Two weekends, two finals for Stacey

It’s one thing to be in the crease for one tournament hockey game, especially as a 16-year-old playing against Senior competition.

But for Kahnawake’s Pryor Stacey, that challenge came not once, not twice, but three times on the same day, in two different cities, as part of the Wendat Major Hockey Tournament last weekend.

Stacey was invited to play for the Waswanipi Chiefs team after a friend of his father Mike contacted them to see if Pryor would be available.

He was, and although the Chiefs got off to a rough start - losing their first two games 3-1 and 6-1 on Friday, April 3 - Pryor stayed motivated and continued to play hard.

“The beginning of the tournament was a little rough, because we had to adjust our style of play to the other teams in the tournament, but I just had to keep in my mind to keep playing no matter the outcomes,” said Pryor.

The Chiefs then won their last game on Friday night 5-1, then on Sunday they won twice more, a pair of 3-2 wins, to send them to the A division finals.

That second 3-2 win was the division finals, against the same team that had beaten them 6-1 during the initial portion of the tournament.

“In my opinion, that was our toughest game of the tournament and we played our best as a team,” said Pryor.

“We got our revenge from the first time we played them, so I feel like that was the best memory.”

The tournament finals, however, were being held in Wendake, near Quebec City, later that evening, while their previous game was played in Trois Rivieres, about a 90-minute drive away.

By the time they got to Wendake, the players were tired, and two had to drop out, and they ultimately lost 3-0 in the finals.

“That hurt the lineup,” said Mike of the absence of two players in the finals.

“It’s definitely tough on the mind, but my main thoughts were to just stay in the present,” said Pryor.

“That game was definitely harder for me and my team because we were pretty tired from travelling from Trois Rivieres to Quebec City, so it was tough on us, but we still tried our hardest.”

The team did not leave empty handed, with a finalist banner and $15,000 to split between the players.

That finals appearance comes the weekend after Pryor was invited to play the Mashteuiatsh Indigenous Hockey Tournament, where he again made the finals playing against Senior players, this time for the Pessamit Montagnais, who lost 2-1 to the host Mashteuiatsh Redmen. The team won $10,000 for their second-place finish.

Mike was very impressed with his son’s play.

“He stepped up when the team needed him, he didn’t look nervous in the net. I think being young helped him out playing three games in a day,” said Mike, who also credits his play in the United States this year for his development over the season.

“I’m just a proud dad that he was able to make two finals in two tourneys with two different teams. I’d also like to thank everyone that has helped him get to where he wants to go, without their support, he wouldn’t be where he is now.”

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