Cumberland Cree win 'Native Stanley Cup'

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You won't see names like Gilmour, Messier, Gretzky or Roy competing but

for Native hockey players and their fans, winning the Battlefords

All-Native Hockey Tournament is the pinnacle of the season. Some have

even compared it to the Stanley Cup.

The Cumberland Cree squad defeated 15 other teams from throughout

Saskatchewan and Alberta to successfully defend the title during the

30th annual tournament in North Battleford March 31 to April 2.

A tired but determined Cumberland team came from the B side to shut out

the Muskeg Lake Blades 4-0 in the all-Saskatchewan final. For the Cree

it was their eighth game of the tournament while the younger Blades

entered the championship game with four straight victories.

In the end, experience outlasted youth --the Cree's patience and

opportunistic play wore down the Blades before a crowd of more than

2,000 at the Civic Centre.

Brad Desjarlais opened the scoring in the first period on a great

individual effort as he outskated a defenceman and slipped a shot under

Muskeg Lake goalie Shane Watson.

It was all Cumberland would need, despite pressure by the Blades.

Donaven Gauthier was brilliant in net, particularly in the second and

third periods.

Cumberland salted the game away in the third with three goals, two by

Ruben Norman and one by Louis Gardiner. Norman's first goal came on a

long blast from just inside the blue line. Four minutes later,

Gardiner's shot beat Watson when in deflected off a defenceman in front

of the net. Just before the final buzzer, Norman converted a two-on-one

with a low shot past the beleaguered Blades' goalie.

With the distinction of being best also came $6,000 in prize money.

Muskeg Lake received $3,000 as runner-up. Opawikoscikan (Pelican

Narrows) North Stars placed third and claimed $2,000 while Poundmaker

took home $1,500.

Gauthier, the game and tournament Most Valuable Player, said that the

team had to dig deep to keep their tired legs moving during the final.

Posting a shutout was a tribute to the team's desire to win, he added.

Like many of the teams at the tournament, Cumberland ices a squad each

season to participate in major weekend tournaments. This season, the

team of mostly senior hockey players from the Big Four League has

already won $10,000 as champions of the Buffalo Narrows competition.

Gauthier said that the prestige of winning the established Battlefords

tournament, however, is worth the long trip south.

"We came for the money but also to become known around here," the

resident of Beauval, Sask., said. "This tournament has a long history.

It is also the last major tournament of the year and we all look forward

to it."

Vince Ballendine, chairman of the hockey committee for the host

Battlefords Indian Metis Friendship Centre, said that the quality of the

competition is well known.

"In the past we've had teams from as far away as British Columbia,

Ontario and Quebec," he said. "Some of those who have played here are

Fred Sasakamoose, the first Indian to ply in the NHL, and Ron Delorme, "

who later played with the Colorado Rockies and the Vancouver Canucks.

Most of the clubs boast a variety of players from Junior A, Junior B,

midget and senior hockey. But the secret to the success of the

Battlefords tournament is more than just hockey and prize money, claimed

Ballendine.

"The players like the money they can win," he said. "But our

tournament has also become one of the largest and most popular Native

hockey competitions because of off-ice activities." Besides hockey, the

more than 4,000 players and fans each year are treated to dances and

bingos.

"This year we initiated a Calcutta on the teams to spur interest," he

said. With increasing competition during the past few years from other

communities with tournaments, such as Buffalo Narrows, the Battlefords

organizers continue to pursue new ways of providing family

entertainment.

For players like Gauthier, the true meaning of the competition is

engraved on the championship tophy. It reads "All Native Stanley Cup."

"There's no doubt," he said. "It's our Stanley Cup."