Age is just a number for tourney winners

Mike Horne and the Kahnawake 60 team have played in the last six editions of the LaSalle Old Timers Tournament, raising money for charities in the LaSalle area.

Last weekend, they came out the winners of the Pedicelli Division, with their name adorning the trophy after a 4-3 shootout win against Cote St. Luc.

“We’re proud to represent Kahnawake. We have a lot of good athletes in town, and we want to inspire the younger generation to continue playing sports. It doesn’t mean that once you finish playing minor hockey, it ends. We’re in our 60s now, and we’re still enjoying the game,” said Horne, who scored in the finals.

The team is made up of people who have worked in education and health together for decades in the community. They have also played hockey together for decades, some even for half a century.

“We get together every Sunday, strap on the equipment, play hockey, and then after that, enjoy each other’s company. That will hopefully continue as long as we can do it, hopefully into our 70s,” said Horne.

Even though it was a tournament for charity, it was still competitive, Horne said, with close games being the story of the Kahnawake 60’s championship run. No game was a better example of that than their shootout win in the finals.

The game started with a 2-0 lead for the Kahnawake team, with Raul Castro and Horne each scoring.

Cote St. Luc made it 2-1 before Mike’s brother Mark made it 3-1.

“We had a nice two-goal lead, similar to our Montreal Canadiens on Sunday,” said Horne.

Like the Habs, they did give up the lead. Cote St. Luc making it 3-2 with three minutes left in the third and scoring the tying goal with 44 seconds left in regulation after a shot went off a defending Kahnawake player and in.

The 10-minute three-on-three overtime solved nothing, sending the game to a shootout – thanks to both team’s goaltenders.

“We had plenty of scoring chances. The other goalie played amazingly in overtime. He robbed us on a few occasions that we thought we had won the game, and our goalie (Mike O’Hanley) came up with a very big save towards the end as well,” said Horne.

In the shootout, Horne was the first to go, deking Cote St. Luc’s netminder to find the back of the net.

O’Hanley made the save on the opposing team’s first shooter, Mark Horne scored blocker side, and when Cote St. Luc’s second shooter tried to do a similar move, the shot was saved, sealing the deal for Kahnawake 60.

Horne said they are already looking forward to next year’s tournament.

“We think we will have a stronger team next year, because we have a few younger guys that are going to be turning 60 next year,” said Horne.

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