Eleven years after their arrival in the elite, the Bordeaux Boxers won their first title of French ice hockey champions by beating Grenoble in just five games. The UBB is no longer the only Bordeaux team to lift trophies! While waiting for the Girondins to possibly return to the elite of football one day, it is the ice hockey Boxers who steal the spotlight from the rugby players in this month of April. Indeed, this Saturday they won their very first French champion title! Only eleven years after joining the Magnus League, the Boxers raised the trophy on Saturday at the end of a final in just five games against Grenoble.
The Boxers did not crack under pressure. The Isérois, reigning French champions and second in the regular season, were favorites after their great rival Rouen was eliminated in the semis by the Bordeaux team, which finished fourth in the regular season. But the Wolves’ Burners almost didn’t exist in this final. Even if they equalized in Match 2 after losing Match 1, they then lost the next three, including the last one at home, with a score of 5-2. Knowing they had the opportunity to conclude this final, the Bordeaux team did not succumb to pressure at the start of the match. They were already leading 2-0 after fifteen minutes of play, thanks to Kaylian Lebrogne and Tom Guidoux. Francois Beauchemin gave Grenoble a glimmer of hope by scoring in the 28th minute, but less than two minutes later, Loïck Poudrier restored a two-goal lead for the Girondins. Jérôme Beaudry even added to the tally in the 33rd minute (1-4).
The iconic Sasha Treille (38 years old, 11th season with the club) scored the last goal of the Grenoble season in the 44th minute. Baptiste Bruche sealed Bordeaux’s victory by scoring the 5th goal for the Boxers in the 45th minute, and no more goals were scored afterwards. Bordeaux is champion of France for the first time, two years after losing to Rouen in the club’s first final. And to top it off, the Boxers will discover the Champions League next season.
