The Bienfait Coalers are on a run of dominance rarely seen before in the Big Six Hockey League.
The Coalers defeated the Midale Mustangs 5-2 on March 26 to close out a sweep and win their fourth straight league championship.
In more than 50 years of Big Six history, only one other team has won the league title four straight years, that being the Wawota Flyers in the early 1970s.
Payden Benning scored twice for the Coalers in the deciding game, with Dustin Pratt, Dustin Stepp and Brennan Wrigley, with an empty netter, adding singles.
Benning, who led the club in playoff scoring with 11 goals and 19 points, said the performance of netminder Jackson Walliser played a significant role in the final.
"We had good goaltending. Jackson, in Game 4, if it wasn't for him I know we wouldn't have been able to stick it out. The only reason the series was short is we got a few bounces that went our way. Those first two games went to overtime and those games were anybody's games."
The Coalers won the series opener 6-5 in double overtime and followed that up with a 3-2 overtime victory in Game 2. Benning said the team's experience in the league semis against Carnduff, where they fell behind 2-1 before storming back to take the series, came in handy in those games.
"Through the regular season, we didn't really have much pressure on us, so it was tough for our team. It was kinda new, battling adversity.
When we played Carnduff and we (lost to Wynyard) in provincials, our team was learning finally to play against adversity and that helped against Midale.
"We needed that adversity to finish the year strong because throughout the regular season, we didn't really have to deal with that too much.
It was nice to have a little parity in a game and a little parity in our league. The parity in our league showed in the playoffs."
After earning a couple of narrow victories to start the series, the Coalers took Game 3 by a score of 7-4, setting up the sweep.
"In Game 3, we came to play and got a hot start, and that's what usually happened all year. I felt like if we put one or two goals in right away, teams would shut it down. Midale didn't let us do that in this series though," Benning said.
Although he joined the team for the playoffs last year, this was Benning's first full season with the Coalers, who posted a perfect 18-0 record in the regular season.
He said being able to win a championship with the Coalers meant a lot because he played his first couple of years of minor hockey in Bienfait.
"I've always had a connection with them, so I've always wanted to come back and play senior there. It was good. I'm glad we got a championship and we tied the record this year for most championships in a row. I'm hoping next year we can try and break that record."
