The photo above and story below were published in the Peak in April of 2000.
Regals give royal treat
A tiring four-game series ended [April 3, 2000] with the Powell River Regals hoisting the Mackenzie trophy as winners of the BC/Alberta Championship.
In the fourth and deciding game of the best-of-five series, the Regals left no doubt as to who was the better team. They convincingly dropped the Stony Plain Eagles 9-1, prompting loud cheers from an appreciative crowd at Hap Parker Arena.
Regals were led by the offensive onslaught of Ken Priestlay, who tallied a hat-trick. He was chosen as player of the game in the win, but the series' most valuable player went to goaltender Chad Vizzutti, who recovered from a 3-2 loss in game one to allow just one goal in his other two games.
"It feels great," said Vizzutti after the win. "It's the fourth time in four years that we're going to the Allan Cup, and it feels terrific."
Although he was elated with the win, he was already looking ahead to the big dance, the Allan Cup, just over a week away.
"Our goal is to win the Canadian championship, and this is just a stepping stone," he added.
In game four, Mike Hassman added four assists to his tally in the series, leading the team in scoring with seven points. Several players were deadlocked with five points, including Rick McLaren, who missed the final game with an ankle sprain that happened in game three.
Regals went into game four leading the series two games to one, allowing Stony Plain the win in game one before rallying back to win 7-1 and 3-0.
Scott Peters was the game star for the green and gold in game two, stopping all but one shot in a stellar performance. Vizzuti returned in game three and wanted the win badly. He achieved it by allowing no goals at all.
"There was a lot of pressure," said Vizzutti about game three, before turning his attention to game four. "Obviously, coming off a shutout you're going to be confident. I just came in with the attitude that nothing was going to get by me."
Regals benefitted from the help of Kent Lewis, who came in at the last second to help Tod English coach the squad. One of the challenges Lewis faced was getting the team ready for a long series in a short time.
"If you don't prepare for a series to go the full distance, you make a mistake," said Lewis. "You really just keep an eye out as the games go on, and rely on the age of the players to do some of the things we need to do to execute."
Lewis also sang the praises of his defence, saying they were a major factor in the final three games.
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