The Revelstoke Grizzlies are Mowat Cup Champions, winning all four games of the tournament and taking an overtime win in the gold medal game against the Ridge Meadows Flames.
“It’s an awesome, awesome feeling,” said Grizzlies head coach Jiri Novak. “It’s something special. We’ve won two back to back, and obviously this one is much harder than when we hosted the Cyclone. Super proud of these guys, it’s a great team, especially winning the league for the first time as Junior A and then winning the Mowat Cup, it’s something special.”
The Grizzlies are the reigning Cyclone Taylor Cup champions and this year have carved their name on the historic Mowat Cup, following the re-resignation of the three Junior B teams to Junior A this past year. They were host city for the Cyclone Taylor last season, and this year punched their ticket by defeating the Fernie Ghostriders to win the KIJHL’s Teck Cup.
READ MORE: BC Hockey approves Junior A status for three Junior B hockey leagues
READ MORE: Revelstoke Grizzlies hoist Cyclone Taylor Cup
“I think Revelstoke accomplished something that was unique in our league playoffs,” said KIJHL commissioner Jeff Dubois ahead of the championship game.
“They went 16-0 in games decided in regulation — the only games they lost were in overtime. And now obviously they won the three round robin games here and they go into the gold medal game this afternoon in a position to potentially go 20-0 in those situations, through playoffs and provincials — that’s pretty unique.”
The Grizzlies started off the 2024 BC Junior A Championship, hosted this year at the Civic Centre in Kimberley, with a 7-4 win over the Saanich Predators.
In day two they went up against the Ridge Meadows Flames for the first time, took an early lead and came away with a 2-1 win.
READ MORE: Revelstoke take 7-4 win over Saanich in game one of Mowat Cup
Next they took on their hosts, the Kimberley Dynamiters, who they beat to win last year’s Cyclone Taylor Cup. The Dynamiters needed to beat the Grizzlies by four goals to earn their way into the gold-medal game, but after a tough contest the Grizzlies emerged victorious.
The championship game was an extremely close matchup between two well-matched teams.
Mikkel Hrechka would capitalize on a Ridge Meadows penalty in the first period and put the Grizzlies on the board.
The Flames’ Samuel Allen tied things up with a power play goal, but the the Grizzlies, who were KIJHL’s leading penalty killers, got one right back with a short-handed goal from Luke Aston.
The Flames didn’t go down without a fight and after tying tyings up with a goal from Jacob Douglas, strong defence from both teams sent the game into overtime. The first game of the tournament to be decided and following an early power play goal from Colton McLeod, the Grizzlies and their fans erupted.
Following the team’s celebrations on ice, Novak told the Bulletin:
“It was the first time I’ve spent more than one day in Kimberley. In the regular season we just come here and go home or to the other place, but it’s a beautiful community and I would like to thank the whole organization, the hosts. I know it’s not easy to host this event and I would like to thank them because it was an awesome time for us.”
The Kimberley Dynamiters ulitmately finished in fourth, after losing to the Saanich Predators in the bronze medal game.
