The U18 BB Pontiac Lions mounted a late comeback in the fifth and final game of their league final against the Papineau Voisins on Sunday, but couldn’t quite make up the three-goal deficit and settled for a silver medal.
The game was the Lions’ final chance to lift this year’s Ligue régionale d’hockey de l’Outaouais (LHRO) championship trophy. After taking a 2-1 series lead, the Lions had an opportunity to close it out last Wednesday in Fort-Coulonge but suffered a 4-1 defeat.
Sunday in Masson-Angers, the Lions were warmly welcomed by a sea of green- and blue-clad Voisins fans who were to make the next three periods as difficult as possible for their visitors.
Sure enough, it was the hometown team who got out to a hot start, much to the enjoyment of the Masson crowd. The Voisins scored three goals in the first two periods, prompting a gaggle of young male fans at one end of the rink to climb and shake the boards.
The second period brought some penalty trouble for the hometown Voisins, who racked up three in the frame. This led to the Lions’ first goal of the game, when forward Jakob Dumouchel finally slid one past the Papineau goalie. The Lions’ travelling fans erupted, trying to infuse some life into the team.
After a back-and-forth third period, the Lions managed another goal, this time from Garrett Rusenstrom. Then, with only a few minutes remaining, Lions players repeatedly pushed toward goal with the hopes of getting the equalizer.
Eventually, the Lions pulled goalie Malik Deschenes in hopes that the man advantage would give them the tying goal. But it was Papineau that would score next, as their players added two more empty-net goals to put the game out of reach. The final score was 5-2.
“It was a heartbreaking game. For sure, the last game like that is always nerve-wracking, and I thought we did good, we could have won this game, we just got short,” said head coach Ced Caron, adding that the Voisins converted on their chances.
After the Papineau team was done celebrating, both teams lined up to receive their awards. The Lions received a banner and a silver trophy for their accomplishment, and each team member was awarded a medal.
Team captain Gibbson Lang was among the Lions players to hold up the banner. He said although the team wanted a different result, he was proud of how they stepped up when it counted most.
“Every game, there was always someone stepping up, and then when we were playing together there was no one who could stop us.”
At the end of the regular season the Lions were ranked fourth out of six teams. Thanks to the team clicking at the right time, they got hot in the playoffs, winning all five of their round-robin games to qualify for the final.
Lang said better chemistry and an improved penalty kill are a big part of what allowed the team to make the deep run.
“In the playoffs, especially in the round robin, we took a lot of penalties, but in the series we were able to stay out of the box most of the games, and that’s what helped us to make it to game five,” he said.
Caron said he was proud of how his players dug in their heels during the playoffs.
“The season was unreal. At the beginning of the year, nobody believed in us, we didn’t even know if we would have enough players for a team, and we played way over .500 this year and made the finals. It was a hell of a year.”
This year was the first at least since before the COVID-19 pandemic that Shawville District Minor Hockey has offered a U18BB team.
Lang returned to Shawville this year to play closer to home after playing competitively the last two seasons for the Hull Olympiques and Outaouais Dragons. He said it meant a lot to be able to make this playoff run in front of the home fans.
“It was fun to be able to play in front of my buddies [ . . . ] I haven’t played with them in six or seven years. Some old lads, some new lads. It was really fun,” he said of the run.
Lang also made sure to thank the fans and everyone who came out to cheer on the team during the season and the playoffs.
The Papineau Voisins will advance to the provincial championships later this month.
