All you need is love: WHL series outcome brings B.C. couple together

They say sports has a way of bringing people together. The aftermath of the recent WHL series between the Kelowna Rockets and Victoria Royals sure put a literal spin on that expression.

Long-distance lovers, Jennifer Dyck of Victoria and Christian Brix of Kelowna, decided the playoff success of their favourite WHL teams would determine where the flourishing couple would live.

A 3-2 overtime win by the Rockets in Game 7 last week means Dyck will be packing her bags to move to the Okanagan with her boyfriend – a chiropractor she met at a health show on Vancouver Island in January.

Dyck explained to the Victoria Times Colonist that the wager was made before the playoffs began. When the Rockets met the Royals in the second round of the playoffs – the B.C. Division final – it was for all the marbles.

Dyck looked to be in good shape when the Royals led 2-1 in dying seconds of Game 7 last Tuesday. That was until Justin Kirkland scored with 0.2 seconds remaining, sending the game to extra time. Calvin Thurkauf netted the winner 5:56 into overtime, sealing her fate.

Dyck, 35, was at the game and sitting next to her father – a season-holder since the franchise moved from Chilliwack, B.C., in 2011.

“He kind of looked at me like, ‘uh, is this really happening?’” she told Jack Knox of the Times Colonist.

Indeed, it is. Although it will take some time. Dyck is a naturopathic physician and needs some time to wrap up appointments with her patients, the story said.

The outcome of a hockey game has brought her closer to the man she calls the love of her life.

Just don’t expect them to be cheering for the same team when they do live together.

“I so wish the Royals had won, for more than one reason, but hey, this is love and sometimes things are just meant to be,” Dyck told Knox. “But I will always stay a Royals fan and will be the loudest cheerleader when they come to Prospera Place.”