THE SIX PACK

Sometimes you just know when you have it in the bag. For head coach Kevin Monkman and his Peguis Juniors, that moment of knowing took place at the end of the second period inside The Pas’ Gordon Laughlin Centre on April 14. At that point, no one would have criticized Juniors’ fans if they already started the celebration. After 40 minutes that night, the Juniors had a 5-1 lead in Game 5 of the championship series against the OCN Storm, and you could have broken out the Champagne. The Storm was already down 3-1 in the series and there was no way that the Storm was coming back. Now, in fairness, OCN had a rock solid third period, outscoring the visiting Juniors 4-3, but the damage had already been done. Two goals and an assist by first star Keanu Woodhouse, a goal and two assists by Jeremiah Jacques and three assists from second star and captain Lyle Murdock, with single goals scored by Marcus Crate, Keenan McPherson, Jackson Jacques, Darion Sinclair and Jayden McPherson. This combined with a 27-save effort by goaltender Aidan Marchand was all the Juniors needed to beat the Storm 8-5 and claim the Keystone Junior Hockey League championship and the Provincial Jr. B hockey banner for the sixth straight time. “It’s always exciting to win,” said Monkman, who won his third championship as head coach of the Juniors. “It’s exciting to see the look on the players’ faces. They worked so hard all year to get to that point and when they succeed, well, it’s all of their hard work that does it. I’m a guy who simply benefits from their hard work.” Drew Peters led the Storm with a goal and three assists, while Blaine Dorion scored twice late in the third period to make a game of it. Ezekiel Kirkness also added a goal and an assist in the losing effort. It was a bit of a waltz through the playoffs for the Juniors. They took out the PBCN Selects in the straight games in the best-of-five semifinal and then won the first two games of the final in OCN 8-6 and 5-4. OCN came back to win Game 3, 5-4 in overtime in Peguis, but the Juniors took a 3-1 series lead with a 7-5 win at home in Game 4. That all led to the 8-5 win in Game 4 that wrapped it up. For Monkman, it was a perfect coaching storm. His best players all season were his best players in the final. “Lyle Murdock was great and led the playoffs in scoring,” said Monkman. “Jackson Jacques was our leader on the backend. Ayden Manningway was huge for us throughout the playoffs. His leadership was important, but he just did everything well. He didn’t get a lot of points for us, but he played well every night. Jeremiah Jacques was good, too. I think he had five or six goals in the final round. “We also got a great effort from Dyson Pelletier and Keanu Woodhouse was huge for us on the penalty kill and he set the tempo for every game.” Despite the fact OCN won the regular season championship with a record of 25-8-0-1, the 24-9-0-1 Juniors were the class of the postseason. Still, Monkman had nothing but the highest level of respect for OCN Coach Marcel Fontaine and his Storm. “OCN was really tough in the final,” Monkman said. “They wouldn’t go away. Every time we’d score, they’d score. Every time they scored, we scored. It was always back-and-forth. That series could have gone either way. I thought Drew Peters had a really good playoffs for them and Chavez Constant, as usual, was really good." Monkman, who works for Manitoba Hydro, is a member of Ebb & Flow First Nation and calls Vogar, Man., his hometown. However, he thinks of Peguis as his second home. He spent much of his childhood at Peguis and played minor hockey there. He still has close friends in the community from all the way back in high school. He’s one of the giants of Junior coaching in Manitoba having won three KJHL championships as a head coach; a Manitoba Women’s Junior Hockey League championship with Prairie Blaze as an assistant coach to his close friend, Peguis recreation director, Dale Bear; and since taking over as head coach of Indigenous Team Manitoba in 2014, he’s won two gold medals and two bronze medals at the National Aboriginal Hockey Championships. However, it hasn’t been determined yet if he’ll return next season. “I’d like to go back to Peguis and coach next season and I’ve had some discussions with Ryan (Peguis Juniors’ governor Ryan McCorrister), but I‘m going to have a conversation with my kids first, as I do every year,” he said. “But anytime I can coach at Peguis, it’s a good opportunity for me. I’d like to coach again next season.”