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Dynamiters pull off reverse sweep

Nitros battle back from three-game deficit and win game seven on home ice

The Kimberley Dynamiters made history on Monday, Mar. 13. They won 1-0 in game seven on home ice, their fourth consecutive win after going down 3-0 in round two of the playoffs against their rivals the Fernie Ghostriders.

A reverse sweep is not something that happens often. For context, according to nhl.com, in NHL history 190 teams have trailed in a playoff series by three games to zero and only four of those teams wound up winning the series.

It was certainly a first for the Dynamiters.

“We’ve even only ever had one other game seven and it was in my very first year in 2016/17 against Beaver Valley,” said Derek Stuart, head coach and general manager.

“I am incredibly proud of our team for how hard they battled and never gave up. We were in a very bad spot a week ago.”

There’s no denying that things were looking grim after losing three games in a row to Fernie, a team they handled with relative ease throughout the regular season. The series started with a 4-0 loss and a 5-3 loss at home, followed by a 4-1 loss in Fernie.

Then in game four, the momentum shifted and Kimberley burst back into the conversation with an 8-2 win.

“We had a quick little talk in Fernie after we go down 3-0 and the guys just said it’s not over and we’ve got to go one at a time here,” Stuart explained. “The guys did a fantastic job of focusing just on the game at hand that we had in the last four games.”

After two more nail-biting games where Kimberley came out on top, the stage was set for a dramatic game seven with the series tied and Kimberley holding all the momentum coming off three wins and having the home-town advantage.

To say the Civic Centre was packed was an understatement — 1782 fans filled the old barn, with many of them saying it was the busiest they’ve ever seen it. The atmosphere was beyond electric.

“It felt good, the fans, again just like in game five, they helped us out a lot with our motivation and with giving the guys a little bit of lift. We didn’t have our best game tonight but they found a way to get ‘er done and I think the fans had a lot to do with that.”

The game started out slow. It was clear both teams were feeling the nerves in the first ten minutes.

“I thought the first ten minutes we were very nervous,” Stuart said. “They looked a little nervous too, but there was however many people in the crowd, so I don’t really blame them. I would say the last six minutes of the second we started to play more of our style.

“I think after we got used to the crowd and the noise and what was going to happen if we won or lost, I think after that the guys settled down quite a bit.”

After a two and a half period stalemate, the tension was finally broken with a goal from Christian Mealey, assisted by Cash Regan, causing an explosion from the fans in the stands.

“Honestly I wasn’t even thinking about that,” Mealey said, when asked how it felt to score in front of a crowd like that.

“I was just keeping my eyes on the clock and thinking ‘holy crap are we actually going to do this?’ From game four to now, we just battled our hearts out. I’m so proud of all the boys.”

Stuart said that after a slow start, the Nitros came alive in the last six minutes of the second period, and had some really good scoring chances, so he felt like a goal was coming.

“But Cash Regan took the goalie’s eyes away for that shot and Christian has been playing great all series,” Stuart said. “Just got the puck on net and we kind of missed the net a few too many times in the first and hit the net there so it was good to see and the eruption of the crowd was pretty cool too.”

Mealey said that he felt momentum was on the Nitros side coming into game seven at home after winning three in a row.

“Seeing them down and losing we just gained that much more confidence when they had their heads down and we just pounced on them,” he said.

The final minutes of the game were agonizingly tense for the nearly 2000 fans in the stands. Fernie pulled their goalie making it six on five, and then a late penalty called on Carson Cleland for holding was a real cause for concern.

However the Nitros held tough and nearly put it in the empty net twice, once being stopped in the paint by a Fernie player, the other by the post.

Trystan Self, one of the best goaltenders in the league two seasons in a row, outdid himself and his stellar performance helped secure this unlikely win.

“Oh my gosh I don’t even know how to feel, I am over the world, I am so happy right now,” Self said after the game. “I know all the boys are. We’ve been working for this, we’ve got such a tight group and no one wants to separate so, they just worked their asses off and we got it done.”

The Player of the Game was very humble, giving much of the credit to his teammates.

“I thought I had a good performance but the boys in front of me, they saved my ass so many times and they helped me out,” he said. they were blocking shots and they were doing everything they needed to do, and when they do that I can do my half. It was awesome.

“I knew the boys had it in them. what we’ve been working towards and what we did in those first few games does not really show us, but man did we work ‘em in the second half of that series. That’s how we should be playing every night and I think if we play like that every night, no one in the league stands a chance.”

The Ghostriders gave everything they had and made the Dynamiters do nearly impossible things to win the series.

“They’re a very hard team to play, they do their systems well, they buy in and they’ve got some really good players over there and I think after Christmas they were one of the better teams in our league and it showed,” Stuart said.

“I watched a bunch of their games on tape against Columbia Valley and they deserved to win that series and they deserved to be up 3-0 and they have nothing to hang their heads about over there it’s a good hockey team.”

With this win, the Dynamiters are Eddie Mountain Division Champions for the seventh straight year. Stuart said it’s a “nice accomplishment to be the last one standing from the best division in our league.”

The Dynamiters will now take on the Beaver Valley Nitehawks, after they won their series in game seven against the Creston Valley Thunder Cats.



paul.rodgers@kimberleybulletin

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