It’s only fitting that a former Soo Greyhound ended the series.
In an NHL playoff match-up full of Sault Ste. Marie storylines, Hounds alumnus Nick Cousins scored the overtime winner in Game 5 on Friday night — pushing his Florida Panthers to a 4-1 series victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs.
The second-round series was truly a Sault Ste. Marie affair, with both teams featuring some hometown leadership.
The general manager of the Maple Leafs (at least for now) is Kyle Dubas, a one-time change room attendant for the Greyhounds who worked his way up to the top job in Toronto. His head coach (again, for the moment) is Sheldon Keefe, a former Hounds bench boss.
On the other side of the ice was Panthers head coach Paul Maurice, a member of Sault Ste. Marie’s Hockey Hall of Fame. Drafted by the Philadelphia Flyers in 1985, he went on to be much more successful behind the bench than on it — eventually becoming the youngest person in NHL history to coach 1,000 games.
Fans around town could be forgiven for having mixed feelings about who to cheer for.
In the end, though, it was another Sault connection who stole the show. Nick Cousins starred for the Greyhounds between 2009 and 2013, amassing 102 goals and 189 assists.
His tally tonight was arguably the biggest of his career, an overtime winner that propelled his Panthers to the third round.