Teams target comeback

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British Columbia's entries were unable to capitalize on their home-ice advantage at this year's National Aboriginal Hockey Championships.

Both the girls' and boys' teams had disappointing results at the tournament, held April 18 to 24 in Prince George.

The girls' club ended up winning just one of the seven games it played. The squad posted a round-robin record of 1-5-0. It was then defeated 5-2 by Alberta in the match, which decided fifth and sixth place.

A total of seven girls' clubs participated in the tournament.

As for the boys' side, it failed to win any of its five contests. The team lost all three of its round-robin matches. It was then blanked 6-0 by Quebec team Eastern Door and The North in a quarter-final game.

British Columbia boys also lost 7-4 to Saskatchewan in a game that decided seventh and eighth place in the eight-team tourney.

This marked the third year the National Aboriginal Hockey Championships.

British Columbia did not have any representatives at the inaugural tournament, and it only sent a boys' team to the 2003 championships. That club won just one of its five games.

Even though the boys' team attended last year's nationals, Albert Dawson, who coached this year's boys' side, said players were not anticipating such a high-calibre event.

"It was a real eye-opener for both B.C. teams," he said.

Judging simply by its winless ways this year, it would appear the boys' team regressed somewhat this time around. But Dawson didn't believe that to be the case.

"Just based on what I've been told, the competition has become a lot more intense," he said. "And the East teams are really strong. It was evident in the playing styles and the level at which they play hockey back east."

Ontario North won the boys' division defeating Ontario South 5-3 in the gold-medal game.

Ontario South won the girls' category, downing Eastern Door and The North 5-2 in their final.

Dawson believes his charges could have had a much more respectable showing had they won their first outing, a 9-7 loss to Manitoba. British Columbia had led 5-3 going into the third period, but some undisciplined play in the final stanza led to surrendering their lead and eventually losing the match.

"That sort of carried through to the rest of our games," Dawson said. "If we had won that first one, I think we could have gone on to win some more games. There were a couple of games afterwards that mirrored our first game.

"Our first period was always intense. Then in the second period things started to break down. And in the third period, we'd become even more undisciplined and take a lot of penalties and things would break down further."

Dawson, who coached an atom team in the Victoria Minor Hockey Association this past season, is keen also to coach the boys' team at the 2005 championships, which will be held in New Brunswick. Several players from this year's club could be joining him if he is retained as coach.

"A lot of them have indicated they are interested and want to come back," he said.

Meanwhile, Dawson's wife Marcia served as the general manager for the British Columbia girls' team. She maintained she was not disappointed with her club's performances.

"I was really proud of how they did," she said. "They played really well. They didn't give up in any of the games, and they maintained their spirit in the dressing room throughout the tournament."

The girls' team was easily defeated 11-3 by Eastern Door and The North in its tournament opener. But the club rebounded to down a team representing the Atlantic provinces 4-1.

British Columbia then lost its remaining four round-robin games. The team was downed 7-2 by Alberta, 12-0 by Ontario South, 7-3 by Ontario North and 7-1 by Saskatchewan.

Though the B.C. team was playing in its home province, Marcia Dawson said the club had not established any pre-tournament goals of where it wanted to place.

"We didn't have any expectations oher than just simply playing in the national championships and having them do their best," she said.