Winners of the divisional series will face off against Terrace an Williams Lake in divisional finals
When Hazelton defeated Prince Rupert in last year’s opening game of the Central Interior Hockey League playoffs, it was a surprise for everyone, especially the Rampage who had enjoyed a perfect regular season record in 2022-2023.
The game was a dust-up, to say the least, as the scorekeepers needed to start a second scoresheet just to record all the penalties. In total, officials handed out 83 minutes to the Rampage including game misconducts for Jean-Luc Fournier, Drew Fudger and Captain Kory Movold. The Wolverines racked up 51 minutes. Hazelton’s Marcus MacEachern was also tossed from the game.
In the second and third periods, though, it was all Hazelton with Brown notching his second of the game to start things off. At the end of the second period it was 3-2 Wolverines courtesy of regular season league scoring champion Tanner Wort.