Powell River Regals - The Cinderella Season of 1969/70

The Cinderella Season of 1969/70

The Regals finished the longest and most grueling season ever in mid-April of 1970 as Canadian Hardy Cup Champions of Canada. The year did not start well with players being scarce and the team seeming unable to jell. The addition of Dave Parenteau was a great help and after Christmas things started to happen. The Regals finished second in the regular season standings and faced, and then defeated, Comox in the first round of the playoffs. Port Alberni Labatts were the next opponents and as usual were no pushovers but the Regals did eventually prevail. The Chemanius Blues did not put up much of a fight as the Regals swept the series in high scoring, one-sided affairs. Regals and Shmyr Flyers split the first two games of their series forcing a third and deciding game. The evenly matched teams were tied at the end of regulation play and the Regals advanced with two goals in the 10 minute overtime period. The Prince George Mohawks were unable to score in the next series as the Regals rode strong goaltending performances to win in two straight. Kimberley was all that stood in the way of a third Coy Cup title and after the series victory, the Regals hosted Lloydminster in the next round. The third time was the charm against the Borderkings and with the win hockey fever gripped all of Powell River. Rosetown Red Wings came to town full of rumours about the Regals and their toughness. They left with the same impression at the end of the hard-hitting series won by the home team. Unbelievably the next step was the Canadian finals. With the luck of the draw all games were to be played in the western most point. Val D’our, Quebec, came to Powell River for a best-of-five series to determine the Hardy Cup champions of Canada. The teams split the first four games forcing a fifth and deciding game. “We’re number one” reverberated through the Civic Arena rafters as the final seconds of Game 5 wound down in the 5-3 contest much to the jubilation of the fans and relief of the players who had gone through 26 playoff games to reach the pinnacle of Canadian Champions.