2004 RBC Cup

Host 3 - West 4
Game 14
May 15, 2004
Grande Prairie, AB

In the late game, the upstart Kindersley Klippers took on the hometown favourite Grande Prairie Storm. The Klippers were coming into the contest with high hopes after their 4-2 upset victory over the Nanaimo Clippers two nights earlier, primarily thanks to a 53-save performance by Kindersley netminder and tournament MVP Kevin Dziaduck. It didn’t take long for the hosts to get on the board as Stephan Knowles placed a perfect shot over Dziaduck’s shoulder and under the crossbar 1:44 into the game on a Grande Prairie power-play. Less than four minutes later, the Storm went up 2-0 when Mark Szott tipped a point shot by Kyle Radke past Dziaduck. With the Storm looking to go up by three on another man advantage, Kindersley’s Curtis Bazylinski intercepted a clearing attempt by goalie Jonathan Cayer and deposited it into the gaping net past the diving netminder. Troy Schwab of the Klippers then silenced the partisan home crowd (and ignited the section of Kindersley fans) when he one-timed a pass from Chris O’Connor past Cayer on a Kindersley power-play to tie the score at 2-2 with 1:22 left in the opening period. In the second, Grande Prairie regained the lead when Szott scored his second of the game on a Storm power-play 3:06 into the period. The hosts held the lead until the 3:22 mark of the third period, when Kindersley’s Jason Fleck found himself open in the slot and converted a feed from Casey Lee to tie the game at 3-3. The visiting Klippers then pulled off their second straight upset as Lee tipped in a pass from Jesse Fischer past Cayer with 35.5 seconds left in the final frame. Dziaduck made 32 saves in the 4-3 Kindersley victory. The Klippers now move on to face the Aurora Tigers in the RBC Royal Bank Cup championship game on Sunday at 5:30 p.m. (MT).