The Bradford Bulls’ Cinderella run at the GMHL North Division Junior A Hockey championship came to an end on Sunday night, when the Temiskaming Titans took the series in four straight games.
But the Bulls didn’t make it easy for the top-ranked Titans, despite losing their top goalie in Game 3 to injury. Looking for revenge, the Bradford squad came out in the first period skating and hitting hard.
Temiskaming was first on the scoreboard, six minutes into the period – with the Titan’s #86 Reingold Shtemke beating Bulls’ back-up goalie Chris Cabral (#1), assisted by David Fontaine (#97) and Mikhail Kornilov (#4).
Less than three minutes later, the Bulls tied it up on the power play, with a goal by #20 Nathan Balkwill from #24 Zachary Lewis and #17 Shawn Soliman, whipping the puck past Titans goalie Eloi Bouchard (#60). But that was it for the Bulls in the first frame: despite furious onslaughts on the Temiskaming netminder, it was the Titans who scored.
Just past the halfway mark, Charles-André Cypihot (#98) notched a short-handed goal, with assists to Fontaine and Kornilov – and two minutes later, #13 Pier-Luc Céré made it 3-1 for the Titans, scoring on the power play with help from Ilya Badanin (#67) and Shtemke.
As frustrations mounted, so did the penalties, on both sides. And when play resumed in the second period, it was hard to know if fans were watching a hockey game or a boxing match.
It took less than two minutes for the first fight to erupt, sending Temiskaming Pier-Luc Céré to the bench for roughing, and Bull Brendan Greig (#2) out of the game, handed penalties for Cross-Checking, Interference, instigating a fight, fighting, and a game disqualification.
The Bulls couldn’t block the Titans’ attacks or break through the Titans’ defense, and ended up racking up a record 13 penalties. Both Balkwill and Josh Booker received 10-minute misconducts, in the final minutes of play.
Temiskaming had its share of bad behaviour, collecting seven penalties - including a 10-minute misconduct to Jerome Rochefort. But even with players sitting out, the Titans managed to score four more goals in the period – markers by Rochefort, Badanin, Céré and William Godbout (#12), all of them on the power play. Assists went to Cypihot (2), Shtemke (2), Kornilov (2), Jeremy Brooks and Nathan Hardy.
The chaotic period ended with the Titans ahead 7-1.
It was a different story in the Third. The Bulls came back onto the ice determined to play, not fight, and at 6:24, Soliman scored, assisted by River Gull (#12) and Balkwill.
The Bulls swarmed the Titans’ end, forcing goalie Beaudoin to make save after save – and with 6 minutes left on the clock, #9 Nicholas Rotatore notched the Bulls’ third goal, from Gull and Balkwill, cutting the Titans lead to 7-3.
With five minutes remaining in the final frame, Temiskaming scored an eighth and final goal - by Cypihot from Fontaine and Hardy – but the Bulls never let up their furious charge on the Titans net, until time ran out.
Temiskaming won 8-3, taking the series and the North Division Championship, but the Bradford Bulls proved they deserved the chance at the title, finishing as 2021-2022 Runners-up in their 10-team division.
Temiskaming now awaits the result of the South Division Finals between the North York Renegades and the Durham Roadrunners, to play for the GMHL Russell Cup starting April 3.
