The Prince Rupert Rampage are the CIHL western division regular season champions for 2022 - 2023.

That was already an established fact Saturday evening when the Rampage took to the ice at the Jim Ciccone Civic Centre against the Smithers Steelheads for both teams鈥� final game of the season.

The Terrace River Kings had made the race for the west interesting the week before when they stormed into Rupert鈥檚 barn and pulled within one point of the Rampage, who were 10-3-0-0 at the time with 20 points to the Kings鈥� 17.

It was a chippy game with Terrace dominating the first period and coming away with a 1-0 lead at the break on a goal from Trevor Andrews assisted by Brandon Onstein.

Rupert settled down in the second period, going toe-to-toe with the visitors before Connor Onstein added to the Kings鈥� lead halfway through the frame with assists from Brandon and Sam Reinbolt.

Just a few seconds later, though, Cole Atchison pulled the home team back within one goal unassisted.

Carter Shannon and Tanner Braid then combined to make it 3-1 for the visitors before Hunter Atchison with help from Dustin Johnson and team-leading scorer Judd Repole added a late goal to make it 3-2 going into the final frame.

Both teams added one to their scores in the third period, Reinbolt from Connor Onstein for Terrace and Brody Hemrich from Austin Weir and Tyler Ostrom for Rupert to make the final 4-3.

The chippiness of the dust-up, with the teams combining for 62 minutes of penalties, finally boiled over at the final buzzer when a brawl almost broke out at centre ice before the referees and cooler heads prevailed.

The win left the River Kings just one point back from the Rampage in the standings.

It also clinched second place for the Kings. Following the game, Terrace coach Derek Jurista reflected on what they would need going into the playoffs.

鈥淲e wanted to play the way you want to go into the playoffs,鈥� he said. 鈥淵ou want that full bench, all year we鈥檝e been short and short and short so getting guys back, getting health and going into the playoffs is what we鈥檙e looking to do here.鈥�

He said it was very satisfying to beat the Rampage in Rupert.

鈥淭hey鈥檝e had our number this year, they鈥檙e a hell of a team, they鈥檙e coached well, they play well and we were lucky to squeak that one out.鈥�

While a Terrace win and two Rupert losses this past weekend would have changed the final tally, the Rampage only had to get past the haphazard Kitimat Ice Demons on Friday (Feb. 3) to clinch the division.

Kitimat, though, on home ice after a disastrous season during which they were blown apart by virtually every team in the league, finally showed some life.

It was a high-scoring affair from the start with the Rampage striking first only to be matched goal for goal by the Demons. By the end of the first period, Kitimat held a rare 4-3 lead.

Cole Atchison had two of Rupert鈥檚 goals assisted by Reid Lindsay and Marcus Anderson on the first and by Lindsay and Tyler Ostrom on the second. Nolan Stava had the other Rampage mark with help from Gary Sekhon.

Lucas Aiken scored a pair for Kitimat the first assisted by Alex Harvey and Derek Wakita, the second unassisted. Gabe Fowler McNab and Tayden Fowler McNab rounded out the first-period scoring for the Demons. Gabe was assisted by Logan Carrita and Jake Robinson and Tayden got help from Gabe on his.

Tayden Fowler McNab added to the Kitimat lead unassisted five minutes into the second period, but the lead would be short-lived for the home team as the visitors beat up goaltender Nick Almeida with five unanswered goals to take an 8-5 lead into the final frame.

Goals for Rupert were by Reid Lindsay (Judd Repole), Nolan Stava, Lindsay (Repole), Drew Fudger (Brody Ward) and Kory Movold (Brody Hemrich).

In the third period, Kitimat clawed their way back to within one on unassisted goals by Izaak Velho and Ian Coleman. But with 17 seconds left on the clock, Kory Movold put the final nail in the coffin of the Ice Demon鈥檚 winless season-to-forget with a goal from Cole and Marcus Atchison to make the final 9-7.

With the West Division wrapped up, the Rampage had nothing to lose or win going up against Smithers at home Feb. 4, but the Steelheads were locked in a battle for third place with the Hazelton Wolverines. A win for either team with a loss by the other would lock up third place, but with the head-to-head season battle won, Smithers could also advance with a loss as long as Hazelton, who were simultaneously up against the River Kings in Terrace Saturday, also lost.

Smithers held their own pretty well in the first period giving up just two goals to Hunter Johnson (Repole/Marcus Atchison) and Cole Atchison (Johnson/Repole).

In the second frame, however, any semblance of discipline the Steelheads may have exhibited in the first 20 minutes completely disappeared.

Penalties killed the visitors with Rupert scoring five goals in a matter of four minutes and 51 seconds, three of which were on power plays.

Trailing 7-0, Linden Dykens would wind up putting the Rampage back on the power play for another nine minutes when he got tagged for instigating, fighting and being the aggressor, which also cost him a game misconduct.

Later Dykens would explain that he just couldn鈥檛 abide the Rupert player chirping at him and insulting him with the score so lopsided.

Smithers did get on the scoreboard finally in the third period when Graham Fast snuck one past Rupert goaltender Kieran Sharpe, who had lived up to his surname until that point. Fast was assisted by Dawson Schwarz and Nate Soucie.

But Rupert would also add two more in the last period to make the final 9-1.

Scoring highlights for the Rampage included a hattrick for Kory Movold. Cole Atchison picked up two goals and assisted on one of Movolds and two-time MVP Judd Repole added three assists for a team-leading points total of 30, good for seventh overall in the league to finish the 2022-2023 season.

The nine goals on the night added $900 to the Goals for Giving Hope program, in which the Prince Rupert Port Authority (PRPA) donates $100 to the Salvation Army for each home goal scored by the Rampage. During the first intermission, the PRPA and Rampage captains presented a cheque for $4,200 to the Army for the 42 goals scored at home up until Feb. 3.

While Smithers assistant captain Jeremy Chadsey was disappointed with the finish to the season, the Steelheads got some help from the Terrace River Kings who defeated Hazelton 6-3 to relegate the Wolverines to fourth place.

He said they will have to work on their discipline and team defence if they hope to be successful in the playoffs, but was overall satisfied with the team for their first season back in the league.

Rupert plays its first playoff game Feb. 18 at home.

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