Bombers Record-Setting Season Comes to an End

The most rewarding season in franchise history has come to an end as the Port Alberni Bombers were defeated 5-3 by Campbell River Storm on Thursday night at the Alberni Valley Multiplex. The loss eliminates the Bombers from playoff competition, giving the Storm a four games to two series victory over the Bombers as Campbell River will now move on to the Vancouver Island Junior Hockey League (VIJHL) Championship Series against Peninsula Panthers.
The teams played each other to a standstill over the first forty minutes, the Bombers scoring early in the first frame when Jack Barrett scored his fourth goal of the series. The Storm tied the score and then went ahead, as Draeden Bear and Jan-Felix Faupel scored just over two minutes apart late in the period, but Zach Spafford replied for the Bombers with less than two minutes remaining and the teams went to the dressing rooms tied 2-2.
The start of the second period saw the Storm take the lead when Faupel scored his second of the night, and fifth of the post-season, while his team was shorthanded, but again the Bombers came back when Grayson Salmon scored his fifth of the post-season, and the teams went back to the dressing rooms tied 3-3.
The third-period scoring belonged to the Storm – Kai Williams scoring just over eight minutes into the frame and Kai Adano nearly three minutes later, giving the visitors a lead they never relinquished.
In the end, the Storm deserve full credit for the series victory, winning all three games at the Multiplex, and saving perhaps their best game of the series for last. To the Bombers credit – they won two of three contests in Campbell River, and perhaps deserved better, but will now look forward to next season and reflect on a 2024-25 campaign that saw the Bombers win thirty-one games, the most in franchise history, eclipsing the previous high of nineteen wins, and a vast improvement over the eight games the team won during the 2023-24 season. The team can also take some solace in winning their first playoff series in franchise history – beating Comox Valley Glacier Kings in the first round of this year’s playoffs.