Kings emerge victorious with last-minute go-ahead goal

The much-anticipated rematch between Red Deer College Kings and the Briercrest Clippers did not go exactly as planned.  No! Briercrest came out to compete and refused to give up until the final whistle went.  As the last home game of the season and for some, their final game in Barkman arena as a Clipper, it was an epic battle of will and tenacity and character!

There was no denying at the puck drop that this was going to be an all-out war as, not even a minute into the game, Red Deer took their first trip to the penalty box for boarding.  While Briercrest had the man advantage, they shot from every angle hoping to capitalize on an early advantage but could not get the puck past the Kings netminder. From there, it was Briercrest who had a steady string of penalties, but they allowed no goals. At the 13:42 mark, a funny bounce got by netminder Dan Dekoning to give Red Deer the early lead.  Thanks to the d-men on both teams blocking shots all night long, shots that reached the net were only 10-12 in favour of Red Deer.

After a scoreless second, with only one penalty called, the Red Deer Kings led the Clippers 1-0. Shots were exactly the same as the first period. No one was giving an inch!

The third period was were the heart and determination of the Clipper team started to turn the crowd and show what they are made of.  Red Deer snuck a power play goal in at the 7:41 and some might have thought the game was over, but that is exactly when it got interesting!  Briercrest's 4th year player Russ Olson somehow shoved the puck past Red Deer's Arik Weersink and sparked the crowd.  As the noise levels rose in the Barkman Arena, the pace of the game picked up, the hits got harder, the shots faster and the end to end rushes intensified.  Red Deer was not deterred and answered back with another goal of their own just over a minute later.  However, Russ Olson of the Clippers, in his last skate on home ice put another puck in just a minute after that.  Shortly after, Red Deer took an untimely penalty and Halen Cordoni at 15:53 used the man advantage wisely, scoring a goal to tie up the game for the Clippers. In less than four minutes, the crowd was treated to 4 goals and the arena was rocking!  At 18:34 a risky gamble to play the puck by Briercrest's netminder did not work out as planned and a mad scramble resulted in the game winning goal by Red Deer's #14 Austin Hunter. Briercrest pulled their goalie in a desperate attempt to get the equalizer but it was not to be, and Red Deer squeaked out a 4-3 win on the road.

Final shots showed 33 - 38 in favour of the Kings and Power Play opportunities were 6 - 3 also for the Kings. 

Player of the game for Red Deer was Austin Hunter with game winning goal and for Briercrest, graduating player Dan Dekoning with 34 saves and Russ Olson with 2 goals.

In a conversation afterwards former Clipper coach John Bechtold said, " They played with heart and with true character. The Clipper team showed what they are made of and this is just an indication of things to come."

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Joy Foreman