TEAM MANITOBA RESULTS WOMEN Manitoba 6 > Atlantic 1
Manitoba 4 > Ontario 2
Manitoba 6 > Eastern Door and the North 1
Quarterfinal Manitoba 12 > Team North 0
Semifinal Manitoba 6 > Alberta 1
Final Manitoba 7 > Saskatchewan 0
MEN Saskatchewan 5 > Manitoba 2
Manitoba 6 > Team North 2
Manitoba 2 > Alberta 2
Quarterfinal Manitoba 6 > Eastern Door and the North 2
Semifinal Manitoba 4 > Saskatchewan 0
Final Manitoba 5 > Ontario 4 ( OT )
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In the final , Manitoba build a 3-0 lead after the first period and held on to a 4-2 lead after two . Ontario got back to within a goal thanks to a shorthanded marker early in the third , then the favorites tied things up at 4-4 with just a little more than 11 minutes left to play .
Shadow Reuben put Ontario ahead 5-4 with six minutes remaining , but Manitoba ’ s Mason Martin scored with 70 seconds left to play to force overtime .
That ’ s when OCN Blizzard star , Justin Nachbaur from the Cross Lake Band became the hero , beating Ontario goalie Seth McKay , to complete the golden sweep . Allan Kohli , another Cross Lake band member , was outstanding in goal and made 31 saves – four in overtime – to seal in the victory .
“ Nachbaur converted a beautiful pass from Preston Seymour ( from Wanipigow and the Eastman Selects Triple A Midget ),” said Monkman . “ It was a pretty surreal feeling . I just felt so good for the players , especially for Nachbaur , Seymour , Mason Martin , Nakodan Greyeyes , Thomas Mironuk , Keeven Daniels-Webb and Allan Kohli . They all played so well amd were our best players throughout the tournament .”
On the women ’ s side , there was very little excitement at all . The women dominated the tournament from the opening faceoff to the final buzzer .
“ It was a good trip ,” said Coach Bear . “ We started slow for about a period and then we sure picked it up .
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Breanne Dondo Hardhat Award winner
The only time I really had to say anything was after the first period of our third game against Eastern Door and the North . They weren ’ t very good after that period so I had a few choice words for them between periods . I never had to say anything again .”
After beating Atlantic 6-1 , Ontario 4-2 and EDN 6-1 , the women moved into the playoffs and demolished Team North 12-0 in the quarters , whipped Alberta 6-1 in the semis and blasted Saskatchewan 7-0 in the final .
“ I couldn ’ t have asked for a better group of girls to work with ,” Bear said . “ Every player contributed in their own way and we played as a team from Game 1 to the Gold Medal game .
“ The positive attitudes they had all week made our time here a memorable . People from different provinces spoke about how hardworking , disciplined and respectful our team was . Hearing those
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Nakodan Greyeyes |
words about our young women was even better than winning gold .” Bear loved his entire team but was especially thrilled with the play of Mariah Gardner , Taylor Tom , Kaila Powell , Emily Daniels , Breanne Dondo , Julie Albert , the Lea Twins – Keyanna and Keyara – and both of his goalies , Bianca Zak , who earned the shutout in the final , and Shayna Moore .
“ They didn ’ t give out Player of the Tournament awards this year for best forward , defenseman and goaltender ,” said Bear . “ If they did , I ’ m sure we would have easily won all three . Mariah was the best forward , Taylor was the best defenseman and Bianca was easily the best goaltender . Last year , we finished third . This year , we were simply on another level .”
The 2018 National Aboriginal Hockey Championships will be in Membertou , Nova Scotia on beautiful Cape Breton Island . ❍
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