West Kelowna wins RBC Cup over Lloydminster

The dream season of the BCHL’s West Kelowna Warriors wrapped up Sunday, May 22, with a 4-0 win over the Lloydminster Bobcats in the RBC Cup final.

The Warriors didn’t cheat their way into the national championship tournament, as they won the BCHL’s Fred Page Cup over the Chilliwack Chiefs before taking the Western Canada Cup crown in Estevan over the Brooks Bandits.

West Kelowna then earned their way into the RBC Cup finals by defeating those same Bandits 4-1 in the semi-final, setting the stage for the showdown with the host Bobcats for the national championship.

Despite being over 1,100 kilometres from their home rink, the Warriors must have felt like they were playing at Royal Lepage Place with the fan support they received throughout the game, as droves of Warriors fans made the trip hoping to see their team hoist the RBC Cup.

Despite constant pressure from the Bobcats throughout the first period, it was the Warriors who opened scoring when Jonathan Desbiens took a centring pass from the right wing and one timed the puck past a sprawling Alex Leclerc just over five minutes into the game.

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The Bobcats peppered goaltender Matthew Greenfield early and often with shots, ending the first period with 18 compared to the Warriors 12.

Six and a half minutes into the second period the Warriors extended their lead as Prince Albert native Reed Gunville was alone in a slot and Quin Foreman fed him the puck from below the goal line. Gunville let go a one-timer beating Leclerc under the glove to make it 2-0.

The Bobcats were outshooting the Warriors 32-21 after 40 minutes of play, but couldn’t solve Greenfield who was equal to every task.

Lloydminster was given an opportunity to cut into the lead nearly halfway through the third period as Bryan Basilico was called for roughing, but it was the Warriors who took advantage.

Leclerc mishandled the puck while coming out of his net to play it, and Liam Blackburn took advantage by sliding it through the goaltenders pads for a shorthanded goal which seemed to suck any momentum the Bobcats had.

West Kelowna was content with getting the puck as far away from their net as possible after the 3-0 goal, continually icing the puck over the final few minutes before Rylan Yaremko`s clearing attempt took a strange roll down the ice and directed itself into the open cage to seal the victory.

Greenfield finished with 48 saves as the Warriors completed their unlikely run to a national championship, becoming the first team not ranked in the CJHL top-20 to win the RBC Cup. Greenfield`s performance was made that much more impressive considering he missed the first three games of the tournament after suffering an injury at the Western Canada Cup.

In total, the Warriors played an astounding 93 games over the 2015-16 season, posting a combined record of 62-25-6. They will begin their quest to defend their national championship next year, as the RBC Cup heads to Coburg, Ontario.

Email: cjnbsports@jpbg.ca

Twitter: @craig_beauch