The Southern Stampede are the New Zealand Ice Hockey League (NZIHL) champions once again.
The Queenstown-based Stampede celebrated their ninth NZIHL championship in the club's 20-year existence, lifting the Birgel Cup on home ice at the Queenstown Ice Arena on Saturday.
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With the league's MVP and leading scorer Nolan Ross starring, the Stampede swept the West Auckland Admirals in the best-of-three Finals series, winning Game 1 on Friday 2-1 and Game 2 on Saturday 4-2.
It was the seventh season the Stampede have claimed both the regular season Premiership and playoffs Championship double, and was the sixth time the team has clinched the trophy in Queenstown.
The Stampede, who have won the title in seven of the last eight completed seasons, have also been beaten in the Birgel Cup Finals four times and were odds-on favourites in 2020 and 2021 when the seasons were cancelled due to Covid-19.
Canadian forward Ross, who led the NZIHL with 25 goals and 46 points during the regular season and was named MVP in the lead-up to the Finals, scored two goals in the clincher.
With the game tied 1-1 late in the second period, the 29-year-old from Fort Frances, Ontario, beat Ice Blacks netminder Csaba Kercso-Magos on a penalty shot at 37:57, then put the home side up 3-1 at 50:08 after the Stampede had just killed off back-to-back Admirals power-plays.
Jordan Challis confirmed the Birgel Cup would remain in the Lakes District with an empty-netter with 70 seconds remaining, before T Rooney scored for the Admirals with an extra attacker with seven seconds on the clock.
Late in the first period, Lachlan Frear put the Stampede up, assisted by Challis, with West Auckland forward A Regan tying it up midway through the second period.
In net, Aston Brookes stopped 21-of-23 shots for the Stampede, while Kercso-Magos made 29 saves.
Ross provided the opening goal in Game 1, scoring just 57 seconds into the contest and setting the tone for the series. Colin McIntosh, who finished the season second in points, and Canadian defenceman Jett McCullum had the assists.
McCullum, who finished the regular season eighth in points, beat Kercso-Magos at 25:49 of the second period for a two-goal lead, with Ross and Frear providing the assists.
The Admirals had their chances to get back into the game, with the Stampede killing off two power-plays in the second period, then preserving the lead during two minutes of 5-on-3 action early in the third.
Dutch forward Pim van der Meulen finally got the visitors on the board at 57:26 on the power-play but the Admirals could not find the tying goal in the closing minutes despite pulling the goalie for an extra skater.
Stampede goaltender Joel Hasselman was the three-star player of the game, making 39 saves to prevent any Admirals comeback, while Kercso-Magos stopped 26-of-28 shots he faced.