Local girls take silver at Native Provincials

Post Staff
The Lac La Biche region's first-ever midget-level Aboriginal female hockey team showed their talents and their tenderness during the Alberta Native Provincial Hockey Championships held in Edmonton over the weekend.
The Lac La Biche Ice Hawks came home with a silver medal, but showed a gold-star standard dealing with a tragedy off the ice, say the team's coaching staff.

During weekend play, news spread about the tragic crash of a Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League bus. The crash killed 15 players, staff and supporters of the SJHL's Humboldt Broncos on their way to a league playoff game in Nipawin.
Many teams at the Native Provincials took part in ceremonies before games to pay their respects. The Ice Hawks paid a special tribute with colours and prayer.
"Heading to the semifinals heavy-hearted from the devastating new of the Humboldt Broncos, these young ladies would sport green & yellow tape on there sticks and jerseys in memory of the lost and injured hockey players and coaches, with a moment of silence and a prayer in the dressing room for the families and survivors of the tragic accident," said coach Bradley Hutchinson.

The semifinal game saw the Ice Hawks win 6-1 over the Alexander Burnstick team from the Alexander Cree Nation. The win was the fourth straight of the weekend for the local girls with double-digit victories over the southern Alberta Piikani Nation Snipers and Calgary-area's Siksika. The Hawks beat the Alexander team 4-2 in their first game of the championships.
The Ice Hawks met the defending Aboriginal midget female champions - the Alexander Arcand team - also from the Alexander Cree Nation in the finals.
"The Ice Hawks would go toe to toe with Alexander Arcand ... unfortunately the ladies came up short and lost 4-3," said Hutchinson.

The team played well, said the coach.
"With more than 50 girls playing in midget division, the Ice Hawks would have four young ladies make the top 13 on the leader board for points," he said, adding that the team has hopes to topple the two-time defending champions next year. "These young ladies did a great job representing out community they played with heart and dignity and hope to bring home the gold in 2019."
The National Aboriginal Championships take place in early May in Nova Scotia. By POST editorial deadline, it was not known if any of the local players had been added to the Team Alberta roster.

Several area businesses helped to sponsor the Ice Hawks. Hutchinson said the team would like to thank
Calnash Trucking, Edcon Power Tongs, Scotiabank, JMS, ROABA, The Metis Nation of Alberta, Squirrely's Gas Bar, MAC Trucking, the Lac La Biche Liquor Stop and WAJ Trucking.

Also celebrating on the weekend was the Kikino Red Army Novice boys team. The youngsters stormed through their pool, easily defeating teams from Stoney, O'Cheise, Alexander and Kainai. In the championship gold-medal game, the Army came up against an equally strong team from the Spruce Grove area that had stormed through their pool as well. The Red Army came home with silver losing tot he Spruce Grove Defenders 12-2 in the finals.
The Kikino Red Army Atom team was in a tough division at the provincials. they beat the Edmonton Sled Dogs 14-8 in their tournament opener, but then lost their next three and missing the playoff round.
The April 5-8 Native Provincials event celebrated 25 years this year.