Two Provinces For Two Championships

The 2023 National Aboriginal Hockey Championship will come to a close tomorrow in Winnipeg, and the action at Seven Oaks Arena has been nothing short of incredible as there have clutch goals, big saves, and outstanding performances all week long. The gold medal games will be played tomorrow, and there's no denying that the teams that earned the right to be there have played well. If you haven't checked out any of the games live at the rink or via the online streams, today would be the day to check out the action as medals will be handed out to those who earned them!

Women's Semifinal #1

We'll start on the women's side where the final four teams included Manitoba, British Columbia, Alberta, and Ontario. The first semifinal saw Alberta meet the hosts in Manitoba at 4pm, and this game started very well for the Keystone Province.

Manitoba jumped out to a quick lead in the first period as Breigh Rank opened the scoring at 4:36 before she set up Selene Wozney at 8:46 to make to 2-0 for Manitoba. Wozney would get in on a third Manitoba goal in the opening frame when her initial shot was stopped, but Ginger Fast buried the rebound at the 17:15 mark, and Manitoba would take a three-goal advantage into the intermission.

Alberta wasn't going to be deterred by the deficit as they looked to battle back in the middle frame, and Beau Boudreau would start that effort when she finished off a 2-on-1 at 12:03 by flipping the puck over Rachel Halldorson's pad, and it was a 3-1 game. Alberta continued to press, but Manitoba's defence was solid following the goal while Halldorson provided solid netminding on a couple of great scoring chances as Manitoba carried the 3-1 lead into the break.

The finla period was all about protecting that lead for Manitoba, and they continued to stifle Alberta's chances throughout the frame. Halldorson was on her game as she thwarted chances all game long, and the Manitoba defence was quick to clear rebounds and won battles throughout the game. Kurtia Yetman would cap off Manitoba's solid effort today with an empty-netter with 36.3 seconds to play, and Manitoba advances to the gold medal game on Saturday with a 4-1 win over Alberta!

Women's Semifinal #2

The other semifinal featured British Columbia and Ontario as they had the last game of the night at 7:30pm. BC had improved throughout the week after starting slowly while Ontario was undefeated in the tournament, so everyone was expecting a fantastic game to close out Friday's action!

The first period started quickly as both sides looked to jump ahead with the opening goal, but the netminders were writing a different story as they were on their games. BC goaltender Alix Walchuk was the busier of the two netminders, but Ontario's Zoe Rienguette had to be sharp when called upon in her crease. Ontario carried a lot of the play in the opening frame, but BC would weather that storm as these two teams headed to the intermission tied at 0-0.

BC used an early power-play to break the stalemate. Danica Maynard spotted Trishanna Dan wide-open on the right hashmark, and Dan went five-hole on Rienguette for the power-play marker at 3:59 to give BC the 1-0 lead! Ontario responded with a power-play goal of their own later in the frame as Sydney Sawyer found a shooting lane on a 4-on-3 to fire a high shot past Walchuk to make it a 1-1 game at 14:58! Those would be the only tallies of the period, though, as the game went into the second break with both teams looking for a winner in the third period.

Early in the third period, Hayden Summers forced a turnover behind the BC that allowed her to step above the goal line and fire a pass across the crease to a waiting Ali Altiman who buried it past Walchuk to put Ontario up 2-1 just 2:50 into the frame! BC pushed back to find the equalizer, but credit to the Ontario defence and goaltender Zoe Rienguette for standing tall as time wound down in holding the fort. With six players out on the ice for BC late in the game, they came close, but Ontario advances to the gold medal game on Saturday with the 2-1 victory over Team BC!

Men's Semifinal #1

The men's side of the tournament saw Saskatchewan, Ontario, Manitoba, and British Columbia in the semifinals as two of these teams looked to take the next step to berth in the gold medal game. The 10am game featured Saskatchewan battling the host team from Manitoba, so we'll see how these neighbourly provinces fared against one another with a gold medal berth on the line!

Both teams came to play as there were chances early, but it would be Manitoba who opened the scoring when an odd-man rush led to Gage Sutherland getting a good shot on net from the left side that Saskatchewan goaltender Frank Chaboyer stopped, but Ben Roulette chipped the rebound into the cage 5:16 into this game to put Manitoba up 1-0. Saskatchewan wouldn't wait very long to pull even as Dayne Henry's long shot from the point was kicked out by Manitoba netminder Mariko Bercier, but the puck went directly to Pavel McKenzie who buried it past the sprawled Bercier to tie the game at 1-1 at the 6:55 mark.

McKenzie wasn't done there, though, as he circled the Manitoba net off the left side to end up in the slot where he unleashed a laser to the top corner past Bercier's glove, and Saskatchewan grabbed the 2-1 lead off McKenzie's power-play marker at 10:13. Manitoba, though, would rally back as Jett Lajoie fed Marlen Edwards as they broke into the zone, and Edwards spotted Hayden Paupanekis arriving at the top of the crease for the easy tap-in as Chaboyer couldn't slide across to stop him to make it a 2-2 game with 6:37 left in the first period!

We're still not done in the first period, though. Immediately after killing off a penalty, Carter Cambell and Carter Zalischuk won a puck battle along the half-boards, and Cambell spotted Ian Buors at the far post for the easy redirection into the back of the net at the 18:00 mark as Manitoba went up 3-2! That would be the final goal of the opening frame as the five-goal period was highly entertaining with Manitoba holding onto the one-goal lead as the intermission began.

Manitoba came out skating hard in the second period, and they'd add to their lead. Jett Lajoie got a step on a defender on the right side as he broke in on Chaboyer, and he'd feed a streaking Hayden Paupanekis on the left side who chipped the puck over Chaboyer's pad to make it 4-2 for Manitoba just 4:53 into the middle frame. A late power-play allowed Manitoba to go up by three goals as Luke Wagner's point shot hit iron and ended up in the crease, but Hayden Paupanekis shovelled it across the line with 1:44 remaining in the period. Manitoba would defend that lead into the break as Saskatchewan needed a big push in the third period.

Manitoba, however, was quite content to hold the line with the three-goal advantage. Early in the third period, a whistle was blown on a hand pass directly before Pavel McKenzie got a late shot off. Manitoba's Jett Lajoie got his hands up on McKenzie in response to the shot after the whistle, and McKenzie responded by punching Lajoie, bloodying him and earning him a major penalty. McKenzie was ejected from the game, meaning Saskatchewan had to kill a major penalty as they lost their best offensive player. It didn't get any better as that 5-2 score would stand as the final score as Manitoba advances to the gold medal game with the win over Saskatchewan.

Men's Semifinal #2

The 1pm semifinal game saw Team British Columbia meeting Team Ontario as Team BC looked to remain undefeated in the event. Ontario's only loss came to Manitoba, so there was a shot for Ontario to exact some vengeance over the hosts if they could get by BC in the semifinal!

I'll fully admit that I didn't watch this game at the rink or online as I was fully immersed in work-related problems this afternoon, but my attempt to watch the game after it had been concluded was denied as well as it appears there is no game footage postage of this contest. What I do know is that Ontario prevailed by a 4-2 score over Team BC, so it will be a shot at redemption for Ontario as they advance to the gold medal game tomorrow against Manitoba.

That means both of our gold medal finals are Manitoba-Ontario matchups as the two provinces vye for gold medals in both the men's and women's tournaments. The men's gold medal final will be played at 4pm while the women's gold medal final will be played at 7pm, so clear your evening and head down to Seven Oaks Arena for these two games! Alternatively, you can find all the action streaming on the National Aboriginal Hockey Championship website as well! For thiose asking the men's bronze medal game featuring Saskatchewan and British Columbia will be played at 10am while the women's bronze medal game between Alberta and BC will be played at 1pm.

Another fantastic tournament of amazing hockey action comes to a close tomorrow, and we could see one province bring home both championships as Manitoba and Ontario will battle for supremacy in both the men's and women's tournament! We'll know who the victors are tomorrow night as the 2023 National Aboriginal Hockey Championship comes to a close!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!