The Birch Hills Blackhawks pose for a team photo following their championship win over Rosthern last weekend. (Monday Nooner/Facebook)

By Logan Lehmann

Senior Hockey

Birch Hills Captain reflects on winning Twin Rivers Hockey League championship

Mar 31, 2024 | 4:57 PM

Another season in the Twin Rivers Hockey League (TRHL) came to a close last weekend in an exciting winner-take-all Game 5.

In front of packed stands at the Jubilee Sports Centre in Rosthern, the Birch Hills Blackhawks crowned themselves champions of the TRHL over the Rosthern Wheat Kings, winning 5-4 in double overtime.

Blackhawks Captain Tyler Tilford recalled the emotions in the locker room following the exciting win and reflected on the path they took to the top of the mountain.

“It was pretty unreal,” he said. “In the semi-finals being down 2-0 [in the series], coming back and winning three straight to making the finals and being down 2-1 to a Rosthern team and winning those last two games was pretty unreal, especially winning in double overtime.”

The game-winning goal came at the 17:45 mark of the second overtime period when Tilford sprung Tyson Novakoski on a breakaway with a pass from his own zone.

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“I came out of the corner with the puck in our end and got to the top of the circles and I saw [Novakoski] in between three of their guys like they were split perfectly, I fed him [with a pass] and it worked out perfect,” he explained.

“It was unbelievable when that goal went in. The rink was packed and there was tons of Birch Hills fans there and it was loud – pretty awesome.”

The adversity in the playoffs wasn’t the only roadblocks the team had to overcome though as Tilford added that the rough seas came crashing on the team as early as day one.

“We had a little bit of a slow start to the season this year. That’s a little rare for us as we’re not really used to that so it was something new, some different adversity that this group wasn’t really used to. But we kept battling back and believing and then playoffs hit. We had a pretty rough start against Allan but we never – never quit or thought that we were out of it and just kept battling. We had lots of veterans on our team and they were pretty big in the dressing room for us to keep everyone calm and making sure that we still believed that we were in it.”

Tilford continued by saying that the Game 5 win was also bittersweet as some of the players retired following the game or said they were taking a step back from the sport. Either way, Tilford said he was happy to see their careers end on a high note.

The championship win is Birch Hills’ third TRHL title since the league’s formation in 2016 as they previously won in 2017 and 2022.

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loganc.lehmann@pattisonmedia.com