The Northern Construction Grinders have won the Whitehorse Recreational Hockey League (WRHL) championship.

This is the story as told by team member Jeremy Harper.

The WRHL playoffs featured a double knockout format, meaning a team had to lose twice to be eliminated.

After placing second in the Rendezvous A Division hockey tournament in February and losing 10-2 in the finals to Yukon Brewing/Northern Plumbing, our team really pulled together and refocused our goal on winning the WRHL Championship. This was not going to be an easy task because in the first round of the playoffs, we were to face the Clearwater Yotes (Champions of the 20-21 & 21-22 seasons), who were ranked #2 and a team that we had not beaten in the regular season.

In that game, we embraced our objective to keep consistent pressure on our opponents and to live up to our name and we pulled off a big win, 9-4.

In the second round, we were to face Yukon Brewing, another team that we had not beaten in the regular season and the same team that had beaten us badly in the Rendezvous Hockey Tournament finals on Feb. 26.

Again, our team rallied and implemented our pressure game, leaving no space on the ice for the opposition to gain any momentum. Our team was victorious, winning 4-2. We advanced to the final to wait for the team that would be victorious on the B side bracket.

The other semifinal saw Yukon Brewing face off against the Clearwater Yotes, the #1 versus #2 ranked teams. This game was everything a hockey fan wanted to watch in a game. It was an exciting, high energy and fast paced hockey game. Man, the game was a nail-biter, with Yukon Brewing winning 4-3 to advance to the finals.

The first game of the finals would take place March 18 and if need be, a second game would be played March 19. My team had two chances of being champions because we were unbeaten in the playoffs.

The finals saw the Grinders go up against the #1 ranked Yukon Brewing squad. The first championship game was exciting, a high-paced action-packed battle. Neither team was giving an inch of ice and man, it was a physical, high energy game!

Yukon Brewing edged us out with a 3-2 win, forcing a game 2.

Game 2 was March 19 at 5:30 p.m. in the Northwestel Arena at the Canada Games Centre.

After losing game 1, our team was not fazed and we knew what our mission was: pressure, pressure and more pressure. The first period was back and forth with both teams having many great opportunities. It ended with Yukon Brewing holding a 2-1 lead.

In the 2nd period, the pressure from both teams would not let up and the pace was fast. Both teams were not giving an inch on the ice. From board rub-outs, to some body contact, to battles in front of the net, all battles for the puck were intense!

By the seven minute mark, our team was down 4-2. Shane McHugh came in on a 2 on 1 opportunity and he scored, making it a 4-3 game.

With 1:30 left in regulation time (the teams play two periods) our team had pulled the goalie, and with 46 seconds left on the clock, Troy Bourke got a sweet one-timer dish from Clayton Thomas and the game was tied 4-4.

The hockey gods were on our side in that contest. Yukon Brewing hit five or six crossbars and our team hit two or three during the game. With nine seconds left on the clock, Yukon Brewing's Wyatt Gale came down and fired a shot off the crossbar again and Trevor Hanna picked up the rebound and shot it. Our goalie, Kelson Willms, sprawled out across the crease and made another highlight save to send us to overtime.

Overtime

Overtime was 3 on 3 play for 5 minutes or less. The 3 on 3 had crazy action, with both goalies making incredible saves to keep their teams in it.

At the one minute mark, Yukon Brewing got a turnover and ended up on a 2 on 1, with Jarrett Malchow faking the shot and sliding the puck across crease to Gale, who pulled a sick move, faking forehand and then moving to his backhand shot and our goalie Kelson Willms did the splits while swinging his glove and catching the puck right out of the air! The crowd went crazy! It was a sick save that kept our team in it.

Overtime ended in a tie, so the teams advanced to a shootout.

Kelson was so focused and determined to win that he was making unreal saves that had the 100 or so fans in the stands cheering with each crazy save! This gave us confidence going into the shootout that it was possible to become champions.

Shootout

In the shootout, both teams would have five shooters, and whoever had the most goals after the five attempts would be the champions.

Our team ended up scoring on four out of five attempts.

Yukon Brewing scored on only two of four attempts. Their last shooter didn't go because our team was up by two goals.

What a fantastic way for the Northern Construction Grinders to end the season: 2022/2023 Whitehorse Recreational Hockey League A Division Champions!