If the Conception Bay North Eastlink CeeBee Stars hadn't already secured their place in senior hockey history, they surely did so Saturday night as the team completed a sweep of the Clarenville Caribous to win the Telegram Herder Memorial Trophy Championship Series.
It is the eighth Herder title for the CeeBees, and their first since 2008.
"We were up two goals and the time was winding down and I was thinking to myself, 'we did it, we did it in fine style, the Cinderella Story ended on a fine note," CeeBees coach Ian Moores said following his team's 4-2 win over the Caribous Saturday night at S.W. Moores Memorial Stadium in Harbour Grace.
"I've been successful as a player, but at Mile One and the Pepsi |Centre, so to do it here in Harbour Grace in front of our fans is really surreal."
The series, without question, will go down as one of the biggest upsets in senior hockey history. The CeeBees, who won more playoff games (8) than they did regular season contests (7), narrowly squeaked into the post-season as the fourth-seed while the second-seeded Caribous had punched their ticket to playoffs in January.
The CeeBees' Ryan Delaney, winner of the Cliff Gorman Memorial Award as Herder MVP, says despite the regular season struggles, he never had a doubt the team had the ability to compete for the Herder.
"I knew from day the team we had, that once we got going we'd keep it going and that'd what we did in the playoffs," says Delaney, who scored twice in Saturday's series-clincher.
Harbour Grace native Daniel Sparkes assisted on both Delaney goals, and added one of his own for good measure.
"To come from where we were earlier in the year to now, I don't think you could ever predict this," Sparkes said as he celebrated his first Herder Memorial Trophy win. "I'd like to see the pro-line odds on it."
Ray Dalton also scored for the CeeBees whose Mark Yetman was solid between the pipes.
Replying for Clarenville were Dale Sullivan and Ryan Desrosiers.
"We've had a great run, it had to end some time," Caribous coach Ivan Hapgood said. "We'll bounce back, as good as ever."
Be sure to check Monday's edition of the Telegram for more coverage of the 2013 Herder Memorial Trophy finals.
koliver@thetelegram.com
Twitter@telykenn
