The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
The championship final featured the surprising Kindersley Klippers up against the experienced Aurora Tigers. After upsetting the host Grande Prairie Storm 4-3 one night earlier, the Kindersley players had less than 20 hours of rest before they had to face off against the well-rested Tigers, who dumped the Nepean Raiders 7-2 during semifinal Saturday's afternoon game. "We're playing on TSN," said Kindersley's Casey Lee, who scored the game-winning goal against the Storm with 35.5 seconds left in the game. "That's the number one thing in all of our heads." With a sold-out crowd and a national audience tuned in to watch the game, the Aurora Tigers scored two goals in a span of 1:06 to jump out to an early lead. Francis Walker one-timed in a perfect pass from Sean Scully at 8:19 of the first before defenceman Mike Kostka beat Kindersley goalie Kevin Dziaduck with a long wrist shot 66 seconds later. The Tigers then went up 3-0 when Jesse Olden batted in a rebound at 12:38 of the opening frame. The Klippers hit the scoresheet with 4:17 left in the period when Jason Fleck snuck a bad angle shot past Aurora netminder Chris Whitley with traffic in front of the net. But the Tigers regained their three-goal cushion when Scully banked a shot in off of a Kindersley defenceman at the 19:00 minute mark of the first. In the second, the Klippers tried to switch the momentum by replacing Dziaduck in net with Nathan Deobald. But the Tigers kept pressing and increased their lead to 7-1 on a pair of second period power-play goals by Andrew Hotham and Walker and an even-strength marker off the stick of Michael Tonelli. After the teams battled to a scoreless final frame, the Tigers jumped onto the ice to celebrate their 7-1 victory. They wound up out shooting the Klippers 57-22 in the game. With the win, the Tigers became the first-ever team from the Ontario Provincial Junior Hockey League to win the RBC Royal Bank Cup. The last time an Ontario-based team won the national title was when the Thunder Bay Flyers of the United States Hockey League captured the title in 1992 when it was known as the Centennial Cup.
