The Tonka Bay Bombers won their first ever 2019 USA Elite Bandy Championship in dramatic fashion, on defeating the regular season champion Dinkytown Dukes in an overtime shootout in the deciding Game #3 of the best of three Championship Series. The game had ended in a 4-4 tie after the score see- sawed back and forth during regulation time, with both teams nearly scoring in the last few frantic minutes. In the OT shootout, Eric Kyllonen and Alex Seitz scored for the Bombers and keeper Gavin Ancheta stopped all four Dukes penalty shots to seal the victory. The Bombers championship run came as a surprise to many after the Dukes had rolled over the Bombers 12-1 in the first game of the series behind their high octane offense led by scoring champ Jon Keseley, John Arundel and Lucas Whalen.  But the Bombers were able to regroup after the opening blowout and won Game #2 by the score of 5-3 behind J. Murray’s hat trick, setting up the epic winner-take-all final clash between the top two finishers in the Elite Division this season. The Bombers swept the Mississippi Mojo in the semi-finals to reach their first Final while the Dukes had reached the Final by sweeping the Minnesota Blades who shocked the defending champion Bandolier in the quarterfinals. This left the door open for a new champion to emerge this season. It is no coincidence the core of this Bombers team has also won the last two Cannon Cup summer indoor championships so the Bombers have now achieved the rare Gunnar and Cannon Cup double.  Also of note, this was Steve Jecha’s first ever Gunnar Cup in his 30 plus year bandy career! Good things come to those who wait.

Congrats to the Tonka Bay Bombers on their exciting victory!