Brooks Bandits cap off BCHL title with a championship parade

Captain Ethan Beyer said continuing on the winning tradition is the best feeling.

“In the last two years, winning each of the last games, obviously we’re super grateful for that, and all the hard work we put in was tested to that,” Beyer said.

“Coming into this last year, you don’t want to be the guys that end it for this organization,” he added.

“Just to carry it on and keep it moving for the guys that are coming up next, it’s super cool.”

Brooks mayor John Petrie said having a parade for the Bandits is almost like a tradition now.

“They won a Centennial Cup in 2022, they won a Centennial Cup in 2023, they won the Rocky Mountain Challenge last year, they joined the B.C. Junior Hockey League, they won the Fred Page Cup, so we’re excited about it,” Petrie said.

“I just love the attention these teams bring to our communities. No different than the Tigers. Tigers are at the Memorial Cup now, just that national exposure.”

Petrie said he’s followed the Bandits right from the beginning.

“This is the 25th anniversary of the Brooks Bandits, and I often talk about the first 10, 11 years, which weren’t a lot of fun, because for the first four to five years we never made the playoffs,” Petrie said

“But then after that, we started to win. We won our first Centennial Cup in 2013, and then a few of them followed after that.”

Forward Parker Lalonde, the playoff Most Valuable Player for the Bandits, said it was a huge honour to be able to step up for the team when it mattered the most.

“It’s unbelievable, I think we all wanted to be here, we all expected to be here, and it’s been quite the year,” Lalonde said.

“With changes to the team, changes to the roster, things going wrong, we just stayed with what we knew the whole way through, picked up new guys along the way, and we ended up getting to where we wanted to be,” he added.

“It’s been an amazing two years for me in Brooks, I wouldn’t have changed anything, and I’m excited to celebrate in front of my fans.”

One of the guys picked up along the way was Goaltender Zach Zahara coming in from the Western Hockey League’s Medicine Hat Tigers in January.

Starting every playoff game for the Bandits, Zahara said they worked so hard for the title.

“It’s obviously been a season of ups and some downs, so to come out on top in the BCHL is obviously a huge thing for me and such an honor and just so happy to have this experience here,” Zahara said.

“It’s obviously a huge confidence boost going into the summer, it’s a big summer training to build for next year and hopefully have the same result for next year as well.”

Beyer said he didn’t truly believe the Bandits were going to win until their was five seconds left in game six.

“I was sitting behind our net with the puck, and their players left the zone and went back to their zone. I look over at my D partner, Keith McInnis, and we were just screaming at each other,” Beyer said.

“I started to get a little emotional, just kind of realizing this is my last time wearing this jersey, going to battle with these guys, and it was so cool,” he added.

“I don’t remember much of it because I was just so in the moment and just happy, but to see all the other guys being emotional and excited for this just makes it so much better.”

Beyer who will move on to play for the NCAA’s Merrimack College next season, said Brooks is an amazing place.

“It truly is the best place to play junior hockey in Canada, and I wouldn’t trade it for anything else,” Beyer said.

“I’m super grateful to be here and to be able to hoist it with my teammates.”

For all the players moving on to new opportunities this was the last chance to celebrate as a Bandit, as they pass the torch to the returning players to continue on the winning tradition in Brooks.

by Jesse Gill

Brooks Bandits cap off BCHL title with a championship parade

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