GPAC TEAMS SEASON OVER
The last two Grande Peace Athletic Club teams remaining alive in the playoff hunt in their respective leagues both fell on Saturday.
For the Dreger Racing Team Storm it was especially heart-breaking because they were so close to being the top White-Black Division team in the Edmonton Rural Bantam AA Hockey League.
They fell 2-1 in overtime on Saturday in the second game of a best-of-three playoff against the Lakeland Panthers. They lost the series 2-0 after a 4-3 Lakeland win in Game 1.
Lakeland will take on the winner of the Blue-Red Division series between the Sherwood Park Leafs and Edmonton SSAC.
The GPAC Peaceland Directional Drilling Storm were a game away from playing in the championship final of the Bouchier Division in the Northern Alberta Midget AA Hockey League.
After round-robin play in Whitecourt they faced the Peace River Royals on Saturday with a chance to advance to the final against the host Whitecourt Wolverines.
A 4-1 loss means the Royals and Wolverines will play today in the final.
Keaton Mercredi scored the lone GP goal while Lee Lappenbush made 21 saves.
The teams were tied 1-1 after one and Peace River led 3-1 after two periods.
Whitecourt went 3-0, Peace River 2-1, the Storm 1-2 and the Fort McMurray Barons 0-2 in round-robin play.
It was a good year for GPAC teams.
Four of the six teams - Ernie's Sports Experts Midget AAA Storm, Boston Pizza U16 Storm, the Peaceland Storm and Dreger Storm all advanced to the playoffs.
The GPAC year-end banquet will be held in Clarkson Hall at Evergreen Park on Wednesday, April 3.
