Aboriginal teams skate to medal wins

Ontario Birchbark

Page 14

Aboriginal squads were fairly successful at a unique hockey tournament held in Toronto in late December.

Four Aboriginal clubs competed in the second annual Canadian Multicultural Hockey Championships, which were staged from Dec. 27 to 30.

The tournament pitted teams featuring players from various ethnic backgrounds.

During its inaugural running there was one Aboriginal entry among the 16 participating men's teams. But at the 2006 event, there were a pair of Aboriginal clubs in the men's division, which attracted 20 clubs. There were also two Aboriginal teams in the six-club women's category, which was held for the first time.

One of the Aboriginal women's teams, the Ojibwe Northern Storm, ended up winning its division. The club, which primarily featured players from Wikwemikong First Nation located on Manitoulin Island, defeated the European Sirens 4-1 in its gold-medal match.

Meanwhile, the Iroquois Silver Hawks, based out of Six Nations, settled for the silver medal in the men's division. The Silver Hawks were downed 6-2 by the defending champion Irish Shamrocks in their championship final.

Ojibwe Northern Storm manager Shelley Trudeau, who also played for the club, was surprised to see her side come out victorious in the championship final.

"We didn't know what to expect," she said. "But we thought we wouldn't make the finals."

Trudeau said her team was a bit concerned about the level of play prior to the tournament when it noticed Vicky Sunohara's name on the roster of the Japanese Typhoon. Sunohara, who has been a member of the Canadian women's national squad since 1990, is one of the best women's players the country has produced.

Though Sunohara did end up playing in later matches, she was not in the Japanese Typhoon lineup when her club played a round-robin match against the Ojibwe Northern Storm. The Aboriginal side handily won that contest 6-0.

Trudeau said she was a bit disappointed at not having the chance to play against Sunohara.

"I don't know how it would have ended up," she said. "But I think it would have been closer."

For Ojibwe Northern Storm net-minder Deanna Boissoneau, the shutout wasn't her only one of the tournament. The 21-year-old registered shutouts in all three of her team's round-robin outings.

Boissoneau allowed just the one goal in the gold-medal championship giving her a microscopic tournament goals-against average of 0.25.

Not surprisingly, she was selected as the most valuable player in the women's category.

"I felt pretty good about it," said Boissoneau, one of two players on the Ojibwe squad who lives on the Garden River First Nation near Sault Ste. Marie. "I tried really hard. But I didn't think I was going to win it."

Boissoneau was especially pleased with her team's 2-0 triumph over the other Aboriginal entry in the tournament, the Six Nations-based Iroquois River Chicks. The River Chicks convincingly out shot the Ojibwe Northern Storm but were unable to get any pucks past Boissoneau.

"That was probably one of the toughest games I've had in a long time," she said.

Meanwhile, the River Chicks came up just a bit short in their quest to win a medal. They were edged 5-4 in overtime by the Japanese Typhoon in their bronze-medal battle.

The women's category also included the Israeli Maccabees and the Chinese Mayhem Dragons.

As for the men's division, the Iroquois Silver Hawks racked up six straight victories to qualify for the championship final.

And no doubt the Silver Hawks had to like their chances of dethroning the Irish Shamrocks. That's because they had beaten the Shamrocks 5-3 in an exhibition contest in Ohsweken on Dec. 9.

The Irish side showed its dominance when it mattered most.

"I don't think we were prepared for the amount of energy they showed," said Darrell Anderson, who was the coach/general manager and also played defence for the Silver Hawks.

Yet Anderson said his club, which was competing in the tournament for the first tme, exceeded its expectations.

"I was hoping to at least make it to the final four," he said.

Anderson also felt his side was feeling the effects of playing numerous games in a short period. The Silver Hawks, who played seven games in four days, had less than six hours to prepare for the final following their 5-3 semi-final win over the Serbian White Eagles.

"It got to be a long day," Anderson said. "That may have affected us."

Yet Anderson was pleased his side had the opportunity to compete in the event.

"It was interesting," he said. "And something different for us too because we usually just play in Native tournaments."

The men's category also included the Orillia-area Ojibwe Thunderbirds, who recorded a 3-3 record at the tournament but failed to qualify for the medal-rounds.

The Polish Hussars won the bronze medal match, edging the Serbian White Eagles 1-0. The White Eagles' roster featured Peter Zezel, the only former National Hockey League player competing in the tournament.

The men's division also included the Korean Tigers, Japanese Arashi, Chinese Ice Dragons, Filipino Fury, Macedonian Lions, Finnish Sisu, South Asian Vipers, Italian Gladiators, Nubian Kings, Scottish Highlanders, German Thunder, Hellenic Lightning, Croatian Knights, Ukranian Kozacks and Portuguese Sea Wolves.