The ride is over.
The Estevan Bruins' first season at Spectra Place ended on Wednesday night with a 3-1 loss to the Weyburn Red Wings, giving the Wings a sweep in the first playoff series between the two rivals in 14 years.
Coltyn Sanderson's empty-netter with 15 seconds left was the last nail in the coffin for 20-year-olds Matt Dochylo, Derek Whitehill and Dominic Perrault. They were three of the best players on the ice tonight and should be proud of the way they finished their junior careers.
Jack Kennelly, playing his first game of the series, opened the scoring less than three minutes in when his wraparound hit the skate of surprise starter Tyler Ross and went in.
Jesse Ross made it 2-0 with exactly one minute left in the period when he walked out front and lifted a wrist shot over Ross's glove.
Despite the shots reading 10-9 Estevan, the Bruins did not look good in the first period - certainly nowhere near the way they started last night in Weyburn.
That all changed in the second though. The Bruins played with fire and urgency and threw everything they could at Mitch Kilgore.
Kilgore faced 19 shots in the period, but Dochylo was the only man to beat him, slipping a Josh Jelinski rebound between his pads at the left side of the net at the 3:31 mark.
The Bruins outshot the Wings for the third straight game, the last two by a wide margin. Kilgore is the biggest reason this series is over in four.
The Wings' firepower earned them first place in the regular season, but Kilgore is a playoff goalie and in this series, at times when his team was being outplayed and was on the verge of losing control, he was at his best.
The Bruins should have had a comfortable lead after the first period of Game 3. They should have had at least two or three goals in the second period tonight. But Kilgore was the difference.
In the third period tonight, the Bruins had more chances to tie it up but the Red Wings seemed to tighten up a bit defensively and managed to keep them at bay.
Now, with Weyburn moving on to face either Melville or Yorkton in the Sherwood Conference final, it seems a series that couldn't possibly not live up to the hype... didn't.
As Keith Cassidy said after the game, Weyburn's late comeback in Game 1 proved to be a huge turning point. That game was worth more than the cost of admission. The next three... not so much.
The huge crowds, well, that didn't materialize either. 1,523 and 1,183 in Estevan. 1,092 and 1,045 in Weyburn. Those numbers aren't even close to what I was expecting.
The turnout for Game 2 in Estevan wasn't too bad for a Sunday afternoon. And the fact that Weyburn led the series 3-0 probably had a dramatic effect on tonight's attendance. Still, the buildup for this series was like TSN's hype for their trade deadline coverage, and the result was... well, the trade deadline.
Post-game interviews:
First, an emotional Keith Cassidy on the end of his team's season. I appreciate that Keith didn't keep us waiting around forever tonight, and that he was candid at a time when it must have been hard to put it all into words. It's been a pleasure dealing with and getting to know him this year and I think he and Cole Zahn can be proud of what they've accomplished in their first season with the Bruins.
I can't say enough about what Matt Dochylo did in his last two games, and what he brought to this team as a 20-year-old. He poured out everything he had and then some after coming back from injury. He's a true glue guy who always brings a positive attitude and is a pleasure to be around.
