Mohawks playoff hockey going strong
Courtesy Kyle Zacharie
The road to finals has been a long one for the Kahnawake Minor Hockey Association (KMHA)’s U11B Mohawks.
Their last hurdle before the championship game - and a spot in regionals later this year - will be this Saturday, at 7:30 p.m. at Mont Royal Arena.
The team, which lost their first game of the playoffs against the same MRO Devils that they beat Wednesday night in a shootout to clinch a semi-finals berth, is riding high following their string of playoff wins.
“The team is pumped. They can see the end now, after that first loss playoffs really set us back,” said Kyle Zacharie, assistant coach and manager for the U11B Mohawks.
“What should have been four games to get to the final has now been eight games.”
The Mohawks got off to a hot start Wednesday, going up 2-0 in the first period. MRO then called a timeout, settling their players down, before tying it up 2-2 by the end of the initial period.
That’s how it stayed before overtime.
“Both teams were having chances. I don’t know how many posts we hit,” said Zacharie. “They had rebounds right in front of the net, and somehow, they stayed out of the net. It was a really exciting game.”
Kahnawake did not have their regular goaltender for either of their playoff games this week, due to other commitments, so they were forced to call up Ryan-Odynn Whiteduck and Holden Beaton. Zacharie said both played great and came up with big saves in both games, with Whiteduck playing the whole first game and a portion of the second.
Overtime remained scoreless - including an MRO powerplay - so the game went to a shootout.
Then still, it remained scoreless until Shotarowa:ne Jacobs scored a top-shelf goal to win.
“I know they really wanted that win last night, and it came off just the way they wanted,” said Zacharie.
The previous night, Kahnawake defeated the St. Laurent Warriors 7-2.
“It was a fairly close game for the first and second period, we took off in the third period,” said Zacharie.
The U11B Mohawks will find out after The Eastern Door’s publishing deadline whether they will play against the Verdun Bulldogs or the MRO Demons.
Three other Mohawks teams will be playing semi-finals or finals games over the weekend.
The U18B Mohawks face off for the championship against the Lachine Rapids at 8:30 p.m. at Mont Royal Arena Saturday. They got there by beating the MRO Devils 2-1.
The U13C Mohawks are finals bound as well, shutting out the Montreal West Knights 1-0. The U13C Finals will be Sunday, March 30, at 3:30 pm at Samuel Moskovitch Arena in a rematch against the Westmount Wings.
In the other semi-finals match, the U15A Mohawks will play the Lachine Rapides tonight, Friday, at 7 p.m. at Pete Morin Arena.
Other results and upcoming games
March 21: The U18B Mohawks beat the Lachine Rapides 6-3; the U15A Mohawks lost 1-0 in overtime to the LaSalle Lions.
March 22: The U13B Mohawks defeated the St. Laurent Warriors 2-1 in a shootout.
March 23: The U13B Mohawks lost 5-2 against the Verdun Bulldogs, ending their postseason; the U11C Mohawks were beaten 2-1 by the Lachine Rapides, putting an end to their playoffs; the U15A Mohawks defeated the Verdun Leafs 3-1; the U13C Mohawks were defeated 4-3 by the Westmount Wings; the U18B Mohawks advance to the finals by defeating the MRO Devils 2-1.
March 25: The U15A Mohawks won against the CSL Canucks 2-1.
Sign up for email updates from The Eastern Door
March 28: The U18B Mohawks will face the Montreal West Knights at Samuel Moskovitch Arena at 7 p.m.
March 30: The U13C Mohawks will play for the championship against the Westmount Wings at 3:30 p.m. at Samuel Moskovitch Arena; the U21 Mohawks will play the Pierrefonds Barons at Kim St. Pierre Arena at 7:45 p.m.
While they have been eliminated from the EHL playoffs, the U11C and U13B Mohawks still have some games left to play, with both teams participating in the West Island Provincial Hockey Tournament.
The U11C Mohawks will play their first game of the tournament today, Friday, at 9 a.m. at Pointe Claire Arena against the West Island Knights, before facing off against the Lakeshore Jaguars at Ed Rouleau Arena on Saturday at 10 a.m.
As for the U13B team, they will start their tournament against the St. Laurent Warriors on Friday at 4 p.m. at Pointe Claire Arena, followed by a game against the NDG Panthers Saturday at 11 a.m., again at Ponte Claire Arena.
The Mohawks playing in any other tournament games will be determined by the results of the first two games.
