Winning never gets old, and that's a good thing for the Bienfait Coalers.
The Coalers completed a sweep over the Arcola-Kisbey Combines on Sunday in Arcola to win their third straight Big Six Hockey League final.
After three blowout victories, the Coalers had to fight for the deciding win, edging the Combines 6-5 after the home side came back from a three-goal deficit.
"They gave us a little bit of a scare," said Coalers co-manager Trevor Dutka.
After winning three straight games to upset the Midale Mustangs in the semis, the Combines weren't able to push Bienfait in the first three games of the final.
The Coalers won the opener 9-1 on March 19 in Bienfait and took Game 2 by a 6-2 score on Thursday in Arcola.
It was another drubbing in favour of the Coalers on Friday, as they won 9-2 on home ice.
"They were playing very well against Midale. I went out and saw one of the games," said Dutka.
"We all expected Arcola to come out fighting and unfortunately, in the first three games, they didn't really get into a rhythm."
Dutka said Combines goalie Stephen Norris had a strong game on Sunday.
"I think their goaltender played very well and we weren't doing what we were doing in the first couple of games or in the regular season. We weren't scoring on our opportunities and obviously when you run into a hot goalie, those things happen."
Payden Benning, who played with the Mississippi Surge of the Southern Professional Hockey League this season, joined the Coalers for the playoffs and was the league's top post-season scorer with 16 goals and 23 points.
Regular-season leader Brennan Wrigley (22 points) and Chris Hammett (15) were right behind him.
Dutka said all three players contributed "immensely" in the final, although Wrigley didn't play in the championship-clinching game.
"We rolled four lines (on Sunday) and all four lines contributed, be it checking or scoring. To win a championship, you need all four lines to contribute in whatever way they need to," he said.
Coalers goalie Jackson Walliser posted a 9-0 record and a 1.98 goals-against-average in the playoffs.
