After a stellar start to the season that saw their team build a record-breaking 26-game unbeaten streak, Kilrich finally lost Sunday.

The team’s record is now 23-1-3.

The second-place Air North Jets were the giant killers, downing the league leaders handily by a score of 6-1 in oldtimer hockey action Sunday at Takhini Arena.

Six different scorers put pucks past Kilrich goalie Jeff Kalles in the win, while captain Doug Janzen was the only Kilrich scorer in the loss.

Air North players Warren Kapaniuk, Bryce Bekar, Lawrence Crayford, Chad Cowan, Bernie Adilman and Ron Sumanik each dented the twine en route to the victory.

Kilrich stormed out of the gates this season, making headlines as their unbeaten streak continued to grow.

“There was a lot of talk in the dressing room about keeping this streak going,” Janzen said today. “It was a great run. I don’t think anyone expected us to go 42-0 or have an undefeated streak the whole season.”

Janzen said he has been told the streak is a new benchmark for the oldtimer hockey league. The previous unbeaten streak reportedly lasted 24 games.

Janzen said the depth and commitment shown by his teammates is what pushed them to the early season record.

“In oldtimer hockey, it’s so much about outlasting your opponents,” he explained.

“We were playing a lot of teams that were playing with strictly two lines. From the time the season started, we had three lines out every night.”

The team was missing a group of key players for Sunday’s matchup with Air North, who had a full roster.

Jets captain Cowan didn’t mind having the extra troops on his side for the contest.

“There was a lot of pressure on all the teams to go out and try and beat the number one team,” he said this morning.

“For us to go out and beat Kilrich for their first loss of the year ... yeah, the whole team was pretty pumped about it.”

With the win, the Jets improved to 15-9-3 – tied with Klondyke Dental for second overall.

While Kilrich will likely take the season trophy, the playoffs are a whole different beast, said Cowan.

“That’s what all the teams are focusing on,” he said. “There’s a trophy for each. Kilrich will probably be a different team come playoffs, as they’re usually around spring break and a lot of their players have young families and will be travelling.”

While the club knew it would eventually happen, the loss still stung, Janzen said.

“I bumped into one of my teammates yesterday and he said ‘it took me two days to get over that loss.’ But you’ve got to remember, as you get older, the memory fades. So this will probably go away in a few weeks.”

Five Kilrich players are in the top 17 in league scoring, with Guy Gorrell leading the team with 40 points.

Kalles, meanwhile, has a sparkling 1.76 GAA and a league-best four shutouts.

Other members of the team include Brian Currie, Brian Gudmundson, Briar Young, Colin Nash, Daryl Berube, Dave White, Elgin Schwantz, George Harvey, Kerry Pettitt, Lorne Burnett, Mark Suominen, Murray Arsenault and Trevor Hale.