
Photo by MARCEL VANDER WIER
The Spectrum Security Bears added another trophy to their fine broomball season Saturday.
The Spectrum Security Bears added another trophy to their fine broomball season Saturday.
In the championship final, the local rec league club shut out Capital Towing 4-0 to win the Kopper King Cup, finishing off a season that included winning the season-opening Bob Park Icebreaker Tournament and the regular season title with an 18-3-3 record.
In the final, Bears goals came from captain Josh Hirsch, Shayne Fairman, Chris Nash and Lars Jessup. Ryan Martin had assists on both Fairman's and Jessup's goals.
"It ended up being a good matchup in the final,” Martin said post-game. "It could've gone either way. We always have good games with (Capital Towing).”
Martin was slapped with a major penalty in the first period after accidentally striking Nolan Stonehouse in the face on the follow-through of his shot. But his team killed it off, and then went on the offence.
After dropping their first playoff game 2-1 to P&M Recycling, the Bears faced a hard road to make their way into the championship game.
"We had to come through the back door,” Martin said. "We played every night this week. That's a lot of broomball, but I think we were still in pretty good shape.”
Martin lauded the efforts of Bears goaltender Darryl Cann, who picked up the shutout in the final.
Capital Towing entered the final after beating Roadhouse 3-2 in the third-place game.
Forward Dave Stehelin said the Bears' full lineup and fresh legs ultimately did Capital Towing in.
"It's tough running against a team when they've got three full lines of forward and defence,” he said. "Their legs are going to be fresher and that half a step matters. Really, that's what it came down to. They had more energy when it mattered.”
Capital Towing finished second in the regular season with a 10-5-9 record, 10 points behind the Bears.
"It's nice to see that we both made it to the finals,” Stehelin said. "We had some injuries at the end of the year that kind of depleted our team a bit, but it's the nature of sports. You can't win them all and we'll get them next year.”
Capital Towing featured eight rookies this year, which bodes well for the future, Stehelin added.
"It's good to get fresh blood in there, and get more people coming out,” he said.
The final game was delayed slightly when a fan plugged in an electric kettle and the power went out.
League president Milford Allain told the Star that the league saw a lot of new faces this season.
"It was really exciting,” he said. "It evened out the league a little bit and every game seemed to be a fight this year. It was a lot of fun that way.”
Allain said that the league is prepared for an explosive year next year, when the association celebrates its 30th anniversary.
"We're going to plan some big events next year, and it's going to be different,” he said. "We're going to have a little surprise at the start of next year for everybody.”
Allain said the association is hoping to start up a free kid's league next season.
This weekend, a Yukon team will travel to Homer, Alaska to take part in a tournament. The following weekend will see the local broomball season close with a tournament in Haines Junction.
Next year, the association hopes to send two teams to the World Broomball Championships in Japan.
"There is a lot of interest in that,” Allain said.
2012/2013 individual award winners are as follows:
Top goalie (players' choice) – Darryl Cann; League MVP (male) – Richard Niman; League MVP (female) – Kate Olynyk; Defenceman of the year (male) – Chris Saunders; Defenceman of the year (female) – Sheena Laluk; Most improved (male) – Jay Waldner; Most improved (female) – Michelle Underhill; Rookie of the year (male) – Lars Jessup; Rookie of the year (female) – Melanie Lachapelle; Tom Tom Award (Sportsmanship) – Vanessa Brault; Top GAA – Gordon Starko; Top male scorer – Justin Saunders; Top female scorer – Kate Olynyk.
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Comments (2)
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Marcel Vander Wier on Mar 27, 2013 at 5:18 am
Thanks Hugh. The two other players in the first photo of the slideshow are Blayne Epp (8) and Diedre Davidson (28).
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Hugh Smith on Mar 26, 2013 at 11:06 am
Congratulations on a good write-up. Who are the other two players in the photo?