Red Pheasant Rebels victorious again
- EFN Staff | April 17, 2017
The Batteford’s – Treaty Six Territory – The Red Pheasant Rebels played six games coming up from the B side to retain their hold on the coveted LWC championship trophy. The Rebels lost a squeaker to Onion Lake Braves on Sunday and then defeated Mistawasis Warriors and in the repeat A-B sudden death one game final, beating the Braves by a score of six to five in a very fast paced exciting match up.
Stellar goaltending on both ends by Rebels Jordan Nighttraveller and Braves Shelby Chief kept the game close throughout the contest. Kolten Baptiste netted two goals for the Rebels and Aaron Starr set up three goals to clinch the LWC title. Onion Lake’s Justin Waskewitch notched a goal and an assist in the thrilling final game, earning him an all-star team nomination. Red Pheasant Rebels import Doug Mcleod earned the tournament MVP trophy.
In the Legends (35+) division it was the Saddle Lake Warriors coming up from the B side to steal the championship trophy away from the Beardy’s Blackhawks. Warriors Edward Houle netted the winning goal with only 4.3 seconds remaining in the final game. Bill Cameron Jr of the Blackhawks was chosen the tournament MVP.
In the Masters (45+) division Onion Lake Border Chiefs easily won the over Poundmaker Raiders, Agency Chiefs and the Sask River Kree to capture this newly added division. The MVP award went to Pete Chief of the Border Chiefs squad.
“This year’s format was an experiment and it seemed to work out for the most part” said tournament founder and organizer Milton Tootoosis. “We added the Masters 45+ division in order to give us aging hockey players an opportunity to continue playing and we hope to attract some women’s teams in 2018” he added.
The LWC Tomahockey has become a regular event on the Indian rec hockey tournament circuit and attracts teams from primarily the north central region of the Treaty Six territory. The event is about promoting fair play, healthy competition and rebuilding of First Nations community teams. The inclusion of two imports per team only adds to the level of competitiveness of the tournament.
The 17th LWC Tomahockey had twenty teams compete in three divisions, thirty-four games with no major injuries, twenty-two thousand and three hundred dollars paid out in cash prizes, division all-star awards and had excellent attendance at the venues and the socials at the Gold Eagle Casino. The host committee is already in planning stages for the 18th Annual in 2018. For more information visit www.lwctomahockey.com or find the event on Facebook.