鈥淓verything happens for a reason. I can鈥檛 see the positives right now, but maybe later on I鈥檒l be able to see the reasoning for all this to happen,鈥� said the Ontario native, who ended his junior career in Wednesday鈥檚 harsh 3-2 overtime loss to the Alberni Valley Bulldogs.
Mak Barden scored just 18 seconds into overtime, the eighth time the two teams played an extra session this season.
This one was critical though as it ended Mazurek鈥檚 junior career and the Grizzlies鈥� season.
鈥淭hey鈥檙e just a team that didn鈥檛 quit battling. ... Kudos to them. I wish them the best and I obviously wish them the best in pushing forward and beating the Mainland team,鈥� said Mazurek, who nearly ended it with 40 seconds remaining in the third, only to see Bulldogs goalie Jay Deo make a sensational save, one of 39 on the night.
鈥淥verall, I鈥檓 lost for words, lost for emotion,鈥� said Mazurek. 鈥淚 know that鈥檚 cliche, especially in your last year. But looking back and learning everything I鈥檝e learned here with the coaching staff and ownership and players, this has been the best team I鈥檝e been a part of, for sure.
鈥淓veryone, right from the top to bottom, everyone did their best,鈥� he said, his voice cracking and tears rolling. 鈥淚t鈥檚 unfortunate we had to go out this way. It was rough. We could have put them away earlier in the game. But, I鈥檓 sure, later on down my journey I will see the importance of this game.鈥�
Of that, there is no doubt.
鈥淚t鈥檚 bittersweet. We didn鈥檛 win the game we wanted to, to take us to the next round,鈥� said GM and head coach Bill Bestwick. 鈥淲e don鈥檛 know how to win yet as a group. We didn鈥檛 have that history.
鈥淭his would have been one of those watermark opportunities to have won this before our fans and moved on because the kids coming back would have known what it takes,鈥� he added.
鈥淚鈥檓 sure the kids coming back will feel this pain for a long time and they will understand what it takes to not have this happen again.鈥�
Mazurek is one of a guaranteed handful of changes, along with fellow graduating 20-year-olds Keyler Bruce, Pearce Eviston (both picked up at the trade deadline), D.J. Jones and Blake Thompson.
Goalie Brady Rouleau is also headed to Quinnipiac University and Nolan DeJong is slated to attend Michigan, leaving holes in the lineup.
Bestwick has already added five players from Ontario, announced last week, and he also looks forward to Edmonton South Side Athletic Club product Nick Chanif, a six-foot, 185-pound defenceman, jumping on board.
鈥淗e鈥檚 a beauty, he鈥檚 going to be a good one,鈥� insisted Bestwick.
鈥淭here will be so many changes from what we see now. Some we know now, some we will know between now and Aug. 30. We鈥檒l start to figure out what we need come Monday.鈥�
It doesn鈥檛 make the finish to the season any easier for Bestwick and Co., which experienced a solid bounce-back season. The Grizzlies were just 2:38 away from taking the series on Tuesday in Port Alberni, but couldn鈥檛 finish.
Two straight overtime losses finished them off.
鈥淥bviously, we had a chance in Game 4 to put this away on the road and we didn鈥檛,鈥� said Bestwick. 鈥淲e totally dominated the third period [Wednesday] when we needed to and tied it. David [Mazurek] had a chance to win it in the last 30 seconds or so. Their goaltender was the story of this series.
鈥淗ats of to them. Give them credit, they scraped and scrapped and were courageous and did everything they needed to do to win.鈥�
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