Cardiac Kids Strike Again!

In a rematch of the opening game of the Royal Bank Cup tournament, the defending champion Humboldt Broncos took on the host Victoria Grizzlies. This time, the winner goes on and the loser goes golfing.



The Victoria Grizzlies carried the play throughout the first period but Broncos goaltender Mathieu Larochelle was up to the challenge early, making big saves early on. At the 7:43 mark of the 1st period Broncos speedster Tory Allan was sent off for boarding, sending the high powered Grizzlies powerplay onto the ice. Just 40 seconds into the powerplay Grizzlies forward Derek Lee put the biscuit in the basket to give the hometown Grizz a 1-0 lead. The Grizzlies continued to pour the pressure onto the Broncos but Larochelle was calm, cool and collected, turning the homeside away time after time. At the end of 1 period of play the Victoria Grizzlies had a 1-0 lead on the scoreboard and a 15-6 lead on the shotclock over the defending champion Humboldt Broncos.



The second period was much more even, with both teams having their chances to score early on, only to be turned away by the aforementioned Larochelle, as well as Grizzlies goalie Anthony Grieco. Broncos young defenseman Garrett Leedahl took a 2 minute minor for holding at the 12:28, sending the vicious Grizzlies powerplay back out, but the Broncos PK held the fort, and moments after the Grizzly powerplay ended the Broncos struck, when Matthew Kirzinger, who played his first game of the Royal Bank Cup after being injured for the entire round robin portion, found the back of the net to tie the game up at 1. That was all the scoring in the 2nd period as the game was deadlocked at 1 goal apiece after 40 minutes of play.

The Broncos seemed to have the momentum at the start of the third period but the momentum was short lived as Justin Courtnall scored at the 2:32 mark to give the hometown squad a 2-1 lead. The Broncos looked to answer back, and the man to answer was the diminutive but dangerous Brady Wacker, who picked up the puck and scored an unassisted goal at 5:21 of the 3rd period to knot the game at 2. After that both teams played a cautious brand of hockey, not wanting to give up the next goal. There was some scoring chances but none of them could beat either goaltender, as 60 minutes was not enough. Overtime was needed.

The Victoria Grizzlies came out like a house on fire, snapping shots at Larochelle. Shots that Larochelle calmly stopped or deflected into the corners. The Grizzlies carried the play for nearly the entire overtime, but the Broncos played rope-a-dope until they had a chance to score. When that chance arrived it was Shawn Hunter who felt the need to break the hearts of Grizzly fans everywhere as he scored with just 2.3 seconds remaining to end the game and send the Broncos into the RBC final for the 2nd consecutive season. Hunter could not beat teammate Scott Schroeder's buzzer beater however, as he scored with 1.1 seconds left in the first game against the Grizzlies. With the Hunter goal the Broncos now advance to take on the Vernon Vipers, who downed the Kingston Voyageurs 6-3 in the earlier semi final.

One more thing to note, Grizzlies head coach Geoff Courtnall walked off without so much as a congratulations to Broncos coach Dean Brockman, something he did in the first game as well, proving that no matter how far a hockey career goes, sometimes people never grow up.