Habs beat Warriors in all-Eastman CRJHL semi-final, lead final 1-0
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Championship hockey is back in La Broquerie.
The Habs will be playing for the Capital Region Junior Hockey League trophy after beating regional rivals St Malo three games to two in the league’s semi-finals.
A Colton Pakoo goal with just 42 seconds remaining in the first overtime of game six March 20 inside La Broquerie’s HyLife Centre sent the crowd into a frenzy.
Pakoo was able to corral a rebound and guide it into the back of the net after a backhand shot from Luke Tetreault bounced off the glove of Jozsé Gauthier-Urmos and landed in the crease.
Pakoo, who was named a league all-star this year and finished fourth in league scoring, had just a single assist before snapping his cold streak with the biggest goal he’s ever scored.
“Seeing the puck sitting on the line there, all I had to do was tap it in,” Pakoo said after the game.
“I knew I had to get that one… These are the best fans I’ve ever played with, we’re lucky to have them on our side throughout this run. I honestly blacked out. This was the greatest feeling ever.”
La Broquerie joined the CRJHL last season. The community had been without a junior or senior team for years, with fans ready to root for their home team once again. The rink appeared at capacity for game six, helped by a solid contingent of visiting St Malo fans.
“These fans are the best,” La Broquerie born Habs head coach Dan Taillefer said.
“They really showed up today… We’re super lucky to play in front of fans like that. We appreciate it… To have a junior B team back in La Broquerie, you could tell the community came to support us. It’s awesome.
It appeared the Warriors would force a deciding game three, striking twice in the first 40 minutes to take a 2-0 lead, but the Habs bounced back, scoring a pair of their own in the third to force overtime, setting up Pakoo’s heroics.
“I thought even in the first and the second we played pretty well, I thought maybe we were a bit nervous and in the third we just really told the guys to dig deep and believe in themselves,” Taillefer said.
Game six of the 2026 CRJHL semi-finals writes a new chapter in the La Broquerie/St Malo hockey rivalry that goes back decades but had appeared to be finished.
“This was a super-tough series, it was back and forth, they played great and we’re just happy we got the result here,” Taillefer said.
“We had 20 guys buy in to play a defensive style, to play hard, to play with heart. When we have 20 guys doing that, playing with each other, we’re a very good team.”
The Habs will be taking on the Selkirk Fishermen in the final, after they defeated Beausejour in the other semi-final. Beausejour and St Malo finished with over 70 points in the regular season, but were upset by the third and fourth seeds
“We’re going to enjoy this one and then we’re going to move forward,” Taillefer said.
Selkirk defeated Beausejour four games to one, finishing off their series with a 7-3 win March 16.
The Habs carried that momentum into game one of the finals, hosted in Selkirk March 24, as they defeated the Fishermen 6-3. Drew Heide scored twice in the win, as the visitors took a 5-1 lead five minutes into the second period after conceding an early goal.
Game two of the series will return to La Broquerie March 27 (7:30 p.m.), with game four also in the Hylife Centre March 31 (7:30 p.m.). If a game six is needed, it will be April 4 in La Broquerie (7 p.m.). Games will be in Selkirk March 29, April 2 and game seven would be April 5 (Easter Sunday).