The coach of a Halifax girls’ hockey team recently recruited the help of his players to help him score big with his team manager, who is now his fiancée.

An engagement ring was on the line as the Metro West Force Atom A team hit the ice on March 20.

“All the girls loved her and we just happened to be going through a slump early in December,” said coach Troy Talbot. “I said alright, if we can win the conference title, I will propose, and that became our rallying cry from that night forward.”

With the added incentive of a playoff proposal, the team played hard and kept up their end of the bargain, nabbing the conference title.

Two weeks later, at the team’s victory party, Talbot kept his promise. Surrounded by his team, Talbot got down on one knee and proposed to his longtime girlfriend, but not without a little humour.

“My head was spinning and he came over and kneeled in front of me and brought out the Ring Pop,” recalled Sacha Riggs.

The proposal was captured on camera, with Talbot joking that the ring didn’t fit, so the team would have to win the title again next year, prompting giggles from the crowd of girls.

“After he made his joke he brought out the real thing and put it on my finger and I couldn’t be happier,” said Riggs. “There’s no one else I’d rather spend my life with than him.”

With their daughters enrolled in hockey – Talbot quit his own team so he could coach theirs – and Riggs acting as team manager, they say the sport is a family affair. Even their dog is named after local hockey hero Nathan MacKinnon.

“The rink is our second home, absolutely,” said Riggs. “With two girls in hockey, it’s pretty hard for it not to be.”

However, they haven’t agreed on whether hockey will play a part in their wedding vows. Riggs was thinking more along the lines of a ceremony in the sand and sun, but Talbot has a few ideas of his own.

“Well, I don’t know … centre ice at the Scotiabank Centre may not be such a bad idea.”

Regardless of where it’s held, one thing is for certain – their team is expecting an invitation.

“Right away the response was, you know, we’re all invited to the wedding, right?” said Riggs.

The couple says the players can expect an invitation in the mail, once they have nailed down the details.

With files from CTV Atlantic's Kelly Linehan