The 2021-22 CIHL season which at one point owing to COVId seemed in peril of even starting, came to an end for the Prince Rupert Rampage this weekend.
That as the Rhinos' bid farewell to the ice following a Semi-final Series sweep to the Terrace River Kings.
The Rampage opened the series up at home on Friday evening in front of a loud and boisterous crowd and quickly found that the visiting River Kings would be all business on their trip west.
The Terrace squad opening up a quick three goal lead before the Rampage could regain some balance to get one back, putting themselves deep into a hole which proved hard to climb out of.
A goal from Justin Brand at 5:20 of the middle frame, with an assist from Kory Movold proved to be the only marker on the night for the home side. A night where the River Kings poured on the offence and physicality to make for a statement game on the ice of the Jim Ciccone Civic Centre.
The result of the Terrace offensive push a 7-1 defeat of the home side Rampage.
As the score began to get away from the home side, the extra curricular activity on the ice became more prevalent, culminating in a third period parade to the penalty box with fighting and misconducts marking the way for Jared Carter from the Rampage and Kylar Braid for the River Kings.
When the math was done at the penalty box timers bench, the River Kings has been assessed 25 minutes of penalty time on 7 infractions, while the Rampage served 19 minutes on bad behaviour from 4 infractions.
Goaltender Kieran Sharpe took the loss for the Rampage, his counterpart Tyran Hunter had the win at the Terrace end of the rink.
The game was played in front of the largest Prince Rupert crowd of the year, noted at 980 fans in attendance on the night, that as COVID restrictions on capacity were no longer in place.
The full boxscore is available here.
Game Two in Terrace on Saturday night was a bit more peaceful, though the result not much different from Friday, with the River Kings opening the scoring in the first period, holding to a 1-0 lead, adding to it the third before the Rampage found their mark.
That with a Jared Meers goal at 6:29 of the third, assisted by Kory Moved and Justin Brand, the goal the only one for the second night in a row that the Rampage would score in the 5-1 final.
With a view towards what made the Terrace squad the team to beat through the year, the River Kings effectively shut down the Rampage offence over the course of a bit more than 24 hours to dispatch of their North Coast Rivals.
When it came to penalties on the night, the Rampage spent but six minutes in the penalty box on three infractions, while the River Kings doubled that tally serving twelve minutes on 6 infractions.
Kieran Sharpe was tagged with the Loss for Prince Rupert, Tyran Hunter gained the win once again for the River Kings.
You can review the full box score from Saturday here.
Terrace now takes on Quesnel for the League Championship, that after the Kangaroos swept their series with Williams Lake by Scores of 7-5 on Friday, and 6-1 on Saturday night.
The River Kings and Quesnel open the Finals up on March 12th in Quesnel, followed by Game 2 in Terrace on the 19th.
If required a Third game would take place on the 20th.
Should the River Kings prevail in the CIHL final, they would play host to the COY CUP Senior championships in the first week of April.
As their season came to a close, the Rampage offered one final salute to their fans through their social media page.
You can review the CIHL year through our archive page.
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