U18B Mohawks make semis

The last of the Kahnawake Minor Hockey Association (KMHA) teams to still be in regionals contention, the U18B Mohawks, saw their second leg of the tournament get off to a good start over the weekend.

They faced off against the Lakeshore Leopards, who had tied their first game of regionals 3-3 against the Chateauguay Knights on April 5, the day before the Mohawks shut out the Mercier Braves 2-0.

Kahnawake would continue its strong start to regionals by beating Lakeshore 2-1 on Saturday, April 12, in Chateauguay, with goals from Koda Diabo and Arahkwenhawe Two Axe – his second of regionals.

That win put Kahnawake on top of the regionals standings at the end of the round-robin portion of the tournament, clinching a semifinals appearance the next day.

That semifinals game? A rematch against the same Leopards they had beaten the previous day.

The result would not be the same, however, as the Leopards beat Kahnawake 3-1.

Carter Snow was the lone goalscorer for Kahnawake.

Compared to the relatively incident-light game on Saturday the night before, the semifinals game was anything but.

Ronnie Stacey, head coach of the U18B Mohawks, posted two separate videos on his Facebook page following the game that served to show to people who were not at the game what kind of game it was.

The first video saw a fan of the Leopards climb the boards to be over the glass, pointing and screaming at a Kahnawake player, before being urged to step down by Lakeshore’s players and other parents.

The second was of an on-ice incident that resulted in a Kahnawake player being ejected and receiving an automatic suspension – to which Stacey said his player was innocent.

The play in question came during the second period, when icing was called, even though the Kahnawake player seemed like he would have been able to get to the puck first, negating the icing.

“From the bench, we hear him yell ‘No f*cking way’ in protest of the linesman calling icing. The ref then calls him and claims he said: ‘You’re f*cking gay,’” said Stacey.

The player in question was served a major penalty for “Engaging in verbal taunts, insults, or intimidation based on discriminatory remarks,” which results in an automatic expulsion and an eight-game suspension.

Stacey believes that because the same player had received a penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct – specifically for “verbal abuse” of a referee – the previous night by the same referee, that impacted that call on the ice and others during the game.

He did, however, acknowledge that the team did take too many penalties and that they let their emotions get the best of them.

“Even knowing we were playing the refs as well, our guys should have had much better self-control and discipline,” said Stacey.

It is currently not known if the suspension can be appealed or if the player will have to serve that suspension if they return to play next year.

Lac St. Louis Hockey and the KMHA did not respond to requests for comment on the matter.

The Leopards would go on to lose 4-1 to the MRO Devils in the finals.

The Mohawks’ coach said that even after the events of the game, he won’t let that taint his view of an otherwise very successful season.

“I’m not putting that as a blemish to our season, as we were in the game right up to the end and clearly our hot heads got the best of us,” said Stacey.

The Mohawks finished their regular season with a stellar 16-4-4 record, a single point behind the same Devils that won regionals.

Their goal differential of 50 was best in the league, as they scored the most goals (89) and tied for fewest allowed (39).

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