The Sundre tier 3 midget Huskies have made it through to the North Central Minor Hockey Association's league championship final after beating Rimbey in the second round of playoffs last week.
The local team won the best-of-three series in two straight games.
The first game ó played on home ice last Thursday, March 3 ó was decided with moments to spare in overtime when the Huskies' captain, Tanner Savage-Howe, scored a goal about five seconds before the buzzer, said coach Brad Price.
"It was a tighter game than we thought it was going to be," he said. The last time the Huskies faced off against Rimbey, they were able to win by a wide margin.
"Rimbey was there for the win, and so were we."
The Huskies played exceptionally well, and managed to tie the game at 3 after trailing 2-1 at the end of the first period, said the coach.
"The competition was very strong."
The Huskies fought through a few penalties and struggled with their own power plays, he said.
"The bounces weren't going our way."
The second game, played in Rimbey the following night on Friday, March 4, was back and forth. The Huskies led the game 4-1 after the first period, but Rimbey closed the spread and brought the score up to 4-3 before the local team jumped back ahead to win 7-3.
"They did excellent," the coach said about his team. "It was a really well structured game ó they played hard like they wanted it."
As it became clear the Huskies would win, some players from Rimbey sought to start some scraps, but the Sundre boys refused to take the bait.
"I'm extremely proud of the boys for staying out of all the fights and mischief to carry the team on to provincials," the coach said.
Although the league championship's schedule wasn't determined by press deadline as Eckville and Caroline still had to finish their best-of-three series, the Huskies play in provincials this weekend in Provost.
"We're looking forward to going to provincials, doing our best there, and then coming back to hopefully finish off the season by being (league) champions," said Price.
However, the championship series, which the coach figures will be against Eckville, who remained undefeated throughout the regular season, will be an uphill battle.
"Eckville's a tough team, we'll have to be on the top of our game."
But if there's any team in the league that can beat them, it's the Huskies, he said.
