The Pas Blues claim second title

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The cliche in hockey is that good goaltending wins championships.

That was the case at the fourth annual SIFC cup '93, First Nations Hockey Tournament in Regina March 12-14.

The Pas Blues, backed by their player-of-the game, goal tender Chris Medicine, claimed their second consecutive tournament title with a 5-2 win over the Winnipeg Tobans in the A-B-Final at the Agridome.

"After we got by two goals I relaxed a lot," said Medicine, who was also named the top goal tender in the three-day tournament.

"The guys helped me a lot and I couldn't have done it without them helping me out."

Winnipeg opened the scoring with 5:12 left in the first period, with Tim Kirluk scoring while the Tobans had two players in the penalty box. The Pas tied it less than two minutes later as Dave Dorian scored on the power play.

Midway through the second period The Pas took a 2-1 lead thanks to Sonny Stevens finishing off a 2-on-1 break and beating Tobans goalie Cecil Olson. But less than a minute into the third period Winnipeg evened the score at two on a goal by Ivan Roulette.

The Pas went ahead for good with Reg Spence and Ray Mayes scoring back-to-back goals midway through the period to give the Blues a 4-2 lead. Medicine made several big saves in the last five minutes before Derek Fontaine put the game away in the remaining 52 seconds with an empty net goal.

The Pas started their title defense with a victory over the Ochapowace Warriors Friday. They then defeated Sturgeon Lake Saturday afternoon to put them in the A-side final against Winnipeg Sunday.

Meanwhile, the Tobans reached the final with victories over the Pasqua Blades, SIFC Pumas and the Gordon Golden Hawks, before losing a 4-3 decision to The Pas in the A-final.

That loss put the Tobans in the B-final against Sturgeon Lake, where a convincing 9-3 victory put them in the A-B final for a re-match with The Pas.

Awards

The tournament's MVP was Reg Spence from The Pas. The top defenceman was The Pas' Derek Fontaine, while Tim Kirluk from Winnipeg was named top forward.

The tournament's leading scorer was Merlin Dustyhorn from Kawacatoose, and the most sportsmanlike player was Ivan Roulette from Winnipeg.

Nine Saskatchewan and two Manitoba teams were involved in the tournament, with The Pas taking home $6,000 for their first place finish, while Winnipeg received $3,500 for second. Sturgeon Lake took third place and $1,500, and the Gordon Golden Hawks received $1,000 for fourth place.

Old-timers

In the odd-times section of the tournament, Keeseekoose edged the Regina Old Stars 6-5 to claim the title and $1,000 in the eight-team tournament.

Regina took home $800 for second place, while the Piapot team took third place and $500.

Gilbert Ledoux of Keeseekoose was named MVP. Howie Anderson of Regina was the top scorer. Norman Stevenson of Regina was most sportsmanlike. The best goalie was Wayne Lafond of Keeseekoose, while teammate Pat Wolfe was named best forward.

Clarence Norton of Regina was named best defenceman, while Regina's Peter Dubois was named most experienced.