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To win a championship all you have to do is win the last game of the season. In hockey, the 15 prior wins are all just the path to the all important 16th win.
Madison Bowey hoists the Ed Chynoweth Cup (photo credit Eric Fornwald)
With the victory tonight the Kelowna Rockets have won the WHL Championship and a trip to the Memorial Cup which takes place in Quebec City.
Last time there was a sweep in the WHL final was way back in 2008 when the Spokane Chiefs swept the Lethbridge Hurricanes and beat them 4-1 in game four.
The Rockets had an outstanding regular season, winning 53 games and finishing with 112 points, two less than the Brandon Wheat Kings who finished first overall.
Jackson Whistle with 16 wins, and four shutouts in the 2015 playoffs. Whistle shares the playoff record of four shutouts in a run with Kelly Guard who had four shutouts in the 2003 and Derek Yeomans who also had four in 2005. (file photo - KelownaNow)
In the playoffs, Kelowna won sixteen games and only lost three games, one to the Royals and two to the Winterhawks. Brandon finished with twelve wins and seven losses, four of those to the Kelowna Rockets.
Jordan Papirny showed up in game four, making some incredible stops. His third period was marred with the one misplay (file photo - KelownaNow)
For the first time in the WHL final the first period finished with no goals scored. Kelowna outshot Brandon 12-6 and went 0/3 on the man advantage. Brandon only had one power-play chance late in the period with 34 seconds to go in the second.
The second period was a tighter game with only seven shots for Brandon and eight for Kelowna. Jordan Papirny with several big saves giving his team a chance of winning a game in the series.
Brandon clearly played their best two periods of hockey in the series.
Brandon started the third off on the man advantage and for the third time in the series a short-handed goal stuck a dagger in the heart of the Wheat Kings. To add insult to injury, on the same man advantage a misplay by Papirny behind the net popped the puck out front to Rourke Chartier all alone making it 2-0. Leon Draisaitl scored the first one, making it two shorthanded goals for him in the series.
With just over five minutes to go, the line of Draisaitl, Chartier and Nick Merkley broke down the ice. This time it was Merkley that picked up the rebound and fired the puck into a wide open net.
The Rockets out-scored Brandon 17-9 in the four game sweep. The final score in game four was 3-0. Leon Draisaitl was named MVP.
The Rockets await delivery of the Ed Chynoweth Cup for winning the WHL Championship. (photo credti Eric Fornwald)
(photo credit Eric Fornwald)
This is the Rockets fourth successful appearance in the WHL finals since relocating from Tacoma to Kelowna for the start of the 1995-1996 season. The team has won every time they have appeared in the championship series including wins over Red Deer (2003), Brandon (2005) and Calgary (2009).
The Memorial Cup will take place from May 21st to the 31st in Quebec City. The Oshawa Generals lead the OHL Championship 3-1 over the Erie Otters after beating Connor MacDavid's team 6-5 in OT tonight. In the QMJHL Quebec leads the series over Rimouski 2-1. Both of those teams will attend the Memorial Cup no matter the outcome as the loser will attend as the host team.
Your WHL Champions (photo credit Marissa Baecker)
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