Elbrecht’s goal secured the 87’s third EHLP championship in five seasons. Goaltender Frankie Smith made 32 saves on 33 shots in the Game 2 victory and was named the Frozen Finals Most Valuable Player.
New Jersey Head Coach Cam Pape, who just completed his first season as the EHLP team’s head coach with a title, spoke about the win while giving high praise to the Wolves for a well-fought series.
“First off, I want to say great job to the Wolves for an unbelievable season, and as a team, we wanted to play them. They were the best this season, so why not play the best in the championship?” he said. “But we did exactly that, it was a very fun series but our boys topped it out in overtime.”
The Wolves came out strong in the first period after their Game 1 loss, and their relentless attack paid off as Cam Plumb gave the Wolves a 1-0 lead off a brilliant passing play. Robert Horejs gave the puck to Alan Urbis in the slot, and he spun a no-look backhand pass right to Plumb as he slid a backhander into a wide-open net for his ninth goal of the playoffs.
The second period proved to be chaotic on both ends of the ice. Early in the middle frame, David Klaus took a backhander that hit the crossbar and the Wolves players were celebrating thinking the puck went in. Wolves coach Andrew Trimble challenged the play, but the officials confirmed the puck hit the crossbar and the call on the ice stood. The lost challenge cost the Wolves their timeout.
A few minutes later, Ryan Burtnick scored on a 4-on-3 power play by winning a puck battle in the corner and slipping a sharp-angle shot over the glove of Wood. Burtnick, who did play in Game One of the Frozen Finals, scored his third goal of the playoffs.
The 87’s killed off several penalties in the second, and as play returned to full strength, Alex Krish thought he scored a goal on a shot from the point. The goal was waved off for goaltender interference as Luke Glover made contact with Wolves netminder Sumner Wood. New Jersey challenged the play, but the call stood and the team lost their timeout.
Neither side scored in the third period, sending Game 2 into overtime.
Six minutes and 27 seconds into the extra session, Glover slid a pass to Elbrecht in the slot. His initial shot was blocked by Alan Urbis, but the puck went right back to Elbrecht and fired a wrist shot that bounced off Wood’s blocker and trickled across the goal line for the championship-winning goal.
Elbrecht tried to collect his thoughts after scoring the biggest goal of his hockey career. “I think I’m still in shock here, I just put the puck in the net and went straight for Frankie, so the motions are super high right now,” he said.
Sean’s older brother, Aidan, is on the 87’s EHL team and was watching from behind the Wolves’ net getting ready for their Game Two matchup against the New Hampshire Avalanche.
“Yeah, I saw him,” Sean said with a smile. “I looked right at him there. During the celebration I came over and gave him a big hug, it’s pretty special seeing him here.”
Pape spoke about Elbrecht and Glover combining on the overtime goal and their roles on the team throughout the playoffs.
“Those are the unsung heroes of the team. Glover hasn’t played much or gotten a lot of minutes throughout the season, but he played a ton here in the Finals and we could rely on what he wanted to do,” Pape said. “Elbrecht always has chances to score, it doesn’t go in his favor a lot of times, but he found a way to get the big one to win a championship.”
Smith was spectacular in net for the 87’s, finishing the postseason with an 8-1 record, a 1.55 goals against average and a .950 save percentage. Some of his best saves came against Plumb in the second period, including a partial breakaway on a give-and-go play. Late in the second Plumb had a clean breakaway and tried to pick the top left corner, but Smith punched it away with the blocker.
“I was doing my best to be dialed in, it’s the championship game, you know? The boys were playing well in front of me, so I knew I had to make some sort of big saves out there, it was a crazy second period,” Smith said.
The Little Ferry, NJ native spoke about his MVP award. “I can’t thank my guys enough. I can’t take all the credit, the boys were there for me every step of the way this season, it was great.”
Smith is among a handful of ’04 players aging out of junior hockey. He and the 87’s co-captains, Alec Osher and Anthony O’Brien, will play Division I ACHA hockey for William Paterson University for the 2025-26 season.
Pape spoke about the trio and how they led the team all throughout the season.
“Those guys are great. They did everything that was asked and they led by example and in the locker room. Those three are going to be very successful at the ACHA level at William Paterson,” he said.
For the 87’s, they secured its third title in five seasons, and second championship in three seasons. It is also the second time they won the Frozen Finals championship in overtime, as they won in double overtime in 2023.
