Puck drops on new era of hockey in La Broquerie

The long wait for La Broquerie hockey fans to see a team from their town take to the ice for competitive junior or senior hockey games finally came to an end last weekend.

After playing their first two games on the road, the Capital Region Junior Hockey League (CRJHL) expansion La Broquerie Habs finally got a chance to kick off their home schedule with a pair of games Oct. 11 and 13.

Connor Tallaire scored the first goal for the Habs in the HyLife Centre in a 5-1 loss to league-leaders Beausejour Friday night, before a 8-1 blowout victory over Lundar Sunday. Tallaire is from La Broquerie and just 16-years-old.

Despite the 1-1 record, La Broquerie head coach Dan Taillefer was glowing after the weekend’s action.

“It was a lot of fun,” Taillefer said.

“There was a lot of excitement ahead of the games with the whole community.”

Taillefer is no stranger to a junior hockey arena, playing the second-most games all time in the Manitoba Junior Hockey League with the Steinbach Pistons. That experience was very different than standing behind the bench for the first game in your hometown.

“It might be a bit worse as a coach, because you’re not playing,” Taillefer said, while noting because the Habs coaching staff and players have so little experience, he was grateful to open the season on the road.

“You can’t really help out on the ice… As a player you’re just focused on your next shift. It’s a different kind of nerves, but it’s a lot of fun.”

Tallaire’s goal was a nice, one, as the forward stole the puck during an attempted Beausejour breakout before beating Comets’ starter Dylan Liske five-hole to tie the game at one.

A strong first thirty minutes eventually waned from the home team, as Beausejour scored on a couple odd-man rushes in the second period to put the game out of reach.

The game script gave the coaching staff plenty of teachable moments, and it paid off with a blowout win two days later against Lundar. La Broquerie took a 1-0 lead into the second period before breaking the game wide open, building a 5-0 lead to put the game out of reach.

“We’re very happy with our record and how the team has played,” Taillefer said.

“Obviously there’s still things to work on, but each game we’re playing better… We’re finding our identity and our style of play.”

If there was any doubt the CRJHL edition of the Habs wasn’t a La Broquerie team through and through, all anyone had to do on Thanksgiving Monday was look at the box score from the day before. The first goal of the game was just credited to “Tetreault.”

Eventually the boxscore would be updated to include a first name, as Luka Tetrault notched a pair of goals on the night.

La Broquerie-born players weren’t the only ones enjoying the first weekend, as solid crowds showed up both games for the Habs, including many season ticket holders, who just needed to flash their lanyards to gain entry.

“It was great to see the fans out supporting us,” Taillefer said.

“Even on Sunday with it being Thanksgiving there was still a lot of people there, it was great.”

La Broquerie’s next home game is also against Lundar, with the Falcons returning to the HyLife Centre Oct. 19.

The defending CRJHL champion St Malo Warriors are also off to a strong start this season, posting a 4-1 record to start the season. Their only loss came to Beausejour in the season-opener.

The Warriors have been goal-scoring machines since only notching one in their opener, defeating Arborg 10-2 Oct. 4and North Winnipeg 15-0 in their own home opener Oct. 11.

St Malo hosts Beausejour at 7:30 Oct. 19.