Champions defend titles on boys and girls sides

A pair of teams defended their titles at this year’s National Aboriginal Hockey Championships (NAHC).
The Saskatchewan boys’ squad captured its third consecutive NAHC crown. Saskatchewan thumped Manitoba 8-1 in this year’s gold-medal contest held on May 8 in Ottawa.

The Manitoba girls’ side won its second straight national championship, edging Ontario North 2-1 in the final, also held on May 8.

This year’s NAHC featured 18 teams. There were 10 entrants in the boys’ division and eight in the girls’ category. The NAHC, which has been held every year since 1992, for the most part features players 18 and under, who compete for bantam or midget clubs.

Participating girls’ squads at the NAHC, however, are allowed to carry a maximum of five overage (19- and 20-year-old) players on their rosters.

Courage Bear, the coach/manager for the Saskatchewan boys’ team, believes there’s a simple reason why his club has fared so well at the NAHC in recent years.

“We have good kids, I guess,” Bear said. “A lot of them play competitive hockey. The majority of them are AAA (the highest calibre in youth hockey) players.”

The Saskatchewan side this year was also fortunate to have forward Justin Waskewitch. He plays at the Junior A level with the Estevan Bruins, members of the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League. He starred at the NAHC and was selected as the tournament’s most outstanding player after earning 12 points, including eight goals, in seven games.

Saskatchewan’s lineup included just four players who were also on the gold-medal winning squad at the 2009 NAHC. And two of those players, right winger Bret Lafond and blueliner Kolton Baptist, have had their share of success at the tournament, winning gold medals in each of the past three years.

Bear said the NAHC is considered a huge deal among Aboriginal hockey officials in his province.

“We’ve spent a lot of time and we’ve spent a lot of money to make the program good,” he said. “We have good leadership support. We have good corporate support. And we have good players.”

Bear’s charges were unbeatable at this year’s tournament. They registered six wins and tied their other game.

Saskatchewan’s lone tie came in its final round-robin match, a 3-3 draw with Alberta. But the team’s other round-robin games weren’t as close.

For starters, Saskatchewan beat Manitoba 7-4. It then thumped Nova Scotia 11-1 and hammered New Brunswick 10-2.

The Saskatchewan club was also dominant in its playoff games. It hit the double-digit mark once again, beating Nunavut 10-3 in its quarter-final match. And it earned a berth in the gold-medal game with a 7-3 triumph over Ontario North in its semi-final contest.

In part because his team only beat Manitoba by three goals in its round-robin match, Bear was not anticipating a blowout in its gold-medal tilt.

“The pucks just went in for us,” Bear said of his team’s comfortable seven-goal margin of victory in the final. “And our goalie made some key saves.”

Saskatchewan’s netminder Garret Kazmiruk did not only shine in the final. He also stood out in other matches, evidenced by the fact he was selected as the top goalie and named to the tournament all-star team.
Saskatchewan centre Bryce Gervais was also a tournament all-star. He earned 18 points (nine goals, nine assists) in seven games.

As for the Manitoba girls’ squad, it too was undefeated at this year’s NAHC, winning all six of its games. And the team was not really tested until the gold-medal game
Manitoba easily won all three of its round-robin encounters. It downed Alberta 8-2, blanked the Northwest Territories 10-0 and then shut out Saskatchewan 5-0.

Manitoba continued its dominance in its first couple of playoff games, beating Team Atlantic 11-1 in its quarter-final and then defeating Saskatchewan 7-1 in its semi-final.

“In a way it was surprising the scores were so high,” said Manitoba coach Peter Symchuk. “But then watching the games it wasn’t surprising because we moved the puck so well.”

Symchuk said his team received plenty of praise for its quickness at moving the puck.

“I was pretty happy,” he said. “That’s the way we practiced and how we had set the team up.”

Symchuk added his team was also impressive in the final two minutes of the gold-medal game. He said the Manitoba side was able to keep the puck in Ontario North’s zone for the full two minutes, not allowing their opponents the opportunity to pull their goalie in the hopes of getting the tying goal.

“We were like a swarm of bees,” Symchuk said.

The Quebec-based team called Eastern Door and The North won the bronze medal in the boys’ division, beating Ontario North 10-7 in the third-place battle.
And the Ontario South entry also took home some hardware in the girls’ division. Ontario South downed Saskatchewan 8-3 in its bronze-medal contest.