Westlock’s Senior Warriors captured their first North Central Hockey League title with a thrilling 3-2 overtime victory over the Devon Barons at the Westlock Rotary Spirit Centre on Wednesday night.
Trailing all night, the Warriors were kept in the game by goalie Chris Kuhar, who was named series MVP, while forward David Nimmo netted the series-winning goal with four minutes remaining in OT.
The win capped a 3-0 finals sweep of the Barons and gave the home team a nine-day break before beginning their quest for a provincial championship in Camrose on March 27.
It was a sweet victory for the second-year team and a great reward for the players, coaching staff and supporters who wore their hearts on their sleeves for the epic three-and-a-half-hour tilt.
“We were so close last year and just the chemistry of the guys it just brought them together and we dug down deep and that’s what it took to win,” said coach Joe Kuhar.
It was a night for the goalies as both keepers 78 shots between them and the final score line could have easily been 6-6.
The Warriors had to dig right to the bottom of their bag of tricks, as nothing seemed to be working. That said the home team wasn’t going to let the opportunity to win the championship pass them by.
“We just have a hell of a team here and we showed up today and a lot of credit to Devon, they put up a hell of a fight,” said captain Mike Ivey.
“We haven’t faced much adversity this year and it showed we had a lot of character because we never went down.”
For Westlock-native Gordon Bell, who’s had stops at Grant MacEwan College, the Oklahoma City Blazers and the Tulsa Oilers, the win was extra special.
“I’ve been all over North America, moving away for years and years playing hockey and I haven’t played hockey in my home town in 17 years. I never thought I’d get this chance and it feels pretty good,” said Bell who ended the game with a goal and an assist.
In the first the Warriors were under pressure early and had about half the shots on goal of the visitors, despite a number of powerplay opportunities.
Scrappy play was marked by full body hits that took a bad turn for the home team after the Barons scored six minutes in on a fast counter attack.
The second period saw Devon retreat defensively as Westlock began the climb back, matching the Barons shot for shot.
Halfway through the second some inspirational goaltending by Chris Kuhar prevented Devon from going up 3-1.
In the third Bell scored in the first 30 seconds on a feed from David Nimmo — the goal set off a wave of celebration both on the ice and in the stands.
But the euphoria was short lived as the Barons hit back half a minute later. A few minutes after that Bell was again the star as his powerful shot from a few feet inside the blue line flew past the goalie.
But the obvious goal was disallowed when a Devon player crashed Evan Kuhar into the goal, dislodging it, after the puck was clearly in the net.
“It was really frustrating, it was an obvious goal but at the end of the day you can’t change what the ref does,” said Bell.
All you can do it is play the way you can play and I knew we still had it in us regardless of what happened on that goal.”
With the game inching towards the final buzzer, coach Kuhar called timeout with 75 seconds left.
With the goalie on the bench Zachary Schram flicked home the equalizer with 15 seconds left.
That one goal simultaneously reset everything and blew the roof of the Spirit Centre. After a sixty-minute, white-knuckled chase, things were even again.
Into overtime, the players’ exhaustion was evident as few passes were able to find their targets on the good side of the blue line.
Things took yet another twist about 10 minutes in as the play ended up with another dislodged goal, blood on the ice and a penalty shot for the Warriors.
Unfortunately, Ivey wasn’t able to convert the opportunity and play went on.
The weary combatants continued to slam away at each other and there were moments when it felt like the game could go on forever.
But in the blink of an eye an interception by Nimmo presented him with a chance he didn’t waste and he powered his shot into the right side of the net, capping the game 3-2.
