The Road to the 2015 RBC Cup included 504 games in 96 series across 10 leagues, along with three regional tournaments. Of those games, 201 were decided by just a single goal, and 97 of those needed overtime.

Among the series, 15 needed a one-game, winner-take-all finale (in either a best-of-three, best-of-five or best-of-seven), including two of the 10 league championship series.

Needless to say, there was no shortage of excitement. So what were the top series as 129 teams became five?

5. VIRDEN OIL CAPITALS DEF. WINKLER FLYERS 4-2 (MJHL QUARTER-FINAL)

Regulation time just wasn’t enough for the Oil Capitals and Flyers, who needed overtime in four of the six games in the series. After Virden took Game 1 on a GWG with less than four minutes to go, the Flyers gained the series lead with back-to-back overtime victories thanks to goals from Bryce Enns and Cam Whyte.

A marathon Game 4 ended on a Ben Williams goal 3:24 into the third overtime – one of just four games in the entire postseason across the country to need three extra periods – to get the Oil Capitals even, and Virden scored twice in the final 1:28 to steal Game 5 and take the series lead for good.

Not surprisingly, the series finale needed more than 60 minutes to decide a winner; after the Flyers tied the game with just 49 seconds to go, Torrin Grange scored at 4:05 of the extra frame to send Virden to the MJHL semifinals, where they ran into the Portage Terriers juggernaut and went out in four straight.

4. COLLÈGE FRANÇAIS DE LONGUEUIL DEF. COUGARS DE SHERBROOKE 4-3 (LHJQ FINAL)

Just three points separated the LHJQ’s top two teams during the regular season, so it shouldn’t come as any surprise that Collège Français and the Cougars went the full seven games in a back-and-forth series.

The series started with neither team wanting to give an inch on home ice; Sherbrooke opened with a pair of wins at the Centre Sportif John H. Price, but Longueuil answered with consecutive victories of its own at the Colisée Jean-Béliveau, turning the series into a best-of-three, with the Cougars holding home-ice advantage.

But home ice wouldn’t be much of an advantage for either team the rest of the way. Collège Français earned the first road win in Game 5, blanking Sherbrooke 3-0 behind 32 saves from Kevin Darveau, only to see the Cougars answer back with a 2-1 victory as the visitor, setting up a deciding Game 7. Trailing for much of the game, Longueuil tied it midway through the third and won it on Maxime Guyon’s goal at 2:40 of overtime, advancing to the Fred Page Cup for the third time in five years.

3. PENTICTON VEES DEF. WEST KELOWNA WARRIORS 4-1 (BCHL PRELIMINARY ROUND)

History will show that the Vees knocked out the Warriors in five games in their Interior Division semifinal, but that number may be a little bit misleading – in all, Penticton and West Kelowna played 378 minutes and 59 seconds of hockey, or six full games plus almost another full period.

Surprisingly, it was the Warriors who struck first, using Jason Cotton’s power-play goal at 5:39 of double overtime to grab a 1-0 series lead. Penticton drew even, erasing a 2-0 third-period deficit before Matthew Serratore’s overtime winner in Game 2, and took the series lead for good when Mitch Newsome scored at 9:37 of the third overtime in Game 3, ending Junior A hockey’s longest game of 2014-15.

Dakota Conroy won Game 4 for the Vees with a goal at 17:46 of the third period, narrowly avoiding a fourth consecutive overtime contest, and Penticton romped in Game 5 back on home ice, winning 7-0 to close out the pesky Warriors and take the first step towards what would be a BCHL championship and RBC Cup berth.

2. PENTICTON VEES DEF. VERNON VIPERS 4-3 (BCHL QUARTER-FINAL)

Should it really be a surprise that the Vees and Vipers needed every second of seven games to determine the Interior Division champion? After all, the Okanagan rivals had gone the distance just one year earlier, and Penticton and Vernon always seem to bring out the best (and worst) in each other in the playoffs.

The Vees’ overtime magic continued in Game 1; Connor Chartier scored 2:11 into the second extra period to give Penticton the early advantage, and a 5-2 victory in Game 2 got the Vees halfway home. But Vernon battled back, winning a pair of 5-2 games on home ice to send the series south to Penticton tied 2-2.

Luke Voltin struck for a double-overtime game-winner in Game 5, giving Vernon its first lead of the series and putting the Vipers on the verge of the upset, but a 5-1 Vees victory pushed the series to the limit. Game 7 was the classic defensive struggle; with overtime looming in a scoreless game it was Penticton captain Patrick Sexton who stepped up as the hero, scoring the game-winner in a 2-0 victory that kept the Vees’ dreams of a second RBC Cup championship in four years alive.

1. KINGSTON VOYAGEURS DEF. AURORA TIGERS 4-3 (OJHL QUARTER-FINAL)

Is there really any other choice? Without its suspended head coach and general manager, Kingston had made quick work of the Stouffville Spirit in the opening round, rolling to a four-game sweep, but a tougher test awaited in the quarter-finals – the Tigers and their OJHL-best regular season record.

The Voyageurs stayed right with top-ranked Aurora, taking each of the first two games to double overtime before losing, but a 5-1 defeat in Game 3 put Kingston on the verge of a quick exit in Round 2.

A wild 7-6 win in Game 4 kept the Voyageurs’ season alive, and the hashtag #WhyNotUs began to gain traction. Kingston scored six times in the third period of Game 5 to earn a 7-1 victory, and Adam Brady’s overtime winner in Game 6 forced an unlikely Game 7 in Aurora. The Voyageurs came out with every bit of the momentum in the deciding contest and led 5-1 after 20 minutes, eventually scoring a 6-2 win to complete the rarest of feats in team sports. #WhyNotUs, indeed.