Ste Anne Aces top Manitoba senior hockey mountain

Another provincial championship banner is set to hang inside Ste Anne’s Maurice Chaput Arena.

The Ste Anne Aces swept the provincial senior A championship over the Killarney Shamrocks in the most dramatic of fashion, scoring with under 10 seconds to go in a decisive game two to tie the game, before a Steph Pattyn marker in overtime clinched a 6-5 victory for Ste Anne.

“I said to the boys, ‘why do we do this to ourselves,’” team captain Brenden Walker quipped after returning to Ste Anne.

The Aces needed a late tying goal from Walker and an overtime winner from Cody Fowlie to beat the Springfield Winterhawks for the league title to make provincials.

Fowlie played a role in the game two win as well, tipping home a shot to tie the game late to set up Pattyn’s heroics.

“It was awesome,” Walker said.

“It makes it so much fun, it makes it that much better. It seems like it’s meant to happen. I was right there when the puck went in… I couldn’t believe it.”

The winning goal came on a beautiful play, set up perfectly by Jordan DePape. DePape entered the zone with Pattyn for a two-on-two rush, peeling off near the point to open up a lane for a shot-pass to the cutting Pattyn right in front of the Shamrocks net. His tip-in prompted celebrations from the fans who made the trip to Killarney and team-mates who poured onto the ice in celebration.

The Aces had lost the provincial championship the past two years, after resuming play in the South East Manitoba Hockey League and winning the league for three consecutive years.

“Summer-time is going to be way better,” Walker said.

“Winning is way better, that’s for sure… We were saying on the bus summer would suck if we had lost.”

It’s Ste Anne’s first win away from their home rink at provincials since returning to play in 2022. With long travel days to unfamiliar buildings, senior teams are in tough to nab wins as a visitor.

“We just had a different mindset this year,” Walker said.

“The last couple years, I was in the hospital, I hadn’t been around. It was just a totally different mindset and that’s what put us over the edge.”

Even as the Aces dominated game two on the shot clock, especially in overtime, the Shamrocks appeared poised to win. Killarney goaltender Brian Archibald faced 67 shots in the loss, including more than 20 in overtime. In game one, played March 30 at Ste Anne, the Aces just barely hung onto a third period lead to pick up a win.

The close results came despite Ste Anne looking like a faster skating, more skilled team throughout most of the games. Walker credited the Shamrocks for playing a “smart,” game, noting it was a big change for the Aces to go from a battle against a young, hungry Springfield team in the final, to the savvy game the Shamrocks play.

“We knew we had to out-skate them,” Walker said.

“That was how we were going to beat them, just attack the puck everywhere on the ice and check hard.”

With most of the Aces roster planning to return next season, there will be an even bigger on target on Ste Anne’s back, a proposition Walker is relishing.

“Let ‘em come hungry, let ‘em come better, I hope they do,” Walker said.

“I know we’re going to come stronger and better, so I sure hope everyone else does too.”

The Aces will host their annual golf tournament fundraiser this summer.