Ile-a-la-Crosse crowned Interprovincial Champs
- EFN Staff | April 15, 2018
A northern hockey team won the annual Interprovincial Aboriginal Minor Hockey tournament in Prince Albert. The Bantam Île-à-la-Crosse Islanders was named as this year’s tournament champions and the team’s head coach and general manager, Nathan Favel, said they were just as happy as the kids were.
“This is actually our first champion that we ever won south,” said Favel. “Once we played our first two games, I was like ‘man, we have a chance to take the title this year’.”
The Île-à-la-Crosse Islanders lost their third game in a shoot out to the Whitefish team so it knocked them down to the B-side where they had to play the Onion Lake team. In the semi-final game, they ended up beating Onion Lake in a sudden death and were met back with the Whitefish team in the finals beating them 5-1.
“Our team came out flying. They were full of energy and confidence and they played well as a team,” he said. “We came a little shaky at the beginning…as a coach we just told them to play their game and to come out and have fun. That’s our main priority and we’re winning games. The hype was there and the kids were all excited.”
Favel and coach Donnie Favel also added to their team with players from Patuanak, English River First Nation, Meadow Lake and Prince Albert that have ties with Île-à-la-Crosse. The hockey league in the northwest Saskatchewan consists of La Loche, Turnor Lake, Buffalo Narrows, Dillon and Île-à-la-Crosse.
As a coach, Favel said they were basically there to support the kids and give them the experience as well as the exposure.
“The northern municipality of Île-à-la-Crosse, ever since I’ve been a coach, I’ve always sent our teams south one tournament where the village covered the expenses. Just to get the kids out there and to get experience,” said Favel. “In Île-à-la-Crosse they really support their minor hockey program and…that’s made a big impact on our kids to get that experience and get their names out there.”
Favel said he would like to see more northern communities enter this tournament each year.