THUNDER BAY — The Kam River Fighting Walleye aren’t just happy to be at the Centennial Cup.
Not by a long-shot.
Though they’ll enter the 10-team tournament as decided underdogs, the recently crowned Superior International Junior Hockey League champions have every intention of making a name for themselves in Portage La Prairie, Man., when the 11-day national Junior A championship kicks off Thursday morning, about an hour west of Winnipeg.
“We’re trying to find that healthy mix of we can do this and win, but at the same time, there’s not too much pressure for our team,” goaltender Eric Vanska said, prior to the team’s first post-championship practice on Saturday night at Fort William First Nation Arena, four days after knocking off the Thunder Bay North Stars in seven games to claim the Bill Salonen Cup.
It’s just the fourth time an SIJHL team has made the Centennial Cup, which last year expanded from only including regional champions to inviting nine Canadian Junior Hockey League winners, plus a host team, to vie for the coveted title.
The Fort William North Stars in 2006, with future NHLers Robert Bortuzzo and Carter Hutton in the lineup, made the semifinals, while seven years later the Minnesota Wilderness fell 5-4 to the eventual champion Brooks Bandits in the semifinal round.
Last year, the Red Lake Miners, under the guidance of current Kam River coach Geoff Walker, lost all three games and were outscored 26-7.
SIJHL rookie-of-the-year Max Leduc said the Fighting Walleye aren’t looking at past results, and think they can open some eyes at the tournament, that will include the host Portage Terriers, the Brooks Bandits, the Battleford North Stars, the Steinbach Pistons, the Timmins Rock, the Ottawa Jr. Senators, the Terrebonne Cobras and the Yarmouth Mariners.
“A lot of people have asked about our confidence going in. There are nine other teams that have won. They’re all going through the same things we are. They think we’re underdogs coming in, but I think we’ve prepared ourselves very well and I think we’re going to do very good,” Leduc said.
Leduc said the Walleye (40-11-2) know from experience that taking an underdog for granted can come back to bite a team.
“Underdog is a big title for us,” he said.
Walker said he learned a lot coaching at last year’s Centennial Cup and is looking to pass that knowledge onto a new batch of players. The draw helps, with the defending champion Bandits not on the round-robin slate, but that said, no team is going to be a pushover.
“All the teams are going to be good,” Walker said. “We’re looking forward to resetting and getting back on the ice a few times and getting to work and make sure we’re ready to hit the ground running on Thursday.”
It helps that instead of several weeks between the end of the SIJHL season and the start of the Centennial Cup, the Fighting Walleye will only have a week-long break. It doesn’t help they’ve seen very little about their opponents, starting with Battleford on Thursday.
“We watched some video on Battleford this weekend. They’re a big, fast, direct hockey team that keeps things simple and comes at you in waves,” Walker said. “So we’re going to have to make sure we’re on point with everything that we’re doing from the drop of the puck.”
The Fighting Walleye take on Portage and former Thunder Bay North Stars forward Michael Stubbs on Saturday night, Steinbach on Sunday and Ottawa on Tuesday.
