A funny thing happened to the U18 Prinzen Ford County Kings on their way to the 2025 Eastern Ontario Minor Hockey League Finals.

Something the players and their parents and the bench staff will remember with a chuckle and smile when they think back to this starry season.

But, at the time, it was no laughing matter down at Huff Estates Arena Wednesday evening.

On Sunday, the Kings stole home ice advantage from the Brighton Bolts with a 2-0 win. It was the Lavender Show over at King Edward Park Arena in Game 1. Alex Lavender scored a both goals to power the Kings to the win while baby brother Jack was perfect in the mesh mansion, stopping every bolt of lightning that came his way.

The win set the stage for the Kings to punch their ticket to the EOMHL Finals against the Norwood Hornets. The winner of that Best-of-Three series receives a birth into the Ontario Minor Hockey Association Championship Tournament in Halton Hills on March 27-29.

But back to Wednesday night in Picton.

After Keenan Elliott scored early to put the locals up 1-0, the Kings looked almost human in the first period. Jack Lavender was beaten twice by Ben Dryfhout. The Bolts led 2-1 after one.

Alex Lavender bagged an equalizer early in the second, blazing up the right side of the ice on a partial breakaway and calmly picking the short side corner on the Brighton goaltender to make it 2-2.

But the game was delayed for a lengthy period of time. On the Kings bench, a staffer was talking up a storm on a cell phone. Referee Jordan Freeland was relegated to dispatcher, relaying messages between the benches. A lot of people were going in and out of the Zamboni room.

Eventually the game recommenced. Neither team would score although the Kings came close to pushing ahead at the end of the frame. Brighton’s Angus Jackson was solid under fire.

An Interlude Before Brighton

The period ended 2-2 and both teams trudged off the ice, never to return. The ice resurfacer had spit the bit. Broken tie rod. No more hockey on this night.

The OMHA decreed the series would resume Thursday in Brighton where Game 3 was to be played. If the Kings could win a period, they won the series. If they lost, Game 3 would proceed right after the end of Game 2.

After a scoreless third, Brighton extended their season in overtime. Sam Murphy scored at 6:23 of overtime. The Kings were back in their dressing room, trading their home whites for road blacks and ready to make a comeback for the ages.

“There’s something special about this group and this playoff run,” Kings bench boss Steve Payne said. “We never get down and we seem to always bounce back. Last night after the OT loss we went back to the room, took 15 minutes to collect ourselves, changed jerseys and came out flying.”

The Kings forged ahead in the first, getting offence from an unlikely source. Jake Payne and Oliver Carrier turned in some nice work to set up Lane Kempers for his first of the post season with 3:31 of the first.

It was all the offence Jack Lavender needed. The goaltender produced his sixth win and fourth shutout of the playoffs as he slammed the door on the Bolts.

Team Captain Alex Lavender converted a Jake Gallagher feed with under two minutes left to seal the win. For the eldest Lavender, it was his seventh goal of the OMHA post season.

The Kings and the Hornets will link up in Norwood on Saturday for Game 1. The rest of the EOMHL finals schedule was being hammered out as of press time. Check out pecmha.com/Playoffs/ for a schedule and results.