The Delta Ice Hawks have won the 2022-23 Stonehouse Cup and will be representing the PJHL at the Cyclone Taylor Cup in Revelstoke April 13-16, 2023!
The Delta Ice Hawks are the 2022-23 PJHL Champions, after defeating the Ridge Meadows Flames 4-3 in Game 7, in overtime, at the George Preston Rec Centre.
It was a hard-fought series between the two conference champions, with each visiting team winning the first six games. With the neutral site for Game 7, the Hawks were considered the “home” team and were the first host winner in the series.
Merik Erickson had another solid game in net, stopping 33 of 36, making some big saves at crucial times to keep his team in it.
The Flames opened the scoring, with a late power play goal from Matthew Wise, the lone goal of the first period.
Delta bounced back in the early half of the second to tie the game, with Mykhaylo Sheludchenko feeding Colin Jang a pass from behind the net for a one-timer to tie the game, Jang’s seventh goal of the playoffs.
Another Flames power play goal came later on in the second period, with Theo Kochan all alone on the left side to send home a rebound for a 2-1 Ridge Meadows lead.
But that lead did not last long, as Carson Hemenway lobbed a pass up over the neutral zone and Conner Merriman, fresh off the bench, picked up the puck. He beat his defender and went five-hole on Cam Connolly at a sharp angle to tie the game with his eighth playoff goal.
The Hawks took the lead in the third period on a goal from Carson Hemenway. He called for the puck across the ice from Conner Merriman, who sent a diagonal pass to the point up to Hemenway and his one-timer nicked off a Flames stick on the way to the net, which was enough to beat Connolly for Hemenway’s fourth postseason goal. Carson’s brother, Tye, had an assist on Carson’s final PJHL goal.
A weird play tied the game for the Flames, as a puck snuck in behind Erickson and the Hawks defence appeared to have cleared it out before the puck crossed the line, but the referee disagreed and called it a good goal for the Flames, credited to Pierce Whyte.
This one went to overtime and both teams were really pushing for the win, each with some great chances to end the game. But with 3:49 left in the first overtime, Kyle Robinson picked up a rebound from a Yuji Akimoto backhand shot and lifted it past Connolly for the win in his final PJHL game.
Now the Ice Hawks will make their way east to Revelstoke for the Cyclone Taylor Cup April 13-16 and try to win a provincial title!
