Raising the Cup
Courtesy Kale Phillips
The Devils are this year’s Kahnawake Men’s Hockey League champions - although it took double overtime to seal the deal versus the Blackhawks last Saturday night at the Sports Complex.
“It was a really close game. We pretty much were going goal for goal, but then we ended up going down two,” said Kale Phillips, who is on the Devils.
They came back to tie the game at five, forcing a four-on-four overtime.
When neither team scored before the end of the first overtime, it was decided to go to three-on-three instead.
And that’s when Phillips, who had already scored twice, finished off his hat trick to clinch the championship, receiving a pass in the slot from behind the net and beating the Blackhawks’ goaltender.
“It felt really good. I know a lot of the guys on the team, a bunch of them had never won it before, so it felt good to be able to get it for them,” said Phillips, who had won a Men’s League championship once before.
“It was a cool game, and it could have gone either way. I’d rather play in a tight game like that, than winning a blowout.”
The regular season goes from October to March, with the four teams then playing semifinals games based on regular season standings the winners of each, in this case the Devils and Blackhawks, meeting in the finals to determine the winner of their Stanley Cup replica trophy and championship rings.
“It’s a lot of fun just to get together with the guys and play some good hockey,” said Phillips.
