The Yorkton Terriers were without a doubt the class of the SJHL this season, and when it came time to take care of business in the league final, they swept their Highway 10 rivals from Melville.
Since then, however, the Terriers have had to scratch and claw and come from behind a lot of times.
Yorkton had to win their last round-robin game at the Western Canada Cup in Dauphin just to get into the playoffs. They went on to defeat Dauphin in the final and advance to the RBC Cup.
In Vernon last week, things got off to a bad start. First, the Terriers were spanked 5-1 by the Toronto Lakeshore Patriots - a team that went on to lose the rest of their games and miss the playoffs.
In their second game, Yorkton was getting hammered by the host Vipers after two periods before making it a bit more respectable in the third, in a 6-4 final.
It didn't look good. The Terriers looked like a team that was down and out.
I've long believed that Trent Cassan is the best coach in the SJHL, and he had work to do. He had to convince his team that they still had a shot, and if they could put two good games together, they were in it as much as anyone else.
They did just that, knocking off the Carleton Place Canadians 3-1 and then handing Dauphin their only loss of the round-robin with a 2-1 overtime victory. That wasn't the last, or biggest, overtime goal Derek Falloon would score.
The Terriers continued their roll with a 6-3 win over Vernon in the semis, giving them a rematch against Carleton Place in the final.
There isn't a bigger pressure cooker in all of Junior A hockey. You're playing in the national championship game, with an opportunity in front of you that you've only dreamed about, and the game is on TSN, with fans across the country watching.
For most of the game, it looked like Carleton Place was the better team. They took a 3-1 lead after two periods and looked to be carrying more of the play. As the clock wound down in the third period, the Terriers needed a miracle.
And what do you know? The comeback kids pulled off one last rally, and it was spectacular.
Defenceman Tanner Lischynsky was one of Yorkton's best players on Sunday. He had already come flying in from the point a couple of times to try to tap in a pass without being picked up, with no success. But it worked when his team needed it most, and he got them within one with 2:48 to go.
Just eight seconds later, while the first goal was still being announced, the Terriers benefitted from simply throwing the puck on net. Devon McMullen sent it in from the point and Dylan Johnson was there to pop it in at the side of the net and tie the game.
Falloon's winner at the 15-minute mark of overtime was the least dramatic thing you could imagine for the stage it was scored on. The Terriers jammed away at the puck and Falloon somehow squeaked it between the pads of Canadians goalie Guillaume Therien. It barely got across the line.
All that mattered was the little bit of white space between the puck and the line. A goal is a goal.
Well done, Terriers. You were fine representatives of the SJHL.
Contact Josh Lewis at 306-634-2654. Have you ever seen the air go out of a balloon so quickly as it has in Montreal the last few days?
