MEMBERTOU, NOVA SCOTIA — Hockey teams from across Canada eagerly joined in the returning National Aboriginal Hockey Tournament from May 7 – 14.
The tournament was delayed for several seasons due to the Covid-19 pandemic, but saw over 500 participants for both the male and female U18 categories last week.
Seven teams came together in the mens division: Team Ontario, Saskatchewan, British Columbia, Manitoba, North, Eastern Door and the North, Atlantic to take part in 14 preliminary games.
On Monday, May 9, the first game went to Team Saskatchewan, who defeated Team North 8-5. The second game went to Team Ontario over Team Manitoba, 4-2. Next came game three, which gave Team North their first win over Team BC 6-4, and game four saw a win for Team Saskatchewan over Team Eastern Door and the North 4-2. Game Five brought a close game but eventual victory for Team Manitoba over Team Atlantic 6-5.
On Tuesday, May 10, Team Ontario took a victory over Team Saskatchewan in game six 6-3. Game seven gave a win to Team BC over Team Eastern Door and the North 3-2. Game eight saw Team Manitoba win over Team North 6-3, and game nine saw Team Ontario deliver a loss to Team Eastern Door and the North 1-6. Final match of the day in Game 10 saw Team BC defeat Team Atlantic 5-0.
On Wednesday, May 11, game 12 gave a win to Team Manitoba over Team Eastern Door and the North 7-4, while game 13 allowed Team Saskatchewan to rack up more points over Team BC 6-0. Team Ontario won over Team Atlantic 7-1 in the final game 14.
Two qualifying games opened on Thursday, May 12 for a match between Team Atlantic and Team Eastern Door and the North, which ended on a high note for Team Eastern Door and the North 5-4. The second match for the day saw Team BC versus Team North, which gave Team BC the victory 7-5. Next Came the quarter-final between Team Eastern Door and the North versus Manitoba, delivering a loss to Manitoba 4-2. On Friday, May 13, a relegation round saw three games. Team Manitoba won 8-3 over Team North, Team North won 11-7 over Team Atlantic, while Team Manitoba won over Team Atlantic 7-1.
This brought Team BC and Team Eastern Door together for the Bronze Medal Game, with Team BC putting it away 4-1 on Saturday, May 14. The final gave way for a 3-2 for Team Ontario.
Later on the same day, the gold medal game brought Team Ontario and Team Saskatchewan together in an over-time game. Billy Biederman and Sam McCue each put one away and offered an assist, while Lincoln Moore offered another single and Kyle Ferguson offered two supporting assists for Team Ontario.
