'20 years down the road, they will be talking about this': Sask. minor hockey game goes to 4 overtimes

Saskatoon's AA U-13 Titans, a team of 11 and 12-year-olds played a second game of their series in early March that will go down in the Saskatchewan record books.

Their do-or-die playoff game against the Saskatoon Fury ended in an epic battle that went into not one or two overtime periods – or even three, but four overtime periods. That’s the equivalent of two full hockey games back-to-back.

Centreman and team captain, Wesley Gibson scored the winning goal to end the game, which started at 7:30 p.m. and didn’t end until 11:30 p.m.

“Definitely we were getting tired, and our legs were sore. At intermission, we went and got some snacks and hydration. After the game, I don’t think anyone was tired,” Gibson told CTV News.

He says they have a strong team with solid goaltending and have beaten the Fury before with the teams being fairly evenly matched, but in an intense game where playoff hopes could be dashed with one goal, they had to remain confident and do their jobs.

“I won the draw. Then Danny got it down low. He made a really nice play and passed out front to me, and I just shot it in. I just thought, 'shoot the puck,'” Gibson said.

The head coach, David Mc Dougall, has been coaching for seven years and has never come close to this length of game.

The players celebrate after the winning goal in a minor hockey game that went into four overtimes. (Submitted)

“No not even close. A lot of time it's overtimes in a tournament when they want to get it over and done with. It’s not that common to play that deep into overtime,” Mc Dougall says.

In between periods he told the players to stick to the game plan but admits they were mentally exhausted. The winning goal made the final score 3-2 Titans.

Kelly McClintock is the General Manager of Hockey Saskatchewan and confirms this isn’t the longest game ever. That distinction went to a U-18 girls' game in Rosetown about five years ago with eight overtime periods played. McClintock has been the GM of the organization since 1994.

“We don’t keep that data, however, I’ve never seen one that length in U13 before,” McClintock told CTV News.

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Whether or not this is the longest on record really doesn’t matter for the Titans as they know it was a core memory they will always cherish.

“I just told the boys that it’s a game that if they run into each other 20 years down the road, they will be talking about this game, so it was pretty special that they came out on top,” McDougall says.

“We’re all going to see each other in the future eventually and talk about the four-overtime game,” Gibson said.

For most of these players who are in grades 6 and 7, bedtime is usually at 9 p.m., but for Gibson, this was quite the night of late-night adrenaline rush. His mom Desta Gibson remembers the intensity in the stands.

“I was super nervous. I couldn’t even watch the game. I had to look down when the puck went down to the other side of the ice. I knew I’d hear if they scored,” Desta Gibson told CTV News.

She admits she went easy on him that night when they got home because he was so worked up that he couldn’t fall asleep. She let him sleep in and miss a bit of school the next day.

The Titans went on to win game three of that series and start the final round, which begins Thursday, March 16.

And as memorable as that game was, this captain would prefer “not to have to do it” in the next series because of the extra stress and exhaustion.

“You want the win; you don’t want it to go to four overtime periods.”