MANITOULIN—The Manitoulin Panthers novice hockey team brought home a silver medal from the tournament of champions event held in Iroquois Falls earlier this month.
The Panthers competed against other teams from towns across Northern Ontario including Powassan, Wawa, South Porcupine, Iroquois Falls and Cochrane.
The Panthers semi-final game against South Porcupine went into overtime, with Carter Morrell sealing the deal with the winning goal for Manitoulin.
In the final game, Spencer Cortes had a penalty shot against Powassan and scored.
A special thank you goes to Given Cortes who manned the sound booth and was the announcer for the weekend, providing special comments about the players during team introductions. The novice Panthers were up in the sound booth with Given at times, watching some of the games.
The Panthers’ roster includes head coach Jesse Peltier, assistant coaches Scott Stephens, Nelson Deschenes and Chris King, trainer Brayden Rajotte, manager Dana Rancourt and players Anderson Bennett, Bryden Romaniuk, Brynn Best, Carter Morrell, Cohen Rajotte, Easton Assinewai, Koda Peltier, Liam Stephens, Lincoln Rancourt, Max King, Roen Deschenes, Ryan Carter, Spencer Cortes and Trinity Cheechoo.
The organizer of the tournament came into the change room at the end of the tournament and told the Panthers that they should hold their heads up high because he said they represented Manitoulin Island extremely well and with class.
