Ron Luniw has waited 11 years since taking over his Jr. 'B' hockey club to steer it into the Pacific International playoff championship series.
On Wednesday, he fell 13 minutes shy of doing it.
Up 3-2 nearing the midway point of the third period, Luniw's Port Moody Black Panthers coughed up four unanswered goals as the Abbotsford Pilots soared to a 6-3 victory in the seventh and deciding game of their semifinal clash.
When the Pilots' Kevin Lourens struck net on an Abby powerplay at 7:07 of the third to knot the count 3-3, the Cats' owner/GM Luniw got the sense the tide had turned and, boy, did it. Just 40 ticks later, Travis Grewal gave the Pilots the lead and the tsunami-like Pilots would score twice more, including into an empty net, to seal the deal.
"Our energy was good but the sails started to come down [after Lourens scored]," groused Luniw, who took over the team back when it was still the Port Coquitlam Buckeroos. "We kept coming but it wasn't meant to be."
The loss was a double hit for Luniw, who will likely lose "around $6,000" on the season after failing to garner a minimum of two more home gates in the final that would have at least moved him close to the break-even point financially.
However, a win Tuesday would have meant more in the mere mindset of Luniw, who, after adding veteran head coach Ron Johnson this season, turned the Cats around from a woeful 11-36-1 bunch that finished last the previous season to a fleet, young 22-18-6 unit that placed second in the five-team Harold Brittain Conference during the regular season.
"Overall, we had a very, very good season, especially compared to last year," Luniw said. "I would have loved to be in the championship series but, oh well... maybe another day."
After a scoreless first frame, PoMo's James Benz opened the scoring eight minutes into the second. The Pilots responded with two goals to go up 2-1 heading into the third, where the gritty Cats got tallies from Tyler Basham and Cameron Patterson less than two minutes apart early to take a 3-2 margin.
Then Abby's Lourens connected, followed by goals from Grewal, Christopher Vinette and PoCo product Riley Lamb, who led the Pilots with two markers.
"It was a pretty emotional series," said Johnson, who rallied his team back from a 3-1 series deficit to the Ridge Meadows Flames in the opening round to prevail in seven games. "It was a heart-breaker for the kids... just a collection of little things that added up against us.."
Johnson wouldn't say Wednesday if he'll be back behind the Cats' bench next season.
