Ontario teams have good showing at hockey nationals

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Ontario's representatives had their share of success at this year's National Aboriginal Hockey Championships (NAHC), but they didn't garner as much hardware as they had earned at the 2004 nationals.

This year's tournament was held April 17 to 23 in Miramichi, N.B.

As in previous years, Ontario was represented by both girls' and boys' teams from Ontario South and Ontario North.

At the 2004 tournament, held in Prince George, B.C., all four Ontario clubs won a medal, but only two teams from the province won medals this year in Miramichi. The Ontario North boys' squad successfully defended its title to win gold. The Ontario South girls' club, which had won gold at the three previous nationals, had to settle for the silver medal this time around.

The Ontario North boys' entry had some nerve-wracking moments in its championship final. It required overtime before edging Team Atlantic 4-3 in the gold-medal contest. Carlo Metatwabin, a centre from Moose Factory, was the OT hero.

Ontario North coach Robert Restoule said his club's main objective was to defend its title.

"We set our goal that we were going to go there and win it again," he said. "But we took it one game at a time."

The Ontario North roster included eight players who had also won gold at last year's tournament. But the team's lineup featured just one returning defenceman, Delaney Michano-Nabigon from Pick River First Nation.

Restoule added that the club's blueline corps this year was younger and smaller than the previous year.

"As coaches we knew we had to get everybody to step it up," he said.

Ontario North won three out of its four round-robin matches. It defeated the Northwest Territories twice, by scores of 14-0 and 6-2. It also doubled Team Atlantic 6-3. The team's lone loss was against Manitoba by a 6-4 count.

In quarter-final action Ontario North defeated Alberta 6-4. It then advanced to the championship final with a 5-3 triumph over Manitoba in its semi-final match.

Restoule said it took his charges a bit of time to get accustomed to each other.

"It takes some time for the players to find out where they fit on the team," he said. "The teams got better as the week went on."

Restoule added the only entrant in the nine-club boys' division that really struggled was the Northwest Territories squad, which was competing at its first nationals.

"With every other team, you couldn't go to a game thinking you had a chance to win," he said.

Meanwhile, the Ontario South boys' club, which had won a silver medal at the 2004 NAHC, finished fifth this time around. The team started off strong, winning three out of its four round-robin matches. But the club's medal hopes ended when it was blanked 2-0 by Manitoba in a quarter-final contest.

Ontario South rebounded from that effort and won its final game, defeating the Quebec-based team called Eastern Door and the North (EDN) 2-1 in overtime in the match that decided fifth and sixth place.

Ontario South coach Darryl Hill was somewhat disappointed with his club's placing in Miramichi.

"We just lost our scoring punch from last year," he said. "We had a couple of good scoring lines last year. And we couldn't get on track offensively this year."

Darryl Hill said the calibre of play at the tournament has improved since its inception and the clubs are fairly evenly matched now.

"In the initial stages of the tournament there were three or four teams that were at the top," he said. "But now it seems all the teams across the country are pretty much at the same level."

In the girls' division, Ontario South advanced to the gold-medal game for the fourth straight year, but unlike in the previous three tournaments, this time around it did not win the championship final, losing to the EDN team by a score of 4-3.

The Ontario South girls' team had won all six of its matches heading into the gold-medal battle. It was victorious in its four round-robin matches, then thumpe Alberta 7-1 in a quarter-final game and blanked Ontario North 5-0 in its semi-final.

The Ontario North girls club, which won the bronze medal last year, was defeated 7-3 by Saskatchewan in this year's bronze-medal contest, with Saskatchewan avenging its loss in the 2004 bronze-medal tilt.

"I brought a stronger team than last year," said Ontario North coach Steve Lindsay. "But the calibre of play has improved. It's good to see that."

As in the boys' grouping, nine clubs also took part in the girls' division.

Though an official announcement has not been made, it is expected that the 2006 NAHC will be held in Quebec.