Canoe Lake captures tournament

Page 17

With 58 seconds left to play, John Corrigal completed his hat trick to put Canoe Lake up 6-5 in the final of the Sturgeon Lake First Nation seventh-annual Aboriginal senior hockey tournament. After a time out, the Opawiskan Stars threw everything but the kitchen sink at Canoe Lake goalie Devon Leriverre, but his outstanding saves persevered the victory for his team. The game capped an exciting weekend of hockey on Dec. 6 to 8.

The first day of the tournament was disappointing for the fans as there were a few teams who did not show up for their scheduled games. In two of the few games played, the Canoe Lake Young Guns defeated Southend and the Hobbema Whalers drubbed the Siponak Selects.

On Sunday morning, there were six teams left in the final games. They were all vying for the $4,000 top money; second-,third- and fourth-place moneys were $2,500, $1,500 and $1,000, respectively, plus trophies.

The first game saw the Prince Albert Indian-Metis Friendship center advance to the money round over the Ochapowace Thunder. Dean Girard was selected as player of the game.

In the second game, Beardy's Blackhawks overcame a three-goal first-period deficit to knock out the Hobbema Whalers 6-4. Player of the game was Blackhawk Clint Ledoux.

The battle of the only two undefeated teams pitted the Opawwisikan Starts from Pelican Narrows, Sask., against the Canoe Lake Young Guns. The game was very close, as the score was knotted at 2-2 after one period. The second period saw Canoe Lake's Shawn Opekikew score two big goals, and later add one into the empty net to complete his hat trick and seal up the player-of-the-game award. The Young Guns advanced to the championship game while the Stars awaited the winner between Beardy's and P.A.

The third-and fourth-place game was a defensive battle for the first period. The game was scoreless until early into the second, when Jason Morris scored on a breakaway for Beardy's to break the tie. P.A. answered that with a chip shot from Mike Ball to tie the game. With five minutes left in the game, the Blackhawks took a 4-3 lead on a Thomas Baptiste goal. P.A. staged a shooting gallery on Beardy's netminder Dennis Parenteau, but the goalie stood on his head and his team scored into empty net to put the icing on the cake. Beardy's was called on to play back-to-back on 20-minutes rest.

The Opawisikan Starts knew the Blackhawks had just finished a tough game and set a fast pace in the semi-final, trading goals at the midway point of the first period. Merle Genereaux scored to put the Blackhawks up 2-1 after one. Trent Macollum tied the game early in the second frame.

After that, the game really picked up, as the goalies were tested time and time again. With 5:09 remaining on the clock, Adolph Macollum passed the puck in front and it deflected off a Beardy's skate to put the Stars up 3-2. The Blackhawks threw everything they had at the Stars goalie, but were denied. The Stars now advanced to the championship game against Canoe Lake.

The rematch of the A-final was certainly entertaining for the fans. J.J. Morris opened the scoring for the Young Guns with a power-play goal, but the Stars scored two goals to jump ahead 2-1 after one. Alfie Dorian made it 3-2 on a power play. Then the Stars took a commanding 4-1 lead on a miscue from Canoe Lake goalie Devon Leriverre, as he tried to clear the zone, only to hit a Stars playing in the pants and watch the puck bounce unceremoniously into the Canoe Lake net. Leroy Iron answered that with another power play goal to cut the lead to 4-2 in favor of the Stars at the end of the second frame.

The first shift into the third period, Canoe Lake captain John Corrigal made it 4-3 with a short-handed goal. On the same disadvantage, Rick Opekikew scored a second short-handed goal to even the score at four. Morris "Baloo" Iron completed the comeback to put his team up 5-4, but the Stars tied the game on a goal by Chris Roy.

The scene was set for Corrigal's late-gme heroics, and Canoe Lake took home the championship trophy and first-place money.