The Cranbrook H&R Block Kings skated into their Christmas break on a winning note after finishing first place in the Kalispell Winter Classic.

The tournament, held in Kalispell, Montana, was played entirely on an outdoor rink and the Kings battled through frigid -23 conditions to enter beating Trail, Castlegar and a Calgary team to reach the finals.

With snow falling, they faced off against Chestermere Sunday. In a back and forth game, the Kings entered the third period down 4-3.  With less than two minutes to go in the game, the Kings pulled their goalie and Easton Fancy banged one in to tie the game.

Twenty seconds later, Tommy Thompson got the go ahead goal. Chestermere pulled their goalie but the Kings dominated the play, winning the game 5-4.

“They battled hard in the last 10 minutes, moving the puck and getting shots on net,” said head coach Justin Campbell. “All season we’ve been focused on giving a full effort and never giving up and they dug deep for the win.”

The Kings are now on the holiday break and will be back in action early in the New Year before playing host to an eight-team tournament January 13-15.

Above photo pictured left to right: Back row: Assistant Coach Don Demarchi, Trainer Jason Martens, Assistant Coach Jeff Fancy, Assistant Coach Roman Vopat, Head Coach Justin Campbell; Middle row: Grayson Meisner, Joshua Hampton, Garrett Colten, Jordan Campbell, Tommy Thompson, Lucas Derita, Brayden Vopat, Aidan McKay; Front row (kneeling): Talon Uphill, Easton Fancy, Jonah Martens, Ryder Duczek, Caleb Manley, Liam Whalen; Front (lying): Damien Vyse, William Demarchi, Nicholas Butler. Photos submitted

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