THUNDER BAY—Two Manitoulin Island hockey players brought home silver medals from the recent Ontario Winter Games held in Thunder Bay. Both Jaxsin Chatwell of Naughton, a 13-year-old defenseman for the Sudbury Wolves U14AA (bantam) team, originally of Gore Bay, and Koda Peltier of Sudbury, originally of Wiikwemkoong Unceded Territory, a 13-year-old centreman for the Sudbury Wolves A U15 team, were members of the Northern Ontario Hockey Association (NOHA) team.
“We won the silver medal,” stated Tim McWhirter, coach of the NOHA team. “It was a fantastic event and a whirlwind five days. I don’t know the right words to use to describe how proud myself and the other team coaches are of the players. They represented the NOHA, their parents, their club team and their communities first class.”
“The kids played their hearts out and earned the silver medal,” said Mr. McWhirter. He explained the NOHA team finished with two wins and a loss in the round-robin part of the tournament (which included four teams) and were first seed heading into the playoffs.
“We won our semi-final game against a team from Ottawa. We lost the final 3-2 (to the Credit River Capitals of Brampton) but that game could have gone either way. The two teams played a classic game, one for the ages,” said Mr. McWhirter. “The level of intensity in the game and the commitment of the players came through. It was a fantastic hockey game. You had two teams that were very skilled and played a very high paced game. And there were no shenanigans, there were only two penalties called in the entire game. It was the two best teams in the tournament. It was an amazing game and an amazing event.”
“Jaxsin, Koda, everybody, all the players. As I said, I can’t put into words how pleased we were with how each individual contributed,” said Mr. McWhirter. “Every player did everything we could ask and more.”
Mr. McWhirter pointed out the NOHA team only had a total of 130 minutes of practice time together during the tournament, 50 minutes at a pre-tournament practice in Wawa and 80 minutes in Thunder Bay.
“Jaxsin played well,” said his father, Troy Chatwell. “I think he had some nerves at the start of the first game, but from there he came into his own. He had the opportunity to be on the power play and penalty kill. The NOHA team never had even one goal scored against them on their penalty kill. And even in the final game when they were down a goal, had to kill a penalty, and pulled the goalie, they still didn’t get scored on.”
“It was an excellent venue and the NOHA coaches and staff were awesome,” said Troy Chatwell.
Jaxsin opened the scoring in the final gold medal game on a slap shot from the point. “I didn’t think I was going to score in the game, but I was fortunate and did. It was a great tournament and experience and a lot of fun. I think I played pretty well after I adjusted and got comfortable after the start.”
Jacob Brown, technical director of operations with NOHA said, “Jaxsin played extremely well and logged a lot of minutes in the tournament. And Koda, after a sort of slow start, really found his way and played really well. Keep in mind he is only 13. But he contributed a lot to the team.”
“Koda played well,” said proud father Jesse Peltier. “He settled into the role he was given and held his ground. We haven’t had time to sit and talk and digest the entire event. But what we can gather by what he has said so far, he had a great time, he had a great roommate and made connections with members of the team that hopefully will continue in the years to come.”
“Of course, he was disappointed the team didn’t win the gold medal, but was certainly happy to get a silver medal,” said Mr. Peltier.
Koda Peltier told the Expositor, “It was really fun. I had the chance to meet a lot of new people, make new friends and play a whole new level of hockey. I learned a lot.”
“I played pretty solid,” stated Koda. “I didn’t score in the tournament, but I did get an assist on a pretty nice pass in the second game we played.”
Mr. McWhirter said that for the two Manitoulin Island skaters, “It says a lot about the minor hockey program on Manitoulin Island that these small communities are developing mature players that can play at the highest level. Hats off to them.”
