Ontario amazing at hockey championships

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Ontario squads fared extremely well at the inaugural National Aboriginal Hockey Championships.

The province had four representatives at the tournament, which concluded in Akwesasne on Apr. 27. Matches were also held in neighboring Cornwall.

At the event, which primarily featured bantam- and midget-aged (1984-87) players, there were Ontario South and Ontario North entries in both the girls' and boys' divisions. Female squads were allowed to include a maximum of five over-age players, born between 1980-83. Both events featured six participating clubs.

All four Ontario teams advanced to medal games. And two of those clubs managed to scoop up some hardware.

The Ontario South girls' squad won its category. It blanked Quebec (the team called itself Eastern Door and The North) 4-0 in its gold-medal final.

The Ontario North girls' club just missed out on a medal as it was edged 5-4 by Saskatchewan in their bronze-medal battle.

Meanwhile, the Ontario North boys' entry defeated Ontario South 8-7 in their bronze-medal contest.

Vincent Lickers, the coach of the champion Ontario South girls' side, said all participants should be proud of their accomplishments.

"The girls made history here," he said. "Hopefully, it's the beginning of a rather meaningful tournament for ladies' hockey."

Ontario South cruised through round-robin action, registering a perfect 5-0-0 record. It then blanked Ontario North 4-0 in a semi-final affair.

The majority of Ontario South's players were from either Akwesasne or Six Nations. Some players met their fellow teammates for the first time a couple of days before the tourney began.

"We just jelled in minutes," said team captain Nikaiataa Skidders. "It was one big family and we all just came together."

Judging by its performances, the Ontario North girls' club was also a rather close-knit one. It arrived at the tourney with just 10 skaters and two goaltenders. The club was short-staffed as a result of injuries to players named to the original roster, as well as the fact some players simply couldn't afford to pay their own way to the tournament.

All clubs were fully responsible for all of their expenses at this year's event. Organizers are hoping to be able to offer some financial compensation to participating clubs in the future. It is expected that the tournament will now become an annual event.

Ontario North coach Steve Lindsay said the majority of those on his roster were strangers to him.

"We just threw this team together in February," said Lindsay, who lives in Sudbury. "I had only seen maybe five out of the total of them play before. Then I had to rely on other people in women's hockey."

Though it was understaffed, the Ontario North roster earned plenty of kudos from organizers, opponents and fans for persevering and still managing to win two out of its five round-robin matches.

As for the Ontario North boys' team, it had a slow start at the nationals. It lost three of its first four round-robin games before earning a playoff berth by winning its fifth and final round-robin match.

Ontario North was then relegated to the bronze-medal tilt after dropping a 5-1 decision to Manitoba in their semi-final battle. Manitoba went on to win gold, thumping Quebec 8-2 in their final.

In the battle for third place, Ontario North had to stage a dramatic rally to pull out the victory. It trailed 6-3 heading into the third period.

A five-goal outburst in the final 15 minutes of play allowed Ontario North to garner a medal. Brent Assinewai scored the winner with a mere 35 seconds left in regulation time.

"This is wonderful," said Ontario North coach Lloyd McGregor. "The bronze medal is a big plus for the boys. They were down and out but they never gave up and came away with this."

For Ontario South, the bronze-medal game marked the second time in two days they blew a huge lead. Ontario South enjoyed a 6-1 lead in its semi-final outing against Quebec but ended up losing that meeting 7-6.

Ontario outh coach Blair Martin was obviously displeased his side left the nationals with no hardware. And he wasn't thrilled with his team's collapse in its final game.

"The guys just didn't buy into playing defence," he said. "I can say safely they were playing for themselves."

Martin added there was no point in reading his players the riot act over the fact they blew sizable leads not once but twice.

"There's no sense yelling at them," he said. "It's a one-week tournament. But if they play that way on other teams they play on, they'll be benched or won't be playing that much."

Meanwhile, several Ontario players were named to the tournament's all-star teams.

This list included four players from the Ontario South gold medallists. They were forwards Valen Timmins and Danielle Grosbek and blueliners Michelle Micki King and Serene Porter.

Two Ontario North players, forwards Rachel Yesno and Carlee Lewis, were also picked for the girls' all-star team.

Six Ontario males were also honored. Ontario South's stars were forwards Justin Hill, Dean Hill and Ted Cook, and defenceman Joel White. Those who were chosen from Ontario North were forwards Assinewai and Jeff Shattler.

In total there were 17 females and 17 males chosen for the tourney's all-star squads. For their performances, all of those players also received an invitation for a week-long, Native high performance training camp to be held in July in Thunder Bay.