The Bantam House playoffs were held in Castlegar the weekend of February 21-23. The Bantam Leafs entered the playoffs in 8th place out of nine teams. In Pool B, the Leafs played the 2nd, 4th and 6th place teams in the division, and after 3 games, teams 4, 6 and the Leafs were in a three way tie for second place. The tie breaking calculation was applied, and the Leafs goals for/against average put them in 2nd place in the pool, by a difference of only 1 goal! They then qualified to play in the semi-final game against the first place team in pool A from Castlegar, who placed second in the regular season. In a hard fought game, the Leafs played extremely hard, and at the end of regulation were tied 5-5 with the Castlegar squad. The 5 minute overtime period began with both teams fighting hard to win, and with just 25 seconds left in the period, Marco Falcone scored the winning goal to propel the Leafs into the Banner game against the first place Trail Warriors. Despite a hard fought effort by the Leafs, and some outstanding goaltending by the Leafs only goalie, Connor Comishin, the Leafs couldn’t beat the powerhouse Warriors, who had a 15-1-0 record in the regular season.
The Bantam Leafs went from 8th to 2nd place in the Bantam House Division, and should be congratulated on their outstanding efforts throughout the season, and in the playoffs.