Local brings energy to banner winners

At 15 years old, Kahnawa’kehró:non forward Nikarahkwa Diabo has proved to be a valuable asset to the U18BB Central Hockey Alliance Grizzlies Black in his first year, even if it might not necessarily appear on the score sheet every night.

“He’s a really kind-hearted, good energy kid, and he’s a great locker room guy. That’s just in terms of who he is as a kid,” said Ryan Rodin, head coach of the Grizzlies.

“As a hockey player, what I look for on my team is guys who are fearless. And that is who he is.”

Diabo works hard, he hits hard, and he has one of the strongest shots on his team, even if he is sometimes three years their junior.

“There’s obviously challenges that come for him this year, but I think he’s slowly figuring it out, and he’s learning and adapting to the game,” said Rodin.

“He’s really improving how I want him to; he’s proving to be a good, useful piece. He fits in well with any line, because he’s a good role player.”

Being a good role player means not always having the puck and being okay with that, something that needs to be learned and developed, and Diabo already has that kind of attitude.

He got to know Diabo seven years ago at a hockey camp he was running over the summer. Even then, he had a strong shot, and when the opportunity came to import Diabo from the Lac St. Louis region, he did not hesitate to do so.

His ability as a role player manifested itself over the weekend, as he and his team won their age group’s championship at the U18 Beauport National tournament near Quebec City.

The Grizzlies had just three wins in 15 regular-season games, and Rodin knew the competition would be tough at the tournament.

“Our expectation was to play hard and enjoy ourselves. They can want to win the tournament, but as long as we had our expectations low, the stress wouldn’t be too high,” said Rodin.

They overcame the odds in more ways than one: their assistant captain played through a broken finger, other players got banged up throughout the tournament, and they lost their first two games.

The third would decide if they would move on or not, as long as they won.

They did, beating the South Shore Express 2-1, and they did not stop winning.

Their quarterfinals and semifinals matches were won in overtime (2-1 against the East Montreal Stars and 3-2 against the Noroit Governors), after the Grizzlies were down a goal heading into the third period in both games.

One more hurdle stood in their way of the banner they had fought so hard for: a AA team that had been given permission to move down a division for the tournament, the then-undefeated Kamouraska Voisins.

“They were strong. They outshot us by almost 20 shots. And we still just kept to our plan. And, you know, hard work paid off,” said Rodin.

The Voisins scored early in the second period, and the Grizzlies only tied it up a period and a half later.

With less than a minute to go, Felix Kane Beauchamp scored the tournament-winning goal.

“Nobody could believe it, our players or parents. We went into that game saying we have zero pressure, all the pressure is on the AA team to win against a lower ranked team,” said Rodin.

The players made their joy known to all.

“It’s not like any regular celebration. It’s really like they won the Stanley Cup.”

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