Blaring car horns and an impromptu motorcade broadcast the news that something big had happened in St. Anthony on Saturday evening.
But many of the town had no idea just what.
Mystified residents were unaware that the 3A provincial ball hockey tournament was even in town but they were left in no doubt that Harriot Curtis Collegiate (HCC) Huskies had just been crowned champions.
Losing the opening round fixture against Dorset Collegiate 7-5, the Huskies went through the rest of the tournament undefeated, piling on some hefty score lines in the process and running into fellow Northern Peninsula contenders Canon Richards Memorial Academy Wildcats in the play-offs.
The Huskies downed the Wildcats 7-3 and took revenge for their opening game loss against Dorset Collegiate to the championship 6-4.
While their dominance on their gymnasium was rarely challenged, just getting to the provincials was a task in itself.
HCC’s first ever 3A provincial ball hockey title may never have happened had it not been for a dedicated group of volunteers led by teacher Jeff Blackler.
Up until three weeks ago, the event was to be held at the other end of the province at Pilley’s Island.
They had to pull out of hosting duties and High School Sports sent an email to the 10 competing teams asking for another host to step up or the championships were off.
Jeff Blackler along with St. Anthony Recreation Department coordinator and HCC coach Brandon Reardon and assistant coach Daniel Bock agreed to organize the event in quick time.
Had it not been for their hosting role, HCC would not have even made it into provincial playoff contention.
A brutal winter storm on April 2 prevented the team from leaving St. Anthony to compete in the regional playoffs at Port au Choix, which were won by Canon Richards Memorial Academy.
“The community support was huge,” Mr. Reardon said.
“I think the biggest challenge we faced was finding accommodation for all of the teams. There were about 100 or so players and we managed to billet most of them out to parents and families in the area.”
Hurried as it was, visiting coaches heaped praise on the hosts for a job well done.
“We had some of the coaches come up and thank us for hosting it,” he said.
As for the winning team’s performance?
“It was unbelievable,” Mr. Reardon said.
“The amount of improvement from game one to game six was unbelievable. They really gelled together and everything fell into place.”
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