It’s never too late for a big first, even after 62 years. To date, the Quebec International Peewee Hockey Tournament has never hosted a team made up entirely of players from the Cree Nation. It is now done and in a brilliant way.
The Cree Nation Bears are far from just showing up. They won their BB class duel against the Barons de Québec Nord-Est by a score of 5 to 4 in a shootout. A whole sense of the show!
“It’s a very touching moment for us. There have been Cree players here, but not a full team. It’s an honor to be here. We are grateful for all the support we have from people back home. It’s a new experience for our young people, ”said coach William Saganash afterwards.
Emotionally charged moment
It is impossible not to grasp the magnitude of the moment for the Cree community.
In the pre-game protocol ceremonies, there were Mandy Gull-Masty, Grand Chief of the Cree Nation, accompanied by the Minister responsible for Aboriginal Affairs, Ian Lafrenière and Rémy Vincent, Grand Chief of the Huron-Wendat Nation. .
In this context, during their first visit to the Videotron Center, the young Bears seemed somewhat intimidated at the start, before getting started.
“The young people were very excited when they arrived here. They are honored to be there. At the start of the match, I felt them nervous. They ended up calming down. »
“We didn’t expect a victory, but all the credit goes to the youngsters. They are the ones who did the work. For them, the ice is different from what they have known so far, just like the arena. Everything is new,” he added.
Not easy
It is certainly not easy to assemble an entirely Cree team. If the core is concentrated in the reserved territory of Waswanipi, in the Baie-James sector, it is necessary to search up to 900 km to the north to complete
workforce.
“We bring players together for precamps where we select players. There is also a tournament where other selections are made. It is a process that we are all working on together as a Cree Nation. For some young people, it’s very far away so they stay in school and play hockey in their region,” noted William Saganash.
With the NHL
The NHL’s creative team designed the jerseys proudly worn by the Bears, via sponsor Adidas.
In the corridors of the Videotron Center, young people also wore their official tracksuits.
“We were provided with the jerseys and all our tracksuits. It’s something players didn’t have before. We received the clothes just before Christmas and everyone was happy,” the pilot remarked.
- The Bears return to action Friday morning (8 a.m.) against the Saint-Laurent Spartans. We bet this is just the start of a long and successful history with the popular tournament.
On the program today
Videotron Center*
10 h 30 BB
- Rive-Sud Express 2 c. Aosta Gladiators
11 h 45 BB
- Beauce-Etchemin Regroupement c. Saguenay Sag’s 2
13 h AAA
- Sun County Panthers c. Adirondack Jr. Wings
14 h 15 AAA
- New England Prospects c. Burnaby Winter Club Bruins
15 h 30 AAA
- Los Angeles Jr. Kings c. Whitby Wildcats
4:45 p.m. SCHOOL
- Seacoast Academy Spartans v. College of Lévis Commanders
18 h BB
- Quebec Women’s Stars Team c. Paris Evry-Viry
19 h 15 AAA
- Quebec Remparts v. Markham Majors
20 h 30 AAA
- Slovakia K&B Stars c. Philadelphia Flyers
* All games of the day are played at the Videotron Center.
Rich experience for young Madelinots
There are rare visitors to Quebec this week. For the fourth time only, a team from the Îles-de-la-Madeleine has arrived at the pee-wee tournament.
The last time was in 2017. You should know that for the Madelinots, it’s not an easy task to build a team.
Throughout the territory of the Îles-de-la-Madeleine, this year there were a total of 39 players aged
pee-wee.
Among this lot, it was necessary to set up a double-letter team, but it was difficult to assess the numbers available taking into account the fact that there was no season match!
“Young people are freaking out”
L’Escouade, a team led by Bernard Arseneau, went to the Desjardins Cup tournament in Chandler and won top honors.
Same scenario shortly after at the Coupe Dodge in Sept-Îles.
Here is now the team in Quebec.
“Young people are freaking out a lot,” smiled Mr. Arseneau, who has been involved in hockey for 45 years.
“Apart from these tournaments, we only practice, so I will not say that we come here to win the tournament, but we will not be beaten 12-0”, added the one whose team imposed at the count of 8-2 last night against Québec Nord-Est, in class BB.
Nice support
To take part in these three tournaments, it was necessary to raise nearly $200,000. For the Coupe Desjardins and the Coupe Dodge, companies from the Islands and donations from individuals made the adventure possible.
For Quebec, it was necessary to call on outside suppliers.
“It’s important to do this so that our young people see the light. We have to show them that by staying at home, they can have great experiences. In my opinion, you should never leave the family home before the bantam,” Bernard Arseneau opined.
For young Madelinots, the experience is rewarding, well beyond the results.
The trip to Quebec City will also have allowed them to cross swords with a team from Lithuania on Sunday and they will play against the Cree Nation Bears today, in both cases, it will be exhibition games .
- The tournament, for its part, will end on Sunday, May 15. Until then, a lot of hockey will be played as well as many activities will take place on site, at the Videotron Centre.