Lions reign supreme on the ice

Peter Mallett, Lookout
Valcartier players celebrate and gather for a team shot after capturing the CAF Old Timers Hockey Championship at Wurtele Arena, March 10. Valcartier defeated Petawawa 5-1 to claim their third
consecutive national title.

Peter Mallett, Staff Writer ~

CFB Valcartier’s Lions roared to their third consecutive CAF Old Timers Hockey Championship title with a 5-1 victory over the CFB Petawawa Stags in the final tournament game at Wurtele Arena on March 10.

Valcartier set the tone early, scoring just 25 seconds into the first period when Corporal (Cpl) Rock Lirette capitalized on a goalmouth scramble and bested Petawawa goaltender Pte Ryan Kershaw with a quick snap shot above his right blocker. Lions Team Captain Cpl Gino Methot scored the game’s second goal on the power play with one minute remaining in the opening period with a shot from a tight angle into the right side of the net.

“We had to work hard to win this trophy and we are all very proud of collecting our third consecutive national championship,” said Lions coach Warrant Officer (WO) Ghyslain Simard. “Most of the players on the squad have been here for all three of our wins and our team chemistry this week has been simply extraordinary.”

WO Simard noted that even though Valcartier had a smaller lineup than most of their opponents they used their speed and quicker reaction time to their advantage. He said their closest game in the tournament was also against Petawawa whom they defeated 3-2 on opening day of the tournament on March 6.

“We made some adjustments after the first game and then the chemistry just seemed to come together for us,” said WO Simard.

Valcartier went undefeated in the tournament finishing with a record of 6-0 while outscoring their opponents by a combined margin of 38-12. On March 9, they beat CFB Edmonton 9-1 in the first semi-final. Petawawa earned its berth in the championship game by defeating 2015 finalists CFB Halifax 8-5.

Valcartier outshot Petawawa 38-17 and dominated puck possession for most of the game.  

Major (Maj) Stephane Hamel, Captain Michel Cormier and Master Warrant Officer (MWO) Patrick Crepeau also scored for Valcartier while Master Corporal (MCpl) Jamie Pilatzke scored the lone goal for Petawawa. Sergeant Mathieu Deschenes led Valcartier in scoring with three assists.

MCpl Pilatzke collected game MVP honours for Petawawa while Maj Bryan Ouellet was voted MVP of the game for Valcartier.

At the closing banquet held at the Wardroom later in the day the Lions collected two awards, and LCol Sebastien Bronsard was named tournament MVP while Stags WO Dave Querry collected the sportsmanship award.

Tritons go winless
The CFB Esquimalt Tritons failed to capitalize on their home-ice advantage in this year’s tournament going winless over four games. They lost their opening game to fourth-place finisher CFB Edmonton 2-1 in a shootout. They then lost 6-2 to Petewawa and 4-3 to Halifax in two games on March 7. In their final preliminary round game on March 8, they lost 8-1 to tournament champions, Valcartier.

Tritons place fifth, Lions collect Men’s Hockey Championships in Borden

Esquimalt’s U-35 team also went winless over four preliminary round games at the Canadian Armed Forces Men’s Hockey Championships held at CFB Borden March 5 to 10.

The Tritons were defeated by CFB Gagetown 6-1 in their opening game and then lost to CFB Borden 5-0, CFB Valcartier 6-2 and CFB Moose Jaw 4-2 for a last-place finish.
Valcartier also skated away victorious from the Borden tournament with a 3-2 win over the Moose Jaw Flyers in the final.