By Morgan Davy
FRANKFORD – The Quinte West Juvenile Hawks have a chance to take home the Ontario Minor Hockey Association A championship title.
If the Hawks can dominate in the next three games of their best-of-five playoff series, they have a shot at a third consecutive OMHA trophy. A run like that hasn’t been seen in Quinte West since the Hawks’ assistant coach, Bill Glover, was a player on the team in the mid-1970s.
The Hawks are down 2-0 in the series against the Erie North Shore Storm.
Glover has coached hockey for over 30 years. He said that when Hawks head coach Corey Ignas asked him to help out, he couldn’t say no.
“My father was a big guy in Trenton minor hockey. He started coaching in 1958 and he coached right through till the ‘90s. It’s more or less been a family tradition, you know, something I wanted to follow up on.”
Ignas has been with the Hawks for two successful seasons, but this year, things feel different, he says.
“This year we only had six guys returning, so we had to bring a lot of new players in to fill the voids. We took guys from house league who maybe have never been in playoff hockey before,” he said.
Although most of this year’s team is new, a lot of alumni players still have a relationship with the team and support the new guys.
“Our local guys that have won it the past couple of years, they’re still hanging around. They come down to the dressing room to see the guys. I saw a lot of them at the game on Sunday night, actually,” said Glover.
Ignas agreed: “They’ve all really taken pride in their accomplishments, you know, winning the championships. They’ve formed like an alumni, and you don’t see that in minor hockey too much.”
Conner Gunter, the team captain and third-year veteran of the Hawks, says that for him the game is about more than wins and losses.
“I like showing up to the arena with all the boys there, in the dressing room. It’s fun. Obviously being out on the ice is great, but I was raised in a rink, so everything about it is awesome.”
Getting the win would mean a lot more this year because the team is so young, Gunter said.
“The team has changed up – it’s like brand new. We’ve overcome a lot of adversity throughout the season, with new people and the faster-paced hockey they might not be used to. But they’ve stepped up and it’s worked out. We’ve made it this far,” said Gunter.
Ignas said that being the defending champs has been hard for the new Hawks.
“Everybody’s been gunning at us all year. Even during regular season they were running at us from behind, putting our heads into the boards. We actually had a lot of stuff going on with some referees at the start of the season, having to protect certain players. It’s been a tough go, but that’s just part of being on top.”
Ignas admits it would be nice to have another provincial title under his best, but said his players need to remember that hockey is a game.
“This is hockey, right? One team’s got to win and one team’s got to lose. Nobody likes being second place, but that’s sports. It’s just a matter of battling back, and we really don’t have a choice at this point. We just have to win one period at a time, one game at a time, and take it in small steps.”
Gunter said that even though this will probably be his last year playing competitive hockey, he won’t forget the buddies he’s made.
“It’s a brotherhood. It seems weird, but it’s a life style. Hockey players just have that certain kind of bond.”
The Hawks’ next game is Saturday in the Storm’s hometown, Kingsville, Ont.
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