New year off to good start for minor hockey

With the new season underway, the Kahnawake Minor Hockey Association (KHMA)’s new board of directors thinks the future is bright for hockey in the community.

“This year we have seen a significant increase in registrations with nearly 230 kids signed up,” said Emily Wahiaronkwas Stacey, board member of KHMA. Twenty-five other players, both male and female, will also be playing on double-letter teams and school teams outside the community.

The numbers are especially high for U7 and U9 teams, the association’s youngest age groups. Four teams will make up those age groups, as well as two U11, U13, and U15 teams, plus a U18 and the brand new U21 Junior team.

Another change this year will be brand new jerseys, with designs by local artists put up to a vote by the community in Facebook polls.

“The decision to bring in new jerseys came from a lot of parent and community feedback, when the jerseys were changed to the black and orange jerseys featuring the minor baseball logo two years ago,” said Stacey.

“Wanting community feedback, we decided a Facebook poll was the quickest and easiest way to reach as many people as possible to help guide the KMHA board's decision for the final jersey design.”

Stacey said that the jerseys have not yet been unveiled, but the board is hopeful that they will be ready by mid-November. The Mohawks will continue to wear their current jerseys until then.

The KMHA’s newest team, the U21 Junior B Mohawks, have also officially started play, after years of demand from local players and parents.

Goaltender Maxwell Goodleaf was one of the players who had been asking for the junior team, after having to play outside the community for the last few years, including spending the last two with Chateauguay.

“It’s amazing to play for the community and really try and reconnect with old teammates,” said Goodleaf, who made the team after the tryout process in late September.

Many players from the community answered KMHA’s call for participation and took part in the tryouts, enough to ice a full team and make some cuts to the roster before the season started – seven skaters and one goaltender did not make the team, according to Goodleaf.

“Everyone gave their all and tried their best, you leave everything out there, and you hope it falls into place,” said Goodleaf.

Goodleaf did make the team, and he will share the net this season with Daymond Paul.

The Mohawks will be playing in the Lac St. Louis region’s Junior B league, playing almost every week until the end of February.

“To help improve scores this year, all our teams will start in the B and C division, aside from U15, which will feature an A and B team because we had a lot of kids return from double letters, making them strong enough to be an A team,” said Stacey.

In their first game, the visiting Mohawks tied the Vaudreuil-Dorion Mustangs 2, ending the game 3-3.

“We had some really rough turnovers, but it was definitely a good way to start,” said Goodleaf, the starter against the Mustangs 2.

The U21B Mohawks will play their home opener this Friday at 10 p.m. at the Kahnawake Sports Complex, taking on the West Island Royals. The Royals won their opening game 12-4 against the West Island Flyers on October 12.

The new team is coached by head coach Curtis Diabo, along with assistants Thunder Jacobs and Ross Leclaire.

“With the craziness of registrations and the beginning of a new season, the junior team's parents took it upon themselves to find coaching and management staff for the team, which helped the KMHA board tremendously,” said Stacey. “We are excited to see how this first year goes and what the future holds.”

The full roster list, schedule, and results for the U21 Junior B Mohawks can be found on Lac St. Louis Hockey’s website.

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