Yukoners help B.C. female hockey team win bronze medal

The 2008 National Aboriginal Hockey Championships were special for Team B.C.'s female squad, who ended its medal drought at the event by placing third.

The 2008 National Aboriginal Hockey Championships were special for Team B.C.’s female squad, who ended its medal drought at the event by placing third. And with three of the top players on the team residing in the Yukon, the bronze medal finish was every bit as special for the territory as well.

This was the first time the group hasn’t come back empty handed at the tournament, making it the most successful championships for both B.C. and the Yukon.

The team’s accomplishment was even more meaningful because they were viewed as one of the underdogs throughout the whole competition and needed a victory in the final round robin game to even qualify for the semi-finals.

“They were a great bunch of girls,” said the team’s co-coach Debbie Strome.

“We didn’t put pressure on them, like you have to win this game because then we can get a medal. It’s like, ‘You guys, even if we lose in the bronze medal game we are still winners.’ That was how we approached it and they bought into that big time because they were so happy to be even in the position we were in.”

Tryouts for B.C.’s male and female teams were held back in February.

The male team had approximately 40 players take part, while the female side had a total of 16.

The Yukon was well represented with both teams, including an impressive total of six players on the male squad.

The players were Alex McDougall, Daniel Clethroe, Zack Moses, Glenn Skookum, Collin Dendys and Lowell Johnston.

The B.C. male team finished the tournament in seventh place, but among the highlights included McDougall being named as one of the all-stars in the championships.

The three Yukoners on the female team were Selena Kaytor, from Dawson City, who participated in the tournament for the second year in a row and Teslin’s Jocelyn Boutilier, who has competed at the championships on five separate occasions.

The other Yukoner to make the team was goaltender Teneesha Merkel, who lives in Whitehorse.

Out of the 16 individuals who tried out for the female camp, one was released, while three were placed on an alternate list.

Strome, after having concerns about the overall depth on the team, began a recruiting process, which involved researching towns throughout the province that had minor hockey programs and then making numerous calls to inquire about any potential players.

Her desire to assemble the best possible on-ice team eventually put Strome in contact with Darrell Eustashe, who coaches in Kamloops, B.C. Eustashe not only offered five of his best players, but he also agreed to come on board as the team’s other co-coach at the tournament.

When the championships began at the end of April, the final roster on the team was comprised of 18 players, with the majority still in high school and the youngest just turning 14 years old.

The female competition featured seven teams, who competed out of one pool, while the male championships had 10 teams that were divided into two pools.

The first competition the B.C. girls saw at the championships, held in Sault Ste. Marie, Ont. was against Ontario North.

Team B.C. ended up losing the game 7-2, which was a score that didn’t give an accurate reflection of the game, which had several positives results, such as B.C. coming together as a group and not getting down on themselves about the opening day loss.

Team Saskatchewan was the next opponent for B.C. and despite their second loss in a row, the girls continued to get better, dropping the game by only one goal.

Game 3 featured B.C. going up against tournament favourite Ontario South.

Once again the girls continued to improve as a squad.

They held southern Ontario scoreless in the first period and then took a one goal lead in the second frame.

However, Team Ontario South would prove to be too much for them and the final score was 5-2.

Special teams really hurt B.C. in its third straight loss of the tournament,with four of southern Ontario’s five goals coming on the power play.

Once again the score didn’t reflect the great play from B.C., who gave Ontario South a real scare after going up 2-1 before falling into penalty trouble, which ultimately cost them the game.

This was the first game Merkel played in the championships, and she impressed both coaches with her great performance in the net.

Throughout the whole game, Merkel stood on her head, making a number of key saves to give B.C. a chance to get the victory.

Merkel’s outstanding efforts in the third contest resulted in her getting the nod in goal for the following game against Eastern Door, who represented Quebec.

With both solid goaltending and plenty of offense, Team B.C. won its first game of the tournament by the close score of 5-4.

The team was ahead 5-2 before Eastern Door added two more goals, but that was as close as Merkel allowed them to come in the contest.

With the victory, B.C. ranked fifth overall and needed to win its next game against Saskatchewan in order to qualify for the tournament’s medal round.

With their hopes of medalling on the line, the B.C. girls put forth their best effort of the championships against Team Saskatchewan, winning by a thrilling score of 2-0.

Besides the victory, one of the highlights of the contest was receiving an inspirational talk from New York Islanders head coach Ted Nolan, who gave the team some advice during the first intermission.

The victory placed them fourth overall, which resulted in B.C. drawing a semi-final matchup against Ontario South.

In the semi-finals, the B.C. girls came within an inch of upsetting Team Ontario South.

They led by a score of 3-2 right up until the final six minutes of the third period when southern Ontario drew even.

Ontario South scored the go ahead goal with just 39 seconds left in the game and then added an empty netter to seal the 5-3 victory.

With the loss, B.C. was set to compete against Eastern Door with the bronze medal on the line, during the final day of competition at the tournament.

Saving its best performance for last, Team B.C. pulled out a stellar 2-0 win to take home the bronze medal for the first time ever at the championships.

Strome credits the great finish to the team playing so well as a group throughout the whole competition.

“I have coached for 17 years and I have done a lot of short-term competitions like this and I have never a team come together as quickly as these girls did,” she said.

“They were a great bunch of girls and we had a very structured schedule and I think that helped bring everything together as well.

When you get to a national level or a high performance level, you have to look after your body and get the right foods.

We were pretty strict with them on doing everything that was going to help us. I think in the end they saw the payoff of all the structure.”

She said said the team’s goal going into the championship was to place fifth.

“Our expectations were let’s get in the top five because both (Eustashe) and myself, we never had been to this tournament before, but we also knew we were going in ranked last or second last,” Strome said.

“So we told the girls, let’s just get in the top five and everything after that will be a bonus.

Once we got fifth it’s like, you know what, it doesn’t matter, nothing matters because we have already accomplished our goal, so if we win it’s a bonus.

It really made the players relax, so I think because they were relaxed they played better hockey.”

Strome said what makes placing third even more special is the fact that all of the girls are eligible to return in 2009.

“We are hoping we can get these girls back again and I think going in ranked last and coming in third made it very special,” she said.

“I think it made the girls believe in themselves too. It gave them a lot of self confidence, (knowing) if you work for it you can get it.”

She said the players from the Yukon were a major reason why the team was so successful.

“We hope to draw more players from the north next year,” Strome said.

“We were excited to get Teneesha back and get some more players from the Yukon because I think it is neat that girls from up there can come down.”

Strome said winning the bronze medal will go a long way in attracting more players to the tryout camp next year.

“I think people who might have known about the program probably knew that B.C. never does well,” she said.

“So I think that it will be a big boost.”

Merkel, 15, said it was incredible to win the bronze medal.

“I just thought it was great, seeing as how B.C. has never gotten that before,” she said.

“I just thought it was such a big accomplishment to get that.

The teams I have played for, we don’t really win much, so winning bronze, I thought that was just such a great thing.

With all the younger players I thought that we were going to do worse, but it really surprised me when we did this well.”

She said what made it really special was the fact that it was an aboriginal tournament.

“I like that it was an aboriginal thing. I thought that was really good that they are doing that,” Merkel said.

“There’s not many places that really do much for aboriginal sports.

There’s more stuff involved with just regular hockey or just all those sports where anyone can play.

I just thought it was good to recognize that there is so much talent in the aboriginal people too.”

She said the team thrived being in the underdog position.

“I think our whole team did,” Merkel said.

“Knowing that no matter what, we really had nothing to lose and everything to gain going as the bottom team.

Every game we won, we just got so much out of that.”

She said she wants to participate in the championships again this year because of enjoying it so much in 2007.

“Last year I just thought it was a great experience,” Merkel said.

“The friends that you make and the people that you meet. It was a good way to meet people and this year we got to meet Ted Nolan, which I thought was really good.

I thought it was good that there was such a well known guy coming to a tournament like that and meeting us and talking with us.

I thought we played just a little bit better knowing he was watching us.”

Merkel said the highlight of the competition was how close the team became as friends throughout the championships.

“Winning the bronze was a great thing, but I think the best part of this whole thing was how our team just all became friends,” she said.

“So there was no one left out. It was really good for us to come together like that. I think that was the best part.”