Akwesasne Bantam Wolves compete in Little NHL Hockey Tournament

Submitted by Vaughn Sunday

The Akwesasne Bantam Wolves Hockey team attended the Little NHL Hockey Tournament in Sudbury, Ontario from March 13 to 17th. The team was proudly dressed in traditional ribbon shirts at the Grand Entry of the opening ceremonies. The teams were called alphabetically and Akwesasne was the third team announced. A total of 150 teams and 2200 players attended the tournament, which was the 40th anniversary of the tournament.

Akwesasne defeated Birch Island by a score of 2-1 in the first game. The thrilling game was decided in the third period with a late goal by Tylar Thomas. Logan Ransom was outstanding in the first game and was selected as the player of the game. Akwesasne defeated the Nipissing Warriors by a score of 4-2 in the second game with Tylar Thomas getting the player of the game award.

The third game was a match of undefeated teams pitting Akwesasne against the Mattagami Eagles. The winner of the game got to the A finals. The Eagles scored the games first goal in the first period. Akwesasne replied with two goals in the second period. Early in the third period Mattagami tied the game. With two minutes left in the back and forth game, Mattagami scored the game winner on a fluke goal, with the puck going into the net off an Akwesasne player after a save by goalie Logan Ransom. The Akwesasne Wolves lost their last game by a 4-2 margin to the Birch Island Eagles, a team that they had previously defeated. The Akwesasne team was extremely disappointed after being relegated to the B division rather than being in the A final and this definitely affected their play in the final game.

The Akwesasne Bantams greatly enjoyed the experience of playing in such a large event. The team members are as follows: Tylar Thomas, Quenten Thomas, Ivan Benedict-Sunday, Ryan Thomas, Frank Benedict, Lane Benedict, Trent Benedict, Thomas Benedict, Sean David, Kharlene Garrow, Jared Jock, Trenton Tarbell, Keegan Thomas-Lazore, and Logan Ransom. Coaches were Lawerence Tiio Thomas, Wilfred David Jr, Alex Big Boy Garrow and Trainer Mike Loran.

The Akwesasne Bantam Wolves would like to take this opportunity to Thank the Akwesasne community for its overwhelming support during the fundraising for this event. The team sponsors were as follows: The Dreamcatcher Fund from Six Nations, The Ganienkeh Bingo, The Mohawk Council of Akwesasne, The St. Regis Tribal Council, CKON Radio Bingo, The “AWESOME” Snye Recreation Committee, Bulla and Joes Tent Rentals, Bears Den, Twin Leaf, C+B Enterprises, Mohawk Water, Frenchies Chev/Olds, Frenchies Ford, SweetDreams, Adams Marina, Lance White, Dudley King. A special thanks to the Anowarakowa Arena manager for freeing up some ice time for our practices before the team left for Sudbury.

Niawenkowa to all of our team supporters, Akwesasne is a Great Community!