Selected photos from the Adelaide C Grade Ice Hockey Grand Final Game 3 decider between the Tigers and the Blackhawks played on 6/11/2022 at the Ice Arena, Adelaide, South Australia.  Goaltenders were again Justin Ruston for the Blackhawks, and Jay Rahaley for the Tigers.  After the Blackhawks convincingly dispatched the Tigers to the tune of 7-2 in Game 1, only to have the Tigers shut out the Blackhawks 2-0 in Game 2, this decider promised to be a humdinger! …and it was.  At the end of period 1, no score.  At the end of period 2, still no score.  At the end of regulation time the game had been so tight with neither team giving an inch and both goaltenders fending off everything coming their way.  Even with a 5-on-3 the Blackhawks were unable to score against a desperate Tigers penalty kill unit.  Still no score, so the game would need to go to overtime, using the shorter 10min period for sudden death.  The Tigers had definitely put more puck on goal to the tune of 28 shots against the Blackhawks 15!  Blackhawks goaltender Ruston had come under attack, and even lost his helmet when Tigers Jim Ryan cross-checked him in the throat (see photo).  He also came under fire from the referees though, being given for some unsportsmanlike conduct penalties.  At this stage the goaltenders had faced: Ruston facing 12, 9 and 7 shots for each period, to Rahaley facing a miserly 4, 4 and 7 shots.

Penalties were the name of the game…with a plethora handed out in every period.  Seven in the 1^st period (3 to the Tigers, 4 to the Blackhawks), 7 for the 2^nd period (3 to the Tigers, 4 to the Blackhawks) and 8 in the 3^rd period (4 a piece)….screengrabs of penalties below.

So it came down to the overtime period, and after dragging the puck out of the grandstand corner, Blackhawks Ryan Tromas barged his way through the Tigers defence and got the puck past Tigers goaltender Rahaley  46secs into the period to take the win and the 2022 C grade championship for the Blackhawks.