Former Strathmore players earn KIJHL title

By Tyler Lowey, Times Reporter

Winning a championship in your final year of eligibility, regardless of the sport or the level, is the hardest thing to do.
For local kid James Farmer and former UFA Bison Cody Campbell, it was a storybook ending to their junior hockey career.
Three years ago, Farmer left the Wheatland Athletic Association midget Chiefs for the Kimberley Dynamiters of the Kootenay International Junior B Hockey League.
The Dynamiters reached the KIJHL finals but were handled fairly easy by the eventual Keystone Cup champion 100 Mile House Wranglers.
Last season, Farmer was joined by former Bison Matthew Davies and Campbell for another lengthy playoff drive, but again came up short.
A younger team at the time, the Dynamiters ran into the powerhouse Beaver Valley Nitehawks, losing in Game 5 of the best-of-five KIJHL semifinals.
“We were the underdogs last year. Last year was a difficult defeat and we thought we should have been in the championship. We spent all offseason thinking about it and learned from our mistakes,” said Davies, who registered nine points in 34 games for the Bisons in the 2015-16 season.
Running away with the regular season title with a 38-7-1-1 record, this time it was the Dynamiters turn as the top dog in the playoff bracket.
The Dynamiters derailed the competition through the first two rounds, knocking out the rival Fernie Ghostriders and Columbia Valley Rockies both in five games.
For the first time in the postseason, adversity struck the Strathmore crew in the conference final. The Dynamiters battled back from trailing 2-1 in the series but were locked into an overtime duel with the Neil Murdoch division-winning Nelson Leafs.
Campbell, who was fresh off recording his best statistical season with a 25-7-1-0 record with a 2.17 goals-against average and a .924 save percentage, was faced with his biggest test of the season.
“There was about five seconds left in the first overtime and one of our defencemen fell on the puck in my crease,” said Campbell. “The ref thought he put his hand over the puck and awarded the Leafs a penalty shot. Their guy came in, shot and I was lucky enough to get a piece of it.”
Campbell’s brilliance led the Dynamiters to a Game 6 win and has also earned him a ticket to University of Central Oklahoma to play for the Broncos.
Taking on the Doug Birks Division-winning Revelstoke Grizzlies in the final, the Dynamiters took a 2-0 series lead after an overtime win and a 5-1 victory on home ice.
The Grizzlies protected their home court with a pair of wins at the Revelstoke Forum. Returning to the Kimberley Civic Centre for Game 5 on April 5, the Dynamiters stepped on the gas and pulled away from the Grizzlies.
Campbell blanked the Grizzlies 5-0 in Game 5 and Farmer netted the insurance marker in a 5-3 championship-clinching win with two minutes remaining in regulation.
“Revelstoke was putting the pressure on us pretty good,” said Farmer. “One of our guys blocked a shot, I leaked out and my teammate hit me with the pass on a partial break. I was able to sneak it past their goalie to basically clinch the championship. It was a pretty amazing feeling.”
Once the final horn sounded, the Dynamiters spent over an hour on the ice celebrating with the league trophy, as players hoisted it, and hugged teammates, their coaches and any family and friends who were in attendance.
But their journey wasn’t done there.
Winning the KIJHL sent the Dynamiters into the Cyclone Taylor Cup for the second time in franchise history, as they battled the other Junior B champions from B.C.
“We had high hopes entering provincials,” said Farmer. “We thought we were the best team there, but it just didn’t go our way.”
The Dynamiters got blanked 3-0 by the Delta Ice Hawks in the opener April 12, bounced back with a 6-1 win over the eventual champion Richmond Sockeyes, but a 9-0 shelling by the Campbell River Storm kept them out of the gold medal game.
“It’s tough going up against teams you don’t know. There are no rivalries, so there’s no grit and it’s a little more difficult to get up for those games compared to our playoff run,” said Campbell, a De Winton product, who boasted a 1.77 goals-against and a .934 save percentage in 21 playoff games.
The Strathmore contingent went out in style, though. Led by Farmer’s hat trick, they cranked the Storm 7-1 April 15 at Minoru Arena in Richmond, B.C.
“I played with and against both Cody and James at different times growing up,” said Davies, a Calgary product, who scored five goals and added 26 points in 22 playoff games. “Having all of us play together for two years made it extra special to win the way we did.”
Davies is eligible to return next year if he chooses. But Campbell will be off at college and Farmer has aged out of junior hockey. The Strathmore product has options to weigh this summer about post-secondary hockey, but for the time being, he is going to enjoy the glow of going out on top.