In hockey, upset victories are rarely blowouts.
But that didn’t stop the Deschambault Lake Eagles from downing the Flin Flon Rotary 8-1 to capture this year’s Greenstone High School Hockey League (GHSHL) title.
“Flin Flon’s a strong team, and we were prepared,” Eagles coach Cannon Custer said shortly after the lopsided win at the Whitney Forum on Sunday. “I didn’t really expect the outcome of the game.”
Nor did many of the several dozen parents, friends and siblings in attendance for the final game.
After all, the Eagles finished third in the GHSHL regular season; the Rotary first.
The Eagles lacked home-ice advantage; the Rotary were in their usual digs at the Whitney.
And due to injury, illness and misplaced equipment, the Eagles had just eight players for the final; the Rotary iced a roster
of 19.
Oral Travers, general manager of the Eagles and principal of the high school in Deschambault Lake, was beaming with pride following the victory.
“It’s motivated the school, including all the kids,” he said, referring to the first-year team. “Now they’re going to be the talk of the town, and going back to their community, they’re going to be heroes.
“We had no idea that it was going to come this, that they would become champions of the league.”
Custer agrees that the Eagles have been a positive addition to Deschambault Lake, a reserve of about 1,200 people 140 km outside Creighton.
“Already kids are talking about next year, how they’re going to join our team,” he said.
Along with Sandy Bay, Deschambault Lake was one of two new communities to join the GHSHL this season.
This marked the second year for the GHSHL, with five teams competing: Flin Flon, Creighton, Deschambault Lake, Sandy Bay and Pelican Narrows. A sixth club from Cranberry Portage folded early in the season so those players could focus on midget AA hockey.
Dan Reagan, co-coordinator of the GHSHL along with Doug Gawiak, said parity was high this season.
So was the respect level. During the course of about 50 games, not a single fight broke out.
“You talk about 15- to 18-year-olds – not one fight in 50 games,” Reagan said for emphasis.
Reagan is equally proud of how the league has brought players from across the region together in their shared passion for the game.
“I think a really important part of this is that the Flin Flon and Creighton kids [are] playing with the surrounding communities,” he said. “[That’s] something that hasn’t been done before. Kids have come in and played on the Flin Flon teams at a younger level, but now when you get these outside teams, there is enough for a league.”
Though most of the GHSHL players are male, some girls have chosen to participate. The league is amenable to players of different sizes and skill levels, as body contact and slapshots are prohibited.
“It works very, very well for the type of hockey that we’re trying to [have],” said Reagan.
Organizers are now looking ahead to the GHSHL’s third season this fall, with Reagan hopeful that Cranberry Portage will again have a team.
Aside from the championship and silver banners awarded after Sunday’s final, Mateo Custer and Eric Rutherford were named MVPs for the Eagles and Rotary respectively.
