Chutney Wins – Wiltse Stopped – The Curse is Lifted!
Kaslo, December 19th, 2011
Three years of winter came to an abrupt end as Chutney, captained by Ben Lang, prevailed in a hotly contested 3-2 double overtime victory over fellow alternative jelly KY in the 2011 Kaslo Jamboree. The sun had come out and begun to thaw the frozen land earlier in the day when Wiltse’s team Marmalade was eliminated and Kaslo was lifted from three years of barren, joyless winter.
Chutney’s Curtis Hewatt was this year’s hero and tournament MVP thanks to his break-away goal at 1:28 into the second overtime.
The Battle of the Jellies ultimately came down to the two alternative spreads going head to head in the final match of two undefeated teams. The teams were scheduled to play each other in the final game of the round robin but there was no need as both had already advanced to the final by going undefeated to that point. The last round robin game was eliminated from the schedule and the final moved up to a 1:00 PM start with three full periods. A scoreless fourth period was played and a fifth had just begun when Hewatt finished it thanks in part to a stellar long-range saucer pass from Ben Davie.
Chutney centre Scott Gillies bagged his two-goal limit in the first period in what looked to be another Chutney romp to victory, but solid team defending and timely goals by KY captain Jamie Gray in the second and Craig Campbell with 4:45 to play in the third put KY back in it. Both KY goaltender Mike Guttensohn – last year’s winner with Brtittney – and Chutney’s newcomer goalie Doug Taylor made numerous huge stops in the third period and the first overtime period in what proved to be another goaltending battle. Taylor repeatedly thrilled the crowd with his old school style that saw him challenging shooters and throwing 1970s-style cross-crease two-pad stacks. Guttensohn stopped numerous break-aways. For his efforts Taylor was awarded the Lady Bling trophy.
Other trophies went to Mint’s Chris Backus and KY capatin Jamie Gray for Best Male Vocalists. Paul Neufeld won the Hoff-Off shout-out, Rick Wiltse didn’t go home without silverware as he won the KJAMiest player. Jill Anderson won the I Carried My Whole Damn Team award and Terry (Tor) Turner won the Best Neutral Zone Play award. Clark Winsor was this year’s winner of the Calvin Walker Award for Off-Ice Leadership. He is at home recovering.
Chutney captain Ben Lang savoured this victory and unveiled a large bottle of champagne which was drank by his team from the Cup. Two years ago in the inaugural tournament his team Tofu was upended by Wiltse’s Patchouli in another dramatic overtime final. He was determined not to let it happen again. Even with Wiltse out of the way by the final a three-peat still threatened, as Ruth Thompson and Dustan Tyers were part of both previous Wiltse teams and this year found themselves in a third consecutive final while suiting up for Gray’s KY. Alas, they were denied.
There’s always next year, and next year’s tournament – KJAM4 will take place on December 22nd and 23rd. Plan your Christmas accordingly.
Photos to follow
The Kaslo Jamboree 