Onion Lake Winter Hawks flying high in Saskatchewan

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The atmosphere was electric, the arena packed to overflowing, when the Onion Lake Winter Hawks challenged the Lloyd-minster Jr. B Bandits on Feb. 4.

More than 1,800 people filled the stands of the Civic Centre in Lloydminster to watch the "new kids on the block" take on the well-seasoned Bandit team, whose eight-time winning streak in Northern Alberta Jr. B league championships had made them no stranger to success.

What a knuckle-clenching game it turned out to be, a hard-hitting battle between two strong teams that saw fans screaming and jumping up and down in their seats up until to the last 10 seconds, with a final score of 6 to 5 for the Hawks.

And what a rush for the Hawks, knowing that more than half of the fans had traveled in from Onion Lake, Sask. and the surrounding region to support their own First Nations team, as they out-skated and out-played the competition.

"It was a great game with excellent reffing, against a very good team from a strong organization," said Kelly Zacharius, head coach of Onion Lake.

"But it was the mental toughness of this young team that came shining through, and what a perfect time for it to do so," he added.

The Friday night victory was the fourth win out of six for the Onion Lake Winter Hawks against the established Lloydminster Bandits, a win that pushed them into third place overall in the North Eastern Alberta Jr. Hockey League, a solid spot to be in before the playoffs.

It's also something that has injected a shot of pride into First Nations people living in the region, something that's a win/win situation for everyone involved, says Zacharius.

"There's so much more involved than just entertainment in the development of a new First Nation hockey team. There are a lot of positive spin-offs, both social and economic," he said. "You take 500 people on any given night who could be doing anything else - they could be doing VLTs or they could be out at bingo - but they're not, they're here, attending the games, supporting their home team.

"It's great for the younger kids to have such super role models and see the amount of hard work and dedication involved. It gives them a goal, something real, and, without it, the next level they would see would be on TV, and sometimes that's a little difficult to grasp," said the coach.

The creation of a new First Nations Jr. B team was the result of 15 years of work and planning by manager Kevin Tootoosis, Joe Carter, George Dillon and Ronald Dillon.

In a community well known for giving strong support and backing to its hockey teams, the inauguration of a Jr. B team in Onion Lake fills an important gap between the minor and senior hockey leagues, with a roster of players coming up from the minors and some last cuts from the Jr. A squads.

Zacharius, a Saskatchewan Metis who scouts for the Melford Mustangs, is confident that his team will give their fans a first season to remember.

"In terms of how the season has gone so far, we are a young team that needs to be nurtured. We've been very competitive and we've really surprised some people. There's always going to be skeptics as long as there is a good First Nations team. I always tell the guys that there are a lot of people waiting for you to fail. They want you to have a great first quarter and then fall on your face.

"The success of the Hawks is sending out a strong message, one that lets people know at the Jr. A level that Onion Lake First Nation has a world-class organization, that they have teaching skills to be able to have these young players leave the reserve and go out and be competitive in the world, ready to challenge the next level, which in Saskatchewan is the Saskatoon Blades," said Zacharius.

The Winter Hawks' lineup includes 14 First Nations players, six non-Aboriginals and one Lebanese player "who is rich into his culture like our Aboriginal players," and who are all billeted at Onion Lake, supported by funding from sponsors and gate receipts.

Training in the state-of-the-art rena complex at the reserve is based on "progress, not perfection," explained the coach, using dryland workouts, aerobics, weight lifting, as well as plenty of time on the ice, taking into account injury problems, suspensions and having a younger team than most in the NEAJHL.

Registered in Saskatchewan, the team can only dress players between ages 17 and 20, but are up against teams that can have up to four 21-year-olds playing.

But sheer determination and drive can overcome a lot of obstacles, explained Zacharius.

"I want to see these kids move on up, to try and give them the tools to do as well as they can, have a stepping stone to a bigger world. Only one Canadian kid out of 10,000 that starts hockey will ever walk through the doors of an NHL dressing room and then will he have what it takes to stay, or will he end up being sent back down to the Junior level?" he asked.

One of the shining stars in the Winter Hawks lineup is a 17-year-old Aboriginal player named Owen Couillenneur, who at six-foot-four and 200 lb. has come a long way this season.

Couillenneur has been listed and protected by the Flin Flon Bombers and hopes to play for them in next year's season.

"The coach of the Flin Flon Bombers came out to look at Owen and said that he looked lean, trim and was very articulate, a real feather in Owen's cap," said Zacharius.

Zacharius, who has worked in maintenance at Wanuskewin and played an extra in a Doug Cuthand documentary starring Tantoo Cardinal, says more than anything, he wants to see his young players get ahead and be able to move on and develop the self esteem to take on the world.