EDI rode their sizzling finish in the regular season to playoff glory as they downed Yukon Inn by identical 5-1 scores to sweep the two-game final series in Whitehorse Oldtimers action at the Canada Games Centre.

Greg Charlie scored twice in 26 seconds early in the final game Saturday as EDI followed up their victory Wednesday to earn the right to hoist the coveted cup for the 2022-23 season. EDI was the hottest team in the league entering the playoffs, having won eight of their final nine regular season games.

Following Saturday's cup-clinching game, EDI's Dustin Heffner said, "I feel fantastic. We had a rough start to the season but we really started hitting our stride in the new year. I think we went 22-3 after the start of January. The team really started getting together, lots of chemistry, lots of good defence.

"It all started with our goalie and worked our way out. We all bought into the system and it was just fantastic to see it all come together and culminate with a championship."

When asked what the key to victory was, Heffner replied, "They have a lot of speed, especially on the first line. The key was to try to force them outside, limit them to shots where our goalie could see clearly and make sure we cleared the puck when we had the opportunity and when we had a chance to put on the offence, to definitely score our goals.

"But to be honest, the key is our goalie. Our goalie, Paul, is fantastic. He's an amazing goalie, amazing teammate and an amazing human being, so we're really happy to have him on our team."

Heffner added, "Every game in the playoffs, somebody else stepped up and was a difference maker, whether it be two goals here or two goals there or an amazing defensive back check.

"Every night, there was somebody different. That's the definition of a team championship."

EDI's stingy team defence, oh, and the near unbeatable Paul Dainton in net, saw them cede only five goals in their six-game playoff winning streak. The men in white outscored their opponents 21-5 in the post-season. Other Saturday snipers for EDI were Matt Wallace, Gus Morberg and Ty Heffner. Gary McKellar responded on the power play for Yukon Inn.

Last Wednesday, team GM Dustin Heffner scored three times to lead the Dynamic crew to their 5-1 victory in the first game of the final. Kevin Johnstone and Gus Morberg added the other goals, while Josh Turcotte scored late for the Inn's only tally.

EDI had advanced to the final series with a 3-0 blanking of the Firth Rangers on Tuesday, sending Firth to the links. Dainton was daunting in net, turning aside all Rangers' efforts on net. Ty Heffner, Rick Gingell and Greg Charlie scored in the game.

Yukon Inn was the 2022-23 regular season champs; Frank Aucoin (Firth) won the overall scoring and goalscoring race (59G, 38A); Dainton was top goalie with a minuscule 2.15 GAA average; Glen Traverse (Yukon Inn) led all tenders with 30 victories; and Ben Campbell (Medicine Chest) was honoured by his peers as the league's most sportsmanlike player.

The last event in the 2022-23 season is the league's AGM (Annual General Meeting), which will take place on Wednesday, April 26.

–Submitted by Bernie Adilman