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By Sam Laskaris
Windspeaker Contributor
DUNCAN, B.C.
Both Manitoba clubs managed to win gold at this year’s National Aboriginal Hockey Championships (NAHC). The week-long annual tournament, which featured 16 entrants (eight female and eight male teams), concluded this past Saturday in Duncan, B.C.
The Manitoba girls’ entry won all six of its matches at the tournament, including a convincing 7-0 victory over Saskatchewan in its gold-medal contest.
As for the Manitoba boys’ squad, it had a much tougher final. It required overtime before defeating Ontario 6-5 in its championship final.
For Dale Bear, the head coach of the Manitoba female squad, this marked his fifth year at the NAHC. He had guided Manitoba to bronze-medal finishes in 2013, ’15 and ’16.
“This team this year was unbelievable,” Bear said of his gold-medal winning side. “I knew we were going to win. I just didn’t tell anybody. I kept it to myself.”
Despite winning all of their games, Bear’s charges got off to slow start before they became a dominant unit.
Manitoba downed Team Atlantic 6-2 in its opening contest. That was followed up by a 4-2 victory over Ontario.
Bear said he wasn’t thrilled with how his club was faring in its match against Ontario. That’s even though Manitoba was leading 2-0 after the first period.
“We had to talk to the girls a bit sternly,” he said. “After the first period of Game 2 I told them they weren’t playing up to their potential.”
Bear said no further tough talks were necessary.
“After that the coaches just stood back and watched them play,” he said.
Manitoba registered a 5-1 win over the Quebec-based team called Eastern Door and the North in its final round-robin match.
The Manitoba side then cranked up its game in playoff action.
For starters, it thumped Team North, comprised of players from the country’s three territories, 12-0 in a quarter-final game.
“They actually had a good skating team,” Bear said of Team North. “I don’t want to be cocky. But our team was unbelievable.”
Manitoba followed this performance up with a 6-1 victory against Alberta in its semi-final outing.
Bear was confident his squad could also register a lopsided win against Saskatchewan, who won the girls’ division at last year’s NAHC.
“We scored 27 seconds into the game,” he said. “After the first period we were up 3-0. Our girls were all over them. Even in the first period I knew Saskatchewan had given up and they just wanted the game to finish.”
Manitoba was led offensively by centre Mariah Gardner, who led all tournament scorers with 19 points, including 10 goals, in six outings. Twins Keyara and Keyanna Lea added 12 points apiece.
Taylor Tom, who plays defence, was the captain of the Manitoba club. She also chipped in offensively racking up eight points, including six goals.
As for the Manitoba boys’ entry, it posted a 1-1-1 record in its round-robin action.
“It was a younger team and it took a little time to get adjusted,” said head coach Kevin Monkman, who has guided the Manitoba male team the past four years.
All tournament participants advance to playoff action so round-robin results only assist with the seeding of teams.
“You can go 0-3 in the round-robin and still make it to the final,” said Monkman, who grew up in the Métis community of Vogar but now lives in Winnipeg. “You just have to get hot at the right time.”
The Manitoba squad did just that. It defeated Eastern Door and the North 5-2 in its quarter-final matchup. And it then earned a spot into the gold-medal contest by blanking Saskatchewan 4-0 in its semi-final.
In the final, Manitoba jumped out to an early 3-0 lead. But Ontario managed to make a game of it.
“I knew they were going to have a pushback,” Monkman said. “I think it was a shock though when they went ahead 5-4.”
Manitoba sent the game into overtime by scoring with 70 seconds remaining in the third period.
“We had a lot of chances in overtime,” Monkman said. “It was just a matter of time before we put it away. Ontario had their chances too in overtime but our goalie (Allan Kohli) was standing on his head.”
Left winger Justin Nachbaur, who is from Cross Lake First Nation, was the Manitoba captain. He led the club offensively with seven points, including five goals, in six games.
Monkman also praised the efforts of defenceman Mason Martin and centre Preston Seymour.