Habs and Warriors amped for CRJHL playoffs

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This article was published 20/02/2025 (399 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

It took until the final day of the Capital Region Junior Hockey League (CRJHL) season, but the St Malo Warriors ended their championship defense regular season in first place.

The Warriors defeated La Broquerie 7-3 Feb. 16 to clinch top spot in the league, holding off the Beausejour Comets and earning a first-round playoff bye. Head coach and general manager Ralph Collette said the team’s goal at the start of the season was to finish in first place in the regular season.

“We know that nothing is easy in the playoffs, lots can happen,” Collette said.

“I think we’re ready. It was a long season. It seems like the guys were anxious to get the playoffs rolling.”

Collette said the coaching staff is asking the players to work and get on the ice as much as possible during the bye, with a focus on shoring up their special teams plans.

“We want to keep them focused and keep them ready,” Collette said.

“It could be a long two weeks waiting, and we need to make sure these guys are ready to roll.”

The Warriors are one of the beneficiaries of the Kenora Islanders suspending operations mid-way through their Superior International Junior Hockey season. With junior A players up for grabs, St Malo was able to nab Elijah Constant, a 2006-born defenseman from Northern Saskatchewan.

“We’re very happy to have him,” Collette said.

“(Constant is) a very tall guy, he’s got a lot of range. I think he’s got more of a grinding game than we thought, but he uses his reach really well.”

On the other side of the rink, the La Broquerie Habs had nothing to play for in their final game of the season, having already locked up home ice advantage in their first-round series with Selkirk.

The Habs and Fishermen appeared destined to face each other in the first round for over a month now, with the only question being who would get home ice advantage in that series. A win and overtime loss against North Winnipeg Feb. 11 and 14 were enough to ensure home ice for La Broquerie, despite identical 41-point finishes.

“Obviously the playoffs are the best time of the year,” head coach Dan Taillefer said.

“Our whole team is excited for the first go-around at playoffs here. Can’t wait for Thursday.”

Getting home ice advantage for the first round is an excellent result for a Habs team in their first year in the CRJHL.

“We’ve got to be the hardest working team every night,” Taillefer said.

“When we play hard, we play simple and fast, we’re very effective… We always get pretty good fans out, so hopefully there’s even a bit more for playoffs. It will be quite exciting for the guys and the whole community.”

If the Habs are able to get past Selkirk in the playoffs, they could be staring at what should be a lucrative series with St Malo. The two fanbases packed the St Malo Arena for the final, nearly meaningless game of the season, and a potential playoff match-up could supercharge a burgeoning rivalry.

“It’s a rivalry, there’s no doubt,” Collette said.

“It’s not that deep, obviously. It’s their first year in the league but (La Broqurie and St Malo are) two French-Canadian towns, a little bit of pride there.”

Taillefer and the Habs are more focused on the job at hand — getting past a tough Selkirk squad. Not only did they finish with the exact same point total, the teams split games against each other, with La Broquerie winning three times and the Fishermen twice. The difference came down to the first game of the season, a 1-0 win for the Habs in Selkirk to pick up the franchise’s first victory.

“(Selkirk) is a good team, every game against them has been close,” Taillefer said.

“We feel like if we play like we can, we’re a tough team to beat. Selkirk is a good defensive team, so it will be a challenge to generate some offense, so we’ll have to be patient and pick our spots.”

The best-of-five series will kick off with two games in Selkirk Feb. 20 and 23, before shifting back to La Broquerie for three straight games Feb. 25 and March 1/2 if necessary.

League Notes

Altona is in the process of applying to join the CRJHL. The league requires a unanimous vote to add any teams to their league.

The CRJHL is also potentially moving to allow more overage players in the coming years, with a vote on that rule change to come this off-season.