THUNDER BAY – Chavez Constant says he’s been chasing a championship for 10 years.
It finally arrived on Sunday afternoon.
Constant, captain of the OCN Storm, scored what proved to be the game-winning goal, early in the third period, to help power his team to a 6-3 win over the Schreiber Falcons in the finale of the Central Canada Cup, a matinee affair contested at the Thunder Bay Tournament Centre.
“It’s unbelievable. I haven’t accepted one of these in a long while,” said Constant, who hails from the team’s home community, Opaskwayak Creen Nation in Manitoba.
“This one feels great, to be my last year. It’s unbelievable.”
Hoisting the trophy came the hard way. The Storm, who won their regular season title, only to fall to the Peguis Juniors in the Keystone Junior Hockey League championship, only managed a single point in the four-team round-robin portion of the Central Canada Cup, the Junior B tournament for teams from Manitoba and Northwestern Ontario, formerly known as the Keystone Cup.
But the Storm exacted a measure of revenge on Saturday, knocking off Peguis 7-1 in semifinal play, earning them a date with the Storm, who edged the Thunder Bay Northern Hawks 4-3 in the other semifinal.
“The boys finally bought into a game plan and we stuck with it. We have a great group of guys, mostly from OCN and The Pas. A lot of these guys grew up together, and they battled for each other,” Constant said.
OCN opened the scoring in the first, Ezekiel Kirkness jumping on a loose puck at the feet of Schreiber goaltender Andrew Kreis, the goal coming at the 4:35 mark.
The Falcons tied it up seven minutes later when Tyler Kinisky took a 2-on-1 pass from Owen Keene and ripped it past Storm goaltender Nolan Sinclair, Jr.
The lead stood for less than three minutes, Ron Campbell sneaking the puck past Kreis off the draw for a 2-1 OCN advantage, a lead they’d stretch to two 34 seconds later, the Storm up two men after the Falcons were assessed a pair of minors, seven seconds apart.
Milan Constant grabbed the puck just inside the Schreiber blueline and laced a shot through traffic that eluded Kreis and the Storm took a 3-1 lead into the break.
Schreiber got one back with 61 seconds to go in the second, having killed off another lengthy 5-on-3, before being awarded a full two-minute, two-man advantage of their own.
However, OCN was quick to respond to open the third, Chavez Constant blasting the puck from the left faceoff circle, over Kreis’ right shoulder to extend the lead to 4-2.
They’d add two goals late, sandwiched around a Noah Francis tally that cut the OCN advantage to 5-3 in the final minute of play. Harlan Jacobsen and Chavez Constant were the Storm goal scorers.
OCN coach Marcel Fontaine, who is leaving his post after this season, said it was a great team effort.
“Winning the final is an unbelievable feeling, winning the Holy Grail here” Fontaine said, echoing the sentiments of his captain.
“Last night we played with a lot of heart. We were short-staffed and we just wanted to continue building on the momentum, keep our feet on the gas and play a disciplined hockey game.”
