found the net three minutes in.
Not three minutes deep in the second period as well, Nicholson tied things for Revelstoke with a hard snapper from outside the left side of the crease. He flew the puck through the five-hole of Posse goaltender Gibson Horne on an unassisted score.
Unfortunately for Grizz, Loewen and teammate Carson Hebert took the lead on two power-play goals over the next 11 minutes, to regain their lead with breathing room. This included an intercepted pass in the Grizzlies’ zone, which sparked Princeton’s rush up ice to develop into a picture-perfect, tic-tac-toe passing combo the team capitalized on for the win.
Again, Revelstoke clinched the final goal to keep fans cheerful. Faris Meddeb found the net with 43 seconds to go on his own power play with Patola and Diego Smith, minimizing their loss to a hard-fought 3-2.
READ: Revelstoke hockey concession prices, hours raise concerns for next lease
Princeton now leads the series 2-0. This week, Revelstoke must win at least one away game at the Princeton & District Arena — starting this Tuesday, March 24, and Wednesday, March 25, at 7 p.m. — to continue playing.
If successful, the Grizzlies will return to the Forum at 7 p.m. this Friday, March 27, to face off with the Posse in a Game 5.
The winner of this series will then advance to the conference finals, to face the victor of another series currently playing out between the Kamloops Storm and Williams Lake Mustangs.
