By: Michael Bennett, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, The Ridgetown Independent News
The Ridgetown Royals’ inaugural season came to an end with an 8-6 loss to the Buffalo Tempest in Dresden on Saturday night.
The Tempest swept the American Premier Hockey League Eastern Division best-of-three final in two straight games, after winning the opener 7-3 in Buffalo on March 28.
Saturday’s game was tied 6-6 before the Tempest scored two late third-period goals to send Buffalo to the APHL’s Governor’s Cup final against the winner of the Summit City Distillers-West Michigan Sentinels Western Division final.
Late second-period goals by Eric Winter and Ian Campbell gave the Royals a 6-4 lead heading into the third period, as Ridgetown was 20 minutes away from sending the series to a third and deciding game in Dresden on Sunday afternoon.
But the Tempest scored two quick goals early in the third to pull even before taking a 7-6 lead with just under eight minutes left and added an insurance goal in the final minute.
A wild brawl broke out after the final horn as one of the referees was knocked to the ice while trying to break up one of the many skirmishes.
Winter gave the Royals a 1-0 lead, but the Tempest replied with two goals for a 2-1 lead after one period.
Hunter Burk tied the game with a shorthanded goal early in the second, only to see Buffalo regain the lead two minutes later.
Blair Derynck scored twice in a three-minute span to give the Royals their second lead of the night, but it was short-lived. The Tempest pulled even at 4-4, less than two minutes later.
Winter’s second goal of the night gave the Royals their third lead with under four minutes left in the second.
Campbell scored 31 seconds before the second intermission to give the Royals a 6-4 lead going into the third period.
But it turned out to be the Royals’ last goal of the season as the Tempest scored four unanswered goals in the final period to complete the sweep.
The Royals were playing without Nolan VandenBoorn, the league scoring champion, as he was sitting out a one-game suspension stemming from the opening-game loss in Buffalo.
The loss was the first at home all season for the Royals, who went 12-0 in the regular season at the East Kent Memorial Arena on route to a league-best 19-5-0 record, guaranteeing home ice throughout the playoffs.
The Royals routed the Thousand Island Raiders 14-0 to complete a two-game opening-round sweep on March 21 at the Ken Houston Memorial Ag Centre in Dresden, as ice was unavailable in Ridgetown that weekend or for the duration of the playoffs.
As of late Sunday afternoon, there was no announcement from the APHL regarding any suspensions against the Royals or Tempest in the aftermath of the brawl.
The APHL suspended the Toledo Swarm for the entire 2026-27 season for their part in a post-game brawl after the Sentinels eliminated them in Game 2 of their opening round series.
