Photo credit: Kreations Photography
The Brooks Bandits defeated the Nanaimo Clippers 4-3 in overtime in Game 5 of the BCHL championship series to capture the Rogers BCHL Cup for the second straight season.
Bandits forward Jack Good scored the championship winning goal 5:10 into the extra period when he one-timed a pass from teammate Mathis Dufour for his second of the postseason and his first of the finals.
“We worked so hard,” said Good. “It’s been nine months of blood, sweat and tears. We talked about this every day, all leading up to this moment. It feels so good. I’m so happy to get it done with these guys.”
Nanaimo jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first period on goals by Patrick Fortune and Drew Roelofs, but the Bandits replied with two of their own in the second from Jack Rosensteel and Liam Fitzpatrick. Brooks took the lead on a goal by Frantisek Albrecht early in the third, but Samuel Boisvert tied the game for the Clippers with 48 seconds to play to force overtime, before Good’s heroics sealed the series.
Brooks goalie Zach Zahara was named the winner of the Jeff Tambellini Trophy as the Most Valuable Player of postseason. The Rockyview, Alta. native started all 21 of his team’s playoff games, posting a 16-3-2 record, a 1.95 goals-against average (second best in the postseason) and a .928 save percentage (fourth best in the postseason).
“We’re the most resilient team ever,” said Zahara. “You can throw anything at us. Our group went through so much throughout the playoffs and the whole season. It’s just such a great group.”
After dropping Game 1 at home, Brooks won four straight overtime games to come back and win the series. The games were either tied or within one goal the entirety of the series, save for a combined total of seven minutes and 11 seconds.
The Bandits swept the Spruce Grove Saints in four games of the first round, defeated the Sherwood Park Crusaders in seven in round two and topped the Cranbrook Bucks in five games in the Interior Conference Finals before winning the Rogers BCHL Cup tonight in game five.
“We’ve been [to overtime] four times in this series, so we knew what to expect and what it was going to take to get the win,” said team captain Dante Siciliano. “I couldn’t be more proud of my guys here.”
“Through these last two months, and really all season, we got really tight as a group. We’re brothers for life and we’re champions for life.”
