The Ste. Anne Aces and Grunthal Red Wings played 60 minutes of scoreless hockey Sunday afternoon.

And then it took less than 60 seconds of overtime to put an end to the 2017-2018 Carillon Senior Hockey League season.

Tanner Harms scored 58 seconds into the extra session as the hometown Aces defeated Grunthal 1-0 and took the CSHL’s best-of-seven final four games to two.

“The puck went around and I was kind of hanging out by the net so I started screaming at (Keith) Grondin to toss it down to me. I got a stick on it and it went post and in,” said Harms who also scored the overtime winner in game four three years ago when the Steinbach Huskies swept the Red Wings in the final.”


Tanner Harms' OT winner
“Honestly that was a weird game,” said Aces captain Steph Pattyn. “No flow, not much pucks on net and no one really had momentum but we just stuck to it and got lucky in overtime.”

No one would have guessed that game six would be scoreless after regulation when the two teams combined for 13 goals in game five last Thursday in Grunthal which the Red Wings won 7-6 to avoid elimination.

“We weren’t happy how the last game turned out,” said Aces netminder Guy St. Vincent who made 40 saves in recording the shutout Sunday. “We fought hard and we just came up short. Sometimes that either breaks you or makes you and I think today we were patient and worked hard. Kept our game plan pretty simple and it turned out tremendously. We lucked out. Someone made a good play and Harmsey finished it.”

Red Wings goaltender Caden Unger stopped 33 of the 34 shots he faced and gave his teammates a chance to take the series the distance.

“We played the game that we wanted to play but you got to score one to win it,” said Grunthal coach Marv Kornelsen who lost captain Jeff Penner in the first period and forward Gavin Froese in the second period with injuries. “Going into overtime we knew it would be a bounce or a mistake or something. We were just hoping it would go our way but it didn’t.”



The Aces are the first team in the 15-year history of the Carillon Senior Hockey League to three-peat.

The Mitchell Mohawks, La Broquerie Habs, Steinbach Huskies and Red River Wild all captured back-to-back championships but couldn’t win the third.

“It’s a little overwhelming,” said coach Kevin Lansard. “You have no idea how much work off the ice, from the players commitment to showing up, to the coaching staff and management, to all the volunteers - year after year - it’s rewarding for everybody.”

Ste. Anne will represent the Carillon Senior Hockey League at Hockey Manitoba’s Provincial Senior A Championship.

The Aces, who won their fourth CSHL title on Sunday, will join the South Eastern Manitoba Hockey League champion Carman Beavers, Tiger Hills Hockey League champion Gladstone Lakers and North Central Hockey League champion Grandview Comets at the provincials. Ste. Anne’s round robin opener is against the Comets on Saturday, March 31st at Bell MTS Iceplex in Winnipeg.