Thunder Eagles claim provincial hockey championship
The Chisasibi Thunder Eagles are the 2014 Quebec Provincial Midget A Hockey Champions.
After a difficult start to the tournament, held in Candiac April 3-6, the Thunder Eagles capped a heart-stopping run with a 4-2 win over Lac Mégantic Turmel to claim the championship banner.
For the Thunder Eagles, their journey to the championship began with a dominant regular season in the JBMHL, during which they went a perfect 12-0 and outscored their opponents by an incredible 75-26 margin.
Led by rookie coach Charly Washipabano, the impressive regular season campaign earned the team a berth in the Abitibi-Témiscamingue Regional Championship in La Sarre, which they began by besting the Val d’Or Senators 5-3 in the tournament opener. Chisiasibi skated to a 0-0 draw against Wemindji Paint Hills before posting dominant victories over Genivar Amos and the Senators to earn a spot in the Regional Final against Alarm La Sarre.
The Thunder Eagles held a one-goal lead entering the third period before La Sarre knotted the game at 2-2 to force overtime. But the Thunder Eagles wasted no time putting an end to La Sarre’s season as Lawrence Spencer potted the winner at the 32-second mark of the extra frame to propel Chisasibi into the provincial championship.
The road got rockier for the boys from Chisasibi when they took the ice in Candiac, as the Thunder Eagles suffered their first losses of the 2013-14 season, starting with a humiliating 8-2 defeat at the hands of the Turmel.
“It was heart-wrenching. It was a shocker. It was an eye-opener,” coach Washipabano said of the blowout. “The boys and I knew it was going to be tough. But that really dug into our team because we were not used to that at all. And then, the second game, we were down 5-1 after two periods of play. And that’s when things changed.”
The Thunder Eagles stormed back from a four-goal deficit in the third period of their second game against the Berthier Aigles before falling 5-4. But the comeback gave the Thunder Eagles a much-needed confidence boost.
The team once again needed third-period heroics in their quarterfinal battle against the hometown Delson Senators. Chisasibi started the third period down 3-2 but quickly took a one-goal lead after goals by Johnny Wapachee and Vincent McDonald, his third of the game.
It looked like the Thunder Eagles would once again need overtime when the Senators knotted the game at 4-4 with just 91 seconds left. But Rupert Snowboy would be the hero as he scored the winner for Chisasibi with just one second remaining in the third period, sending the Thunder Eagles to the Final Four of the tourney.
The Thunder Eagles got off to a fast start in their semi-final tilt against the Olympiens de Shawinigan-Sud, scoring a pair of first period goals, followed by three second-period markers, including Spencer’s second goal of the game to extinguish an Olympien rally in the middle stanza. Shawinigan-Sud would score again in the third, but it was not enough as the Thunder Eagles hung on for a 5-4 win and a berth in the final against Lac Mégantic.
After a scoreless first period in the final, the Thunder Eagles fell behind in the second as Lac Mégantic potted a pair of markers. But the butterflies that had plagued the bellies of Chisasibi’s boys during their opening loss to Lac Mégantic had clearly been expelled.
Looking confident, the Thunder Eagles responded to Lac Megantic’s second goal with a goal by Craig Cookish just 11 seconds later, swinging the momentum of the game in the Thunder Eagles’ favour. Chisasibi deadlocked the game when Tristan Georgekish scored in the 12th minute, setting up a third-period showdown.
Chisasibi fans held their breath when the Thunder Eagles were called for a pair of penalties early in third period, giving Lac Megantic a 1:18 two-man advantage. But the Thunder Eagles defence stood tall, killing off both penalties and creating a sense in the packed arena that Chisasibi was destined for a championship.
That destiny was achieved when Lawrence Spencer scored a pair late in the game, clinching the championship for the Thunder Eagles. The club’s victory was cheered on by the local crowd, and the team was met by adoring fans on their return home, championship banner in hand.
“We won when it mattered most,” said a beaming Washipabano. “Three games that showed everyone, not just in the Cree Nation, that these boys made it there for a reason. Opposing coaches, players, tournament organizers all echoed to me the same thing: that we were, as they say in French, a ‘beautiful’ team.”
Thunder Eagles Roster
#31 Felix Sutherland
#33 Nathan Fireman-Cox
#9 Lawrence Spencer
#11 Matthew Kanatewat
#13 Craig Cookish
#17 Vincent MacDonald
#19 Gerald Herodier
#21 Harley Jolly
#27 Tristan Georgekish
#55 Rupert “Jack” Snowboy
#61 Eric Sam
#71 Ronald Washapabano
#77 Brian Cookish
#79 Johnny Wapachee
#91 Lyle Otter
#93 Robert Sam-Fleming
Coach: Charly Washipabano
Assistant Coach: Tommy Sam