By TERRY PUGH
Saskatchewan’s men’s team won the bronze medal at the National Aboriginal Hockey Championships (NAHC) tournament in Regina on Saturday, May 9 with a decisive 9-5 win over Nova Scotia.
Manitoba’s men’s team, meanwhile, clinched the national championship title with a 5-3 win over Alberta in the gold medal game.
Manitoba’s women’s team also captured the gold medal at the event with a 5-2 win over Alberta. Team BC won the bronze medal in the women’s division with a 2-0 win over Ontario.
On the women’s side, Team Saskatchewan placed fifth.
Several players with connections to Warman represented Saskatchewan at the event. The Team Sask Female squad included Ellie Graham-Wuttunee and Jacee Oblander, who both play for the Warman U18AA Female Wildcats.
Six members of the Warman U18AAA Wildcats were on the Team Sask Male team, including Cash Arcand-Vandale, Nixxon Arcand-Vandale, Cruz Bear, Seth Gutenberg, Dawson Gamble and James Norman.
Tatum Fouquette (Saskatoon U18AAA Blazers) and Maclain Ethier (Moose Jaw U18AAA Warriors), both of Warman, were also on the roster.
Saskatchewan’s men’s team got off to a hot start with a 4-3 win over Team Quebec on Monday, May 4, but dropped a 7-4 decision to Team Manitoba in a penalty-riddled game on Tuesday, May 5. They beat BC 7-1 and then lost 6-2 to Alberta on May 7. They finished the round-robin in third place, which set up a playoff match against second-place Manitoba for a chance to play in the gold medal game. They fell 7-4 to Manitoba on May 8, but they still qualified for the bronze medal game on May 9.
Saskatchewan’s women’s team, meanwhile, lost their opening game 5-2 to BC but won their second game 7-0 over Québec, both on May 4. They then lost -2-1 to Alberta on May 5 and 6-4 to Manitoba on May 7, leaving them in fifth place and out of medal contention.
Hosted by the Ochapowce Nation in cooperation with the Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations, the event saw 16 teams (eight male and eight female teams) competing for male and female national championship trophies.
The NAHC was established by the Aboriginal Sport Circle in 2002, and the upcoming 23rd annual edition of the tournament features the top U18 players with Indigenous ancestry from across the country.