Champs hand-picked for success

Members of Akwesasne’s minor professional hockey team can now officially be called champions.

The Akwesasne Warriors captured the inaugural Federal Hockey League (FHL) championship title on March 26 with a 5-2 victory against the visiting New York Aviators.
With that triumph, the Warriors, who play their home games on the Canadian side of the Ontario/New York border Mohawk community, defeated the Aviators 3-1 in their best-of-five championship series.

Akwesasne was the only Canadian squad in the six-team FHL this season. The league also featured four clubs from the state of New York and one from Connecticut.
Warriors’ president/general manager Basem Awwad was confident his club was capable of winning the FHL title.

“We pretty much had hand-picked previous champions,” he said. “We picked our team from guys that knew how to win.”

The Warriors’ roster included five Aboriginal players. The list included Dan Tessier, who is Metis. The team’s other Aboriginal players—Kyle Lagace, Casey Swamp, Travis Stacey and Nick Montour —are all Mohawk.

Awwad said the Warriors averaged about 600 fans per home game this season, about 200 supporters less than what was required for the organization to break even.
“We’re in a bit of a loss,” Awwad said. “But it makes it all worthwhile when you win a championship.”

Awwad added there is a “99 per cent chance” the club will also play the majority of its home contests in Akwesasne again next season. But a couple of the team’s home contests might also be scheduled in Cornwall and across the border in Massena, N.Y.

The league has already announced it is expanding and will have teams in Illinois and Vermont next season. Awwad anticipates a couple of more squads will also be added for the 2011-12 season.