(rdnewsNOW/ Ian Gustafson)

By Ian Gustafson

Historic run

Three-peat complete: RDP Kings win third-straight ACAC title

Mar 21, 2025 | 10:50 PM

The Red Deer Polytechnic Kings hockey team have etched themselves into the Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference (ACAC) record books.

On Friday night they defeated the Briercrest College Clippers 3-1 in Game 4 of the best-of-five series to win their third straight ACAC Men’s Hockey Championship.

They became the first-ever Kings hockey team to win three straight titles and join the NAIT Ooks (1986 and 1992), SAIT Trojans (2009), and MacEwan University (2019) as the only ACAC men’s hockey programs to accomplish the three-peat.

Kings head coach Trevor Keeper said the experience of being there before helped his team become a part of history.

“It’s a different path every single year. The regular seasons weren’t the same, the playoffs weren’t the same, but we kept trying to fine tune things and it came down to it today,” he said. “You know 3-1, it’s all about defence when it comes down to these kind of games.”

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The Gary W. Harris Canada Games Centre in Red Deer was full of energy in the first period with plenty of chants from the two fan bases.

Neither team found the back of the net in the opening frame, despite numerous high-quality scoring chances on both ends of the ice.

The Clippers took the lead on the powerplay late in the second period. With nine seconds left, Lucas Lapalm was sprung on a breakaway and beat the goaltender high on the blocker side.

The Kings found the equalizer just over a minute and a half into the third period, forward Ryland McNinch fired in a shot through traffic that beat the goalie down low after he corralled the rebound in the slot.

The Kings drew a powerplay late in the third period and it paid in dividends. With 5:25 left in the game, Deegan Mofford knocked in the rebound to score what would later be the game-winner in front of the net.

(rdnewsNOW/ Ian Gustafson)

The Clippers pulled their goalie in an effort to tie the game but McNinch scored his second of the game on an empty-net goal to seal the deal.

“I told the guys all playoffs the first time you win a championship it’s skill, the second and third time it’s more about character, not about skill,” Keeper said.

“Briercrest was super skilled, they worked hard, but we had so much character right through the finish.”

Tournament MVP was awarded to Kings netminder Kristian Lyon who made 38 saves in Friday’s victory.

Lyon gave his team all the credit after the game and said it’s more of a team award because they played so well in front of him.

“Once playoffs hit, we did it twice before so we knew how to get the job done… We had lots of character wins over the last three years and that doesn’t happen over night. It’s a big process,” Lyon added.

Mofford also gave credit to his linemate Chase Haygarth for the, “beautiful” pass on his game-winning marker.

“It’s crazy,” Mofford said when asked what it means to be a part of history. “It feels unbelievable and a lot of guys should be proud.”

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