Grand Forks Border Bruins cap their season with Mowat Cup victory

The Grand Forks Border Bruins are at the top of BC junior A hockey after defeating the Ridge Meadows Flames 9-6 at home to win the Mowat Cup on Sunday.

“It’s unreal, especially being from Grand Forks,” said Alex Edwards after the win.

“I’ve lived here my whole life and it’s no better feeling than winning in front of the people that I’ve known my entire life.”

Grand Forks opened the scoring and managed a 3-1 lead before the end of the first frame.

The Flames then fought back and added two goals early in the second period to even the score.

The scoring was not done there, as Levi Astill and Tyler Burke each scored to make it a 5-3 game for the Bruins going into the third period.

With a man advantage to start the final frame, the Bruins scored three early goals in the third period, two of which came off the stick of Nash Wassing.

While the Flames were down 8-3, they continued to put pressure on the Bruins and crept closer on the scoreboard with a couple of goals.

Edwards managed to add an insurance goal to notch a hat trick before the Flames got the last score in the 9-6 goal frenzy.

Well Done @BorderBruins ! Memories and friendships that will last a lifetime ... pic.twitter.com/NBozl8AN4E

— Kootenay International Junior ‘A’ Hockey League (@KIJHL) April 28, 2025

“It was an interesting game, obviously ending up 9-6, but just sticking to it, the no quit, the couple power-play goals against that tied up the game,” said Border Bruins head coach/GM Dave Hnatiuk.

“The resilience to keep going, to keep pushing, just a great win.”

The win capped a successful season for the Bruins that also saw them capture their first-ever Kootenay International Junior Hockey League (KIJHL) title.

This was the first time that the Mowat Cup was held as a best-of-five series between the KIJHL and the Pacific Junior Hockey League (PJHL) champions.

In previous years, the Mowat Cup was contested as a four-team tournament. Last year, the Revelstoke Grizzlies defeated the Flames 3-2 in overtime.

_{With files from the KIJHL}