Kochevar’s takes 2022 town league hockey title

“$100? We’re gonna spend $1,000”

[  by Than Acuff  ]

After falling in the final minute of the title game last year, Kochevar’s returned to the Crested Butte town league title game and skated to a 5-3 win over Ska Brewing Friday night, March 11 at Big Mine Ice Arena.

And while the Kochevar’s players are the first to admit that they may not be the most liked team in town league hockey, there is some personal backstory to this title that makes it a little extra special for some of the players.

The title game was no gimme for Kochevar’s. Sure, they had run roughshod through the regular season winning every game, except one, as they lost to Ska Brewing late in the season making the title game that much more tense.

Furthermore, both teams had to work to get to the title game as Kochevar’s just edged out a 4-3 win in the semifinals over the Eldo and it took until overtime before Ska Brewing beat Lacy’s 4-3 in the other semifinal with goaltender Eric DiMarco making a name for himself during the semis and coming into the final as the hot hand in net.

So when Ska Brewing drew DiMarco for the final and Kochevar’s, rife with former Crested Butte Wolfpack players, stuck with their old teammate Nicholas Mikeska, the stage was set for an incredible game.

Fans slowly trickled into the arena eventually lining the glass with the requisite beverage of choice and some homemade signs one of which read “Dan is my boss,” a shout-out to veteran Ska player Dan Loftus.

When the puck dropped, the teams spent the first few minutes feeling each other out. While Kochevar’s brash youth and speed would dictate the pace, Ska Brewing’s experience and patience provided a neutralizer for the first two minutes of the game.

Kochevar’s opened the scoring three minutes into the game when Sam Reaman slid by two Ska players to fire a shot off DiMarco’s glove that just trickled in but DiMarco and Mikeska would spend the rest of the period putting on a goaltending clinic at both ends to keep the game tight.

It wasn’t until the final 15 seconds when the effort of Ryan Carroll at the blue line set up Ska’s Joey Otsuka for a low angle blast off the post and in to tie the game 1-1.

Reaman struck again in the opening minute of the second period only to have Ska tie the game once again 30 seconds later as Stu Jernigan fought off two Kochevar’s defensemen to slip the puck past Mikeska.

Continued effort from both Brandon Blomberg and Michael Fabbre, as well as Julia Nania’s effort in the neutral zone, helped to hold off the constant open ice rushes by Kochevar’s until the fourth minute. DiMarco stopped not one, not two, but three straight shots by Kochevar’s until Ryan Fitzsimmons finally found the space between the pads to score for a 3-2 Kochevar’s lead.

Fans continued to pile in and the game continued to ramp up in intensity with both teams looking for an edge to build some momentum. An odd man rush one way by Ska Brewing would then lead to an equally threatening rush the other way by Kochevar’s while the mid-level Ska players continued to raise their game to match that of Kochevar’s.

But the shot total was nearly obscene in favor of Kochevar’s, 30-9 midway through the second period, and at some point another puck was going to slip by. DiMarco almost literally stood on his head for another save falling back into his own goal but still getting a pad up to deflect the puck over the net with his knee but the constant pressure soon resulted in a fourth goal for Kochevar’s as Fitzsimmons netted his second goal of the game in the waning minutes of the second period for a 4-2 Kochevar’s lead.

The opening minutes of the third period brought the crowd to a feverish pitch as Otsuka unleashed a cannon of a shot from just inside the blue line to pull Ska back to within one with plenty of game left.

Penalties ensued, though heads remained cool, and with 90 seconds left in regulation, a timeout was called and the teams conferred for one last push to either tie it, or seal it.

Rather than play it safe and hold on to the one goal lead, Kochevar’s continued to press. After a fracas of sticks, skates and pads and the puck lost in the melee in front of Ska’s net, the refs blew the whistle, conferred for a moment and awarded Kochevar’s their fifth goal for a 5-3 lead with a minute left.

Ska Brewing pulled their goalie but couldn’t quite take advantage of the situation and Kochevar’s took the 2022 town league title earning a $100 bar tab to, of all places, Kochevar’s.

“$100? We’re gonna spend $1,000,” said Reaman upon receiving the prize.