The Beaver Valley Nitehawks forgot this was suppose to be a rebuilding year.
Icing 15 rookies in their line up this year, with co-captain Jake Yuris the only 20-year-old on the team, expectations for the Nitehawks were modest. Yet, their performance in the playoffs has the Nitehawks soaring to the Kootenay Conference finals, following a Game 6 victory over the Nelson Leafs on Saturday at the B.V Arena.
“It feels incredible,” said Yuris. “We’re going back to the Conference finals, we’ve been playing unreal hockey especially in our own barn, and we all came to the rink today (Saturday) and knew what we had to do to get the job done. We had that determination that we knew we weren’t going to lose.”
The Nitehawks eliminated the Leafs at home with a 4-1 victory, and begin their quest for a ninth Conference title as they get set to play the Kimberley Dynamiters on Tuesday in Kimberley.
“I couldn’t ask for anything more,” said Yuris. “What an unreal group of guys. For as young as we are and how far we’ve come from the start of the year, it’s incredible. Only a few leadership guys coming back from last year, they all stepped up and played a really big role … all the rookies they bought into what this program is about, what it’s like to be a Nitehawk, and it’s incredible to see.”
For Nitehawks coach Terry Jones, the roller-coaster season has been an adventure, highlighted by Jones celebrating his 1,000th KIJHL win in December, and the playoff victory over the regular-season division-champion Leafs.
“If feels really good. When you start off in a year, you don’t know how its going to go, and this season was a tough season. At one point we were a .500 hockey team, and our guys just kept battling and getting better. Battling through injuries and we really just figured out how to compete and how to play, and now to beat a team like Nelson who has a really good hockey team, it’s just really satisfying.”
There were no surprises in the Eddie Mountain Division playoffs, as Kimberley cruised through the first two rounds beating both the Golden Rockets and the Fernie Ghostriders in four games to claim their fifth straight Mountain Division title.
“We got better as the series went on,” Kimberley’s head coach and GM Derek Stuart told the Kimberley News Bulletin. “Our physicality and conditioning took over.
“Not surprised to play the Nitehawks, they were the best team we played in that division throughout the season.”
The Dynamiters have won 22 in a row going back to the regular season, and taken three of the last four Conference titles, while Beaver Valley won the conference in 2012, 2014, and 2017. In their head-to-head this season, B.V. lost all three matches to the Dynamiters, including a 4-3 loss in overtime in their last meeting on Nov. 23.
“We’ve played them three times, and we played them tough,” said Jones. “We know a little bit about them, and there won’t be a lot of surprises. But we’re a different team now then when we played them last in November. So we look forward to it, and we’re happy to be where we are in the final four, and we look forward to the challenge.”
In Saturday’s thrilling Game 6 victory, Hawks’ defenceman Luke Woodrow scored what proved to be the game winner 1:49 into the third period, when his shot from the point sailed through traffic and over the shoulder of the Leafs affiliate goalie, Tenzin Mint, for a 2-1 lead.
“We talked about getting pucks to the point, and I thought we did a good job after the first eight minutes of the game,” said Jones. “We really struggled, but once we got the game going in our direction we felt really good. And Woody, he’s been a competitor, he’s been battling and for him to get that goal was awesome.”
The Leafs were the odds-on-favourite to meet up with the Kimberley Dynamiters in the Kootenay Conference final, but a tough seven-game-series battle against the Spokane Braves took its toll on the Leafs, who played the final two games against the Hawks with two affiliate goaltenders.
Yet, losing both starting goalies to injury, almost proved the Leafs’ salvation. Mint, a Nelson native, backstopped the Leafs to a 3-0 shutout win in Game 5 on Friday night, and the 16-year-old Kootenay Ice Major Midget goalie stymied Nitehawks shooters for two periods on Saturday.
Nelson jumped out to a 1-0 lead when Tyler Nypower circled behind the B.V. net came out front, untouched, and fired a shot short-side on Nitehawks goalie Noah Decottignies at 10:38 of the first period.
The teams traded chances, and Mint stymied Ryan Crisalli and Brad Ross on breakaways to keep the Leafs on top. But the Nitehawks finally solved Mint at 13:38 of the second period when Yuris set up Michael Hagen in the high slot. Hagen’s shot didn’t get through, but was deflected right to Paul Leroux at the side of the net, who banged it by Mint.
B.V. continued to pressure, but the Nelson goalie stopped 15 of 16 shots in the period to keep it deadlocked heading into the final frame.
After Woodrow’s goal, Nelson tried to rally in the third. The Leafs looked to have scored the tying goal with seven minutes to play, but the linesman blew the play dead on a high stick, just as the Nelson player put a rebound past Decottignies.
Less than a minute later Woodrow sent Ross in all alone and the Trail product made no mistake going upstairs over the glove of Mint for a 3-1 B.V. lead. Decottignies was solid, making several big saves in the late going, and Stocks wristed a shot from the slot over Mint’s glove for the 4-1 final.
“We proved to the rest of the league that we’re a contender,” added Yuris. “We feel like we’ve been counted out all year, but we’re here to make a run.”
B.V. outshot the Leafs 37-26 and went 0-for-3 on the power play, while the Leafs went 0-for-2.
“When you win, it all comes together and guys like the Jared Stocks’ of the world come up with big plays, big goals, and big hits,” said Jones. “Team defence was solid, (goalie) Noah Decottignies, what can you say, he was spectacular. It takes every single guy, and every single guy made a contribution, and that’s what you need in playoff hockey.”
Beaver Valley travels to Kimberley today (Tuesday) for Game 1 of the Kootenay Conference final at 7 p.m.
In the Okangan Conference, top seeds Kelowna Chiefs and Revelstoke Grizzlies will battle for the conference title.
