Game On Magazine - April 2017 Game on Preview Edition | Page 113

male and one
female both are comprised
of bantam and midget age
athletes from across their
region. The event aids in
fostering cultural unity, pride
and celebrates the athletic
abilities of Aboriginal athletes
from across the country.
“It was pretty exciting,”
said a relieved Monkman,
in Winnipeg after his team
celebrated a thrilling 6-5
overtime victory against
powerhouse Ontario in
the final.
“This was the hardest one
of all the teams I’ve coached,”
Monkman added. “We had a
younger team with only six
returnees back from 2016. We
were fortunate this year that
we gelled at the right time.
After all, we lost our first game,
5-2 to Saskatchewan. We were
1-1-1 in the round robin and
rather fortunate to reach the
playoffs. It was a real battle. It
says a lot about hard these guys
worked to get better and how
they all came together when it
really mattered.”
After losing the opener to
Saskatchewan, Team Manitoba
beat The North 6-2 and then
played Alberta to a 2-2 tie to
reach the playoffs. Monkman
believed the tie with powerful
Alberta was the turning point.
“That was the adjustment
game,” Monkman said. “Up
until that game, our young
guys had trouble adapting to
the speed at this tournament.
So we changed the lines and
beat the North and then tied
Alberta and I realized that our
guys had turned the corner.
Against Alberta, we were fast
enough, all the lines played
well together and the defense
was really good.”
With that, Manitoba
finished second in the pool
and went on to whip Eastern
Door and the North 6-2 in
the quarterfinals then played
brilliantly in a 4-0 revenge
win over Saskatchewan in the
semis. Manitoba went into
the final as heavy underdogs
to Ontario, but by this time,
Monkman felt good about
his team.
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