Axemen Throw Seamen Overboard

In a thrilling championship matchup in front of a record crowd Friday night at the Gale Centre, the Axemen defeated the Seamen 4-3 in overtime to claim their second title in as many years.

From the outset, the game lived up to its billing as a fast-paced, high skill showdown between the two top seeds. It was Carl Greco striking at 2:21 in the first to give the Seamen the early lead. It was short-lived, however, as Brett Audit tied the game only 48 seconds later. In the dying seconds of the first, Charlie Izaguirre snatched the lead for the Axemen with only 24 seconds left heading to the intermission.

At 1:18 of the second, Stephen Negus would double the lead to 3-1 for the Axemen as they looked to pull away from the top seed. The Seamen had other plans. Adam Quait netted one back at 5:08, and Matthew Maidens tied the game 3-3 at 9:05.

Stellar goaltending by both Reid Morgan of the Seamen and Cassidy Traver of the Axemen led to a scoreless third stanza and a deadlock after regulation. For the second time in three years, the CMHL title would be decided in the extra period. Luke Rymarchuk is the hero in this one after crashing the net and tapping in a rebound from a Jacob Saddler shot only 19 seconds into OT.

With the win, the Axemen have won back-to-back titles and become the first team in CMHL history to repeat as champions. The Seamen, coming over from CYO, had a tremendous year and made a strong case for a championship in their first season. Congratulations to both teams on an exciting season and thank you to all players, coaches, and fans for making the 2025-26 season a success! We hope to see you all back next season for more exciting CMHL action.