Red Hawks explode to win ball hockey tourney

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It was one wild weekend, a real rock 'em, sock 'em time at Edmonton's Ben Calf Robe School as it played host to 13 Aboriginal ball hockey teams on the Feb. 3-4 weekend.

Sponsored by Bent Arrow Traditional Healing Society's Wind Dancers youth program co-ordinated by Bonnie Belhumeur, the two-day event was a fund-raiser for a youth retreat being planned by the Urban Multi-purpose Aboriginal Youth Centre program for late March.

The senior-level tourney attracted the best that Edmonton and area had to offer in terms of Aboriginal players. With $1,000 at stake as well as draw prizes and trophies for MVP, best goalie, forward and defenceman, the tourney got hot and heavy. The officials had their hands full.

The going was tough for all concerned as all teams gave it their best shot. However, in the end, there could only be three winners carting off $500, $300 and $200 respectively for first to third place in the double knockout card.

After two rounds of play, Red Road found themselves snuffed out by Dave's A Team, while the Red Hawks from Sherwood Park beat up on the university's Arctic Express.

The Red Hawks proved such a powerhouse that they blanked Dave's A Team 8 - 0 in the semi-final and never looked back once, making a clean sweep of all their games.

On the B side, everyone was scrambling for a piece of the action as it was do-or-die for all concerned.

In the B side semi-final, the Saddle Lake Warriors knocked off the Edmonton Thunder, the team that had initially knocked them out of contention on the A side in their first round of competition. Thus, it proved a sweet win for the victorious Warriors when they lapped the Thunder.

In the other half of the B semi, the big and burly Sin City team upstaged Red Road and went on to face the Warriors for the B Division final.

In the B finale, the Saddle Lake Warriors and Sin City see-sawed, fighting to a 6 -6 draw. The struggle continued in a shoot-out that saw each team score one goal.

Nonetheless, the Warriors weren't to be denied. When it went to four individual rounds each, it was the consistent efforts of the Warriors that saw them slam in the overtime shot that sent them to the gold medal round versus the A division winner, the Red Hawks.

To capture the overall title meant two consecutive wins for the Warriors over the still undefeated Red Hawks.

The championship round again saw the rested, explosive and effective Red Hawks dominate as they cruised to a 10-5 win over the exhausted Warriors.

However, the Warriors weren't quite done yet. It was they who carted off no fewer than three of the four medals for the top player awards.

The Warrior's goalie, John Cardinal, got the MVP award; Bobby Hunter nabbed the Best Forward; and their defenceman, Jim Cardinal, haltered the Best Defence trophy. The one remaining award for Best Goalie went to a Red Hawks player, Don Beaulieau.

Bent Arrow plans to organize yet another tournament on the March 3-4 weekend with the site and entry fee still to be announced.