Junior C Hunters make first East finals

The Kahnawake Junior C Hunters’ historic playoff run has now taken them to the East finals, following a tightly contested five game series against the first-seed Nepean Knights.

And although they have lost the first game of the series 15-5 against the Cornwall Celtics on Wednesday night, all the team has done in the playoffs has been to come out on the winning side when faced with adversity.

That included the Nepean series, with their game five 12-6 clinic knocking off the first seed in the do-or-die game at the Sports Complex last Friday night.

Faced with a difficult task, and coming off a loss in game four where they could have sent Nepean home early, the Hunters delivered by having their most complete game of the playoffs, if not the entire season.

“It feels awesome. It’s a great achievement to rewrite history, put a period on this chapter, and we’re moving onto the next chapter,” said Hunters defender Stone McGregor.

“We worked super hard. We earned it. We worked every shift for it.  We didn’t take a shift off, and we just kept pushing. We lost game four, but we knew we had these guys. We didn’t worry.

“Nobody was worried about losing this game. We knew we were going to take it. We were confident when we came in, and we balled out,” said defender Noah Rahmer.

The Hunters benefited from having a full lineup, which included the return of Tehoweroron Diabo, who scored four goals in his first game since the series opener against Nepean.

Goaltender Leland Lahache put on a remarkable performance, allowing just six goals on 43 shots.

“It’s amazing having him back, there because you know you can be super confident he’s going to make the save. He’s there. He’s got your back. We’ve got his back, and he’s an awesome goalie,” said Rahmer.

On Friday night, it was clear that the playoff run had put a toll on some of the players, who were being treated by the trainer on the bench between shifts. Others were bandaged up, limping back to the bench after shifts, but giving it their all on the floor for Kahnawake.

“We were hurting, a lot of bodies were hurting, held together by tape. We were trying to get it through their heads to dig deep, that it’s not over, and they pulled through,” said Hunters’ head coach Eric Jacobs.

“They are seeing another level of themselves, which we’ve been trying all year and all last year to get them to buy into and believe in.”

What also played into the Hunters’ hand in game five was the lack of discipline from Nepean, who frequently lost their cool and took unnecessary penalties or turned the ball over because of mistakes or fouls.

Jacobs said that the coaching staff told the players that they should not fall into those kinds of traps before the game.

“In this kind of a game where you lose, you’re out, you can start to lose your composure,” said Jacobs.

“Before the game, we told them that if we’re going to lose, we’re going to lose with respect. We take care of business if we need to take care of business when it arises, but we don’t go looking for it. They stuck to it, and now we get to play more games.”

Jacobs said that the most important part of this playoff run to him is seeing the players improve themselves and stick together as a team.

“We’re winning, so it’s always a plus. But for me, the biggest plus is having these guys believe in themselves, believe in the guy next to them, and believing in the coaching staff, what we’re trying to show and prove,” said Jacobs.

“Somebody’s going to win a game, somebody’s going to lose a game. But if we can take something out of it, where they’re learning how to dig deep and push forward through adversity, that’s a win. That’s what I believe.”

They’ll need to keep pushing through that adversity against Cornwall, but it certainly is not uncharted waters for this Junior C team.

No matter what, after being swept in their inaugural playoff run last year, the Hunters have made history by making it this far.

“That just puts everything in perspective. All the hard work that we put in from last season, and continuing it on this year,” said McGregor, a member of last year’s team.

McGregor said they had something else to play for apart from the standings, too: Ken’nikahrhà:sa Cross, the young community member who tragically passed away in the fall following an accident, who was just a little younger than the members of the Hunters.

“We’re playing the season for Ken’nikahrhà:sa.”

Game two is tonight (Friday) at 8 p.m. at the Kahnawake Sports Complex. Game three is tomorrow (Saturday) in Cornwall at 2 p.m. If necessary, game four will be in Kahnawake at 8 p.m. on July 20 and game five will be at 8 p.m. July 22 in Cornwall.

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