The photo above and story below were published in the Peak on April 19, 2000.
In the dying minutes of the final game, an empty-net goal sealed the victory and launched the celebration on the Powell River Regals' bench.
"They're looking up at us," exclaimed play-by-play commentator Dean Merrick from the broadcast location in the arena in Lloydminster, Saskatchewan.
When the final seconds ticked off the clock to seal the 4-1 national championship win, Merrick began to rattle off the names of the team's officials as they hustled onto the ice.
"Kent Lewis, Dennis Dyer, Darren Parsons; Dean McLaren now, one of the injured players..."
It was a classic Canadian hockey scene unfolding, and most of the fans in Powell River were living it over the radio.
It was the host team of Lloydminster that suffered the loss in the Allan Cup final. Two nights before the final game, the Border Kings had got the better of the Regals, 8-2, in the last game of the round-robin portion of the tournament.
Coach Lewis had decided to rest Ken Priestlay, Trent Kaese, Jeff Barszczewski and Bill MacGillivray in a game that mattered little to the Regals but sealed a bye to the final for the host Border Kings. In the previous two Allan Cups the Regals attended after having won the title in 1997, fatigue was a major factor due to a five games in five days format, leaving the Regals fourth in 1998 and runners-up in 1999.
This year (2000), the plan to rest some key players worked in the Regals' favour.
When they faced the St. Georges, Québec, squad the first time in their second game of the round-robin, they lost 6-2. On the night of the semi-final after the Regina Rangers had been eliminated, due in part to a 10-2 loss to Powell River on opening day, the green-and-gold clad Regals had to face St. Georges again. This time, they were rested and hungry, and walked off with the 5-3 win.
Kaese scored two; Tod English, Aaron Lloyd and Mike Hassman each had a single in the win. Kaese added an assist, earning player-of-the-game honours.
In the final, Chad Vizzutti stopped 30 shots in the 60-minute contest, to win the cup on the road.
"That's something that we really wanted to do," said John Vanderkemp, the Regals' captain. "We did have a couple of kicks at it before on the road but we didn't get it. We won it once at home and we really wanted to win on the road this time."
Vanderkemp also praised the host town, and their worthy competition in the final.
"It was a first-rate tournament and they've got a great hockey team."
Border Kings captain Merv Mann said Vizzutti's performance in net was a major factor in the Regals' win.
"He played well,” said Mann. “He took the bottom half of the net away from us, and we had trouble upstairs on him. We just couldn't get it by him."
Against Lloydminster, coming off the win against St. Georges, the Regals were just as hungry. They tore into the Border Kings, getting a big goal from MacGillivray to seal the eventual win.
At the end of the game, Lloydminster opted to pull their goalie, still down by two goals after a few unsuccessful power plays. Kaese got the puck loose after a string of big-league saves by Vizzutti. Scott Mastrodonato settled the puck before shovelling it forward. During the ensuing celebration, it was hard to hear over the noise of the Powell River contingency that it was MacGillivray who scored, but the puck slid into the empty net.
The win gives the Regals their second Allan Cup since moving up to the "AAA" level. It is the rookie season for seven Regals, among them Lloyd, who went through the Powell River Minor Hockey system, and Jeff Stekman, a former Powell River King. Both were in uniform for the win.
Regals went on to win a third Allan Cup, at home in 2006.
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