WEST BEND, Wis. – Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, … can’t get fooled again.
The infamous saying from George W. Bush was the message delivered by the Rochester Grizzlies to the West Bend Power in the Central Division Finals, winning the series 2-1 to advance to the Fraser Cup Championship for the third time in franchise history.
The series started the same as last season’s, with the Grizzlies shutting out the Power in Game 1 on the road, this time by a score of 1-0.
In one of the best defensive battles you will see all season in the NA3HL, both netminders, Nick Kurtiak and Sam Ahl, were sensational, swallowing up every shot they faced.
That was until just under four minutes to go in the third period, where a Nolan Mix turnover led to a deflection goal from Mason Decker, his fifth of the postseason, to give the Grizzlies the 1-0 lead in the game and the series.
With last year fresh in their minds, the Grizzlies returned home determined for the series sweep.
However, the top team in the Central Division and the NA3HL proved why they held that distinction, coming out hot in the first period with two quick goals and finishing the frame with a 3-1 lead.
After a Danny Jurcich five-minute major and ejection, which led to his suspension for Game 3 of the series, Decker scored yet another goal for Rochester to cut the deficit in half going into period number three.
A third power-play goal on the night, this one from Swedish forward Felix Wadstromer, tied things up 41 seconds in, and it seemed like the black and gold might just pull off the comeback.
That was until West Bend took complete control from that point on, getting the go-ahead goal from Shane Paulson under two minutes later and tallying twice more to tie the series at 1-1 going back to Wisconsin.
It was a position this Rochester team knew all too well, starting strong, facing adversity, and needing to respond, and that resilience would be the key in Saturday night’s winner-take-all showdown
A game that for the opening 20 felt eerily similar to the first period from Game 1 of the series, both West Bend and Rochester had a couple of good looks, but the netminders Kurtiak and Ahl were fantastic yet again.
Then, everything broke open in the second period.
A quick transition play with a dazzling spin-o-rama from Trenton Fore whistled past the glove side of Sam Ahl to give the Grizzlies a much-needed first goal in a contest that felt destined to be decided by a single tally.
Just 55 seconds later, Dominic Arndt threw a shot on net through traffic, hitting a Power defender and squeaking past Ahl for the two-goal cushion.
West Bend wouldn’t go away quietly with its season on the line, answering under two minutes later to cut the deficit in half.
It appeared momentum might swing once again, but just 14 seconds after the restart, a turnover turned into a 3-on-1 rush the other way, and a beautiful feed from Wadstromer to Ole Fevold restored the two-goal cushion.
The Power gave everything they could in the final 20 minutes of their season, inching closer with another goal from Paulson with 7:10 remaining, but from that point on, Marty Raymond’s squad played shutdown defense.
With the net empty, the Power through all they could at Kurtiak, who stopped six of seven shots in the third and 26 overall to lead Rochester back to the Fraser Cup Championship.
What began as heartbreak a year ago ended in triumph, as the battle-tested Rochester Grizzlies toppled West Bend in a series that was about far more than two wins; it was redemption for the veterans who never forgot last year’s ending, an exclamation point on the legendary career of Andrew Bastian, now Rochester’s all-time leader in games played, and a message to every doubter across the league: the Grizzlies aren’t just here, they’re here to win.