Best Game In WCHL History?
The Fresno Falcons Won Game 6 To Raise The 2002 Taylor Cup.

5/27/02 - The Fresno Falcons are the 2002 WCHL Taylor Cup Champions. Fresno skated by Idaho 3-2 in double overtime on Friday to raise the hardware.

What was expected of returning Head Coach Blaine Moore after receiving Coach of the Year honors for the 2000-2001 season with a solid 44-22-6 record? Probably not the 8-24-2 record the Falcons turned in after their first three months on the ice.

Before the year 2002 rang in, the Falcons had already gathered two more losses than last season. Coach Moore resorted to a twelve-day vacation for players in an attempt to heal body and mind and to bid good riddance to 2001.

The time off proved to be effective when Fresno rallied to a 7-1-1 record for January 2002. The Falcons took their winning ways into February and were unbeaten in twelve straight games.

The Falcons fiercely hunted the Condors throughout the month and the teams began see-sawing between third and fourth place in the Southern Division.

By the time March rolled around, Fresno had set a single season attendance record. The fans were dedicated from day one and remained by the team's side as they made a turnaround in play. Fresno's attendance was second best in the league during the regular season with 214,459 supporting fans.

A 6-3-1 record was recorded for March and the management announced that the team would be playing in the Save Mart Center in 2003.

The Falcons polished off the regular season with a perfect 4-0-0 record in April and looked to battle the Long Beach Ice Dogs in the first round of the playoffs.

The Ice Dogs took the first game with a 3-2 overtime win, but handed the second game to the Falcons. Long Beach won Game 3, taking a 2-1 series lead, but allowed Fresno to tie the series at two with a solid 4-1 victory.

On the verge of elimination, the Falcons fired back with a 5-1 win and advanced to the Division Finals to take on the number one seed San Diego Gulls.

Still clicking from the first round of the playoffs, Fresno dominated the Southern Division Finals and eliminated the Gulls in four games. The Falcons lost one game in overtime to San Diego but turned in concrete victories of 3-2, 4-3 (OT) and 4-2 to clinch the division title and advance to the Taylor Cup Championship.

The Falcons welcomed themselves onto Idaho’s home-ice at the Bank of America Centre, and promptly swept the first two games of the championship series before returning to Fresno.

The Steelheads battled back, and after two games in Fresno the series was knotted at two. The Falcons took control of the series with a 2-1 win over Idaho in Game 5 at Selland Arena.

The game proved to be the only match a team would conquer on home ice during the Championship round. Game 6 is being called one of the best games in WCHL history.

After swapping goals twice in the first period, the Idaho Steelheads and Fresno Falcons went into double overtime before the Falcons RW Kris Porter potted the game winning goal at 4:23 in the second overtime.

Call the season as you'd like, a miracle, a rejuvenated team or as Coach Moore believes, it was "pride, just pride."