The Brooks Bandits defeated the Fort McMurray Oil Barons 4-0 Saturday night in Fort McMurray to capture their first ever AJHL Enerflex Cup Championship in six games.
“It was two good teams, two offensive teams, two skilled teams,” said Bandits head coach Ryan Papaioannaou.
“They gave us a real good challenge. I’m proud of our guys and how we stuck to the system and played physical. We kind of played a style that we didn’t have to play during the year, but to play and contain a team like this, we did real good.”
Fort McMurray had a 2-1 lead in the series early, but the Bandits won the next three games to earn the championship. Despite the loss, the 30th season of the Oil Barons was a memorable one.
The team started their season in Russia, defeated the Spruce Grove Saints in game seven in dramatic fashion and were consistently ranked among the best junior A teams in the country.
“I’m very proud of our guys, I thought we fatigued a little bit in the final series, the last two or three games, but overall they gave us everything they could and I’m just very proud of the year they put together,” said Barons coach Gord Thibodeau.
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