The Campbell River Storm are headed to the Vancouver Island Junior Hockey League championship after defeating the Port Alberni Bombers 5-3 in Game 6 of the North DIvision final on on Thursday, March 20. The game was a heartbreaker for the host Bombers, who lost the North Division best-of-seven final to the Storm 4-2.
"It’s a tough one,” Bombers' head coach Brad Knight said. “We’ve got a young squad and learning how to win those big games isn’t easy. Hopefully the experience those kids got tonight they’ll be able to carry forward—some of them into their next careers.
“The ones that are returning will hopefully be able to remember this moment and be able to use this experience for next year.”
The game was a close one. Jack Barrett scored the opening goal for the Bombers in the first five minutes of Thursday's contest. The Storm managed to take a 2-1 lead late in the period with goals from Draeden Bear and Jan-Felix Faupel. Zach Spafford brought the Bombers even at 2-2 about a minute after Faupel's goal.
Faupel scored his second goal of the game short-handed in the opening minutes of the second period, assisted by Marshall Curri. Moments later the Bombers' Grayson Salmon and Solstice Tennant combined to bring the game to a draw again.
The Storm's Kai Williams scored the winner at 8:02 of the third period and Kai Adano added the insurance goal at 10:50.
"I’m super proud of my guys and super happy for them,” Campbell River Storm head coach Troy Newans said following the game. “It was a hard-fought series. We knew that every game was going to be close. You’ve got to fight for every inch of ice,” he said.
“That’s a special group of guys in our room and a special group of guys in Port Alberni’s room," Newans said. "We wish them the best, but we’ve got to get ready to go to work next week.”
Knight praised his players for their dedication. Despite being down by two goals in the third period of an elimination game, the Bombers continued pressing in the Storm's offensive zone until the final buzzer.
“That’s been our team all year long," Knight said. "We’ve never really quit, we’ve never really gotten down that way. We’ve always had a pretty good process. I’m proud of them for it.”
The crowd of more than 600 fans cheered on the Bombers, with a second round when the team honoured them with a stick salute before retiring to their dressing room.
This was a record-breaking season for the Bombers, who won their first-ever playoff series to the Comox Valley Glacier Kings 4-0 before meeting the Storm.
“I’m very proud of them. These kids have exceeded expectations,” said Gary Wong, one of the Port Alberni Bombers’ majority owners. “They’re a wonderful group of kids. I’m just so happy to be part of that. They deserve much better than (Thursday’s loss).”
Wong was at the rink for Thursday night’s game, which drew approximately 600 fans, most of them from Port Alberni. The crowd cheered on the Bombers right until the final buzzer and stayed to applaud when the Bombers gave them a final stick wave before heading into the dressing room.
That attendance is “not typical,” said Wong. “We had good support from the community. I’m pretty sure if we won tonight and won this series we would have more people come out to the games. I’m so glad these boys had such a great journey this season.”
ICE CHIPS...The Bombers are already looking toward next season. Kaydin Halliday, a forward born in 2008 from Sooke, was just signed for the 2025-26 season. Last season with the U17 AAA team at the Delta Hockey Academy, he contributed 34 points in 32 games played...The Brent Patterson Memorial Trophy championship series between the Storm and Peninsula Panthers was to kick off Monday, March 24 in Peninsula and swing back to Campbell River for Game 2 on Wednesday, March 26.
— With files from Brendan Jure, Campbell River Mirror
