It was a notable weekend for the Central Interior Hockey League, with two teams making their mark in BC Hockey. The Prince Rupert Rampage, found themselves hosting their second Coy Cup in organization history. The last time they hosted was back in 2011, where the Kitimat Ice Demons won their last title.
“We’ve had huge support from our fans the whole year and in the tournament,” said Rampage Manager Ron Germain. “While we’re not playing in the knockout games, there’s still a lot of people enjoying hockey. Our community support in Prince Rupert is top shelf every year. We were hoping to bring a championship this year, but I think overall the sponsors and the fans are pretty happy. The staff that are working have been unreal, you can’t find that anywhere else.”
Talking to those around the rink, the style of hockey is different compared to what it was like back in 2011. Players are faster, but don’t lack the competitiveness while representing their towns.
“You’ve seen the closeness,” said Germain. “We’ve had two ties that have gone into overtime. Every guy is laying it out on the line completely.”
Unfortunately for the home fanbase, the Rampage lost their three games in the round robin, leaving them eliminated from Coy Cup eligibility.
From south of the province, the 19 hour drive for the Rossland Warriors was worth the commute, as they won all three games in the round robin. That left the Dawson Creek Canucks and the Terrace River Kings to battle it out in the semifinal game.
After a high scoring round robin, this elimination game was a defensive clinic put on by both teams, especially from goaltenders Josh Round (Canucks) and River King Daniel Paul (River Kings).
Through 40 minutes of play, both goalies were perfect on the scoresheet. It took until the 51 minute mark for the first goal to go in, off of the stick of River King defenseman Curtis Gedig.
However, the Canucks didn’t want to travel across the province without going down without a fight. A shot-pass from the point from Adam Morton found the stick of Kristopher Desjarlais on the goal line, and he tapped the puck in the back of the net. The game was tied at 1-1, and it was time to head into overtime.
Both teams were worn down physically, at a time where they were already playing their fourth game in as many nights. But in an elimination game, the loser would go home.
“We have the best goalie in the province it feels like,” said center Trevor Ebeling. When it comes down to the loser going home, everything becomes a little bit tighter. Everyone tends to play a little more safe. We didn’t have to run to every chance, we had to wait and play smart defensively. And when we get the chance, jump in and go in.”
Terrace did get on the board in the first overtime, but the goal was disallowed due to the net being knocked off of its moorings.
But in classic hockey fashion, a simple goal was needed to put the game to bed. A shot from the point, and a tip out front from Ebeling ended up putting the puck in the back of the net. The play started from an aspect of the game where he struggled most of the night.
“I couldn’t win a draw all night, I was struggling,” he said. “Luckily I was able to snap one back and slide past my centerman in front of the net, and see if I could get in the goalies vision more than anything. I saw that there wasn’t really a lane for Colts [Colten Braid] up on the blueline, so I got off to the side a little bit, saw the shot come through with a flat stick on the ice and it went top corner. That goalie was humongous, we had to do something greasy.”
It was a tough loss for the Canucks, who had won three straight Coy Cups from 2018 to 2022. For the River Kings, they felt confident that their recent success would come through in extra time
“Last year we went to triple overtime in the Coy Cup final, so we were feeling confident there,” said Ebeling. “It was Deja vu. It’s a grind and it doesn’t get easier as the week goes on. Everyone had to be a little gutsy and we knew we had to bang one in.”
On Saturday evening, the River Kings were set to play the Rossland Warriors for a showdown in the Coy Cup final.
Rossland, who earned themselves a bye-in into the finals, had a day to rest on Friday while Terrace was going on their fifth game in as many days.
Unlike the defensive 2-1 match in the semifinals, this match was a high-flying offensive output. Both teams were putting forth their best performance, in scoring and in physicality. For both squads, this was the last game of the 2024-25 season.
The game was tied at 4 a piece towards the end of the second period, but a goal from captain Colten Braid with under four minutes left in the period, put the team up by one. Despite a back and forth game that gave both teams the lead at different moments, the bench of the River Kings looked pretty confident that they could pull through with the win.
Despite a late surge, including a 5 on 3 powerplay for the Warriors with minutes left to go, the River Kings locked down on defense and won their second consecutive Coy Cup trophy.
It’s their second consecutive season to win the CIHL regular season title, the Cameron Kerr trophy, and the provincial Coy Cup.