‘It was just our time,’ — St Malo Warriors win 1st CRJHL championship

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 15/04/2024 (278 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

For the first time since 2009, the St Malo Warriors junior B club has ended the season as league champions.

The team didn’t make it look easy, falling behind 2-0 in the league finals against the Beausejour Comets, but were able to storm back to win four consecutive games to win the trophy, including a 4-1 game six victory in Beausejour April 5 to clinch the Capital Region Junior Hockey League (CRJHL) championship.

St Malo head coach and general manager Ralph Collette said at the beginning of the season he wanted to make the Warriors’ 30th anniversary a memorable one, and in the chaos of post-game celebrations, he reflected on the championship season.

“It’s been a long year, that’s for sure,” Collette said.

“(Winning) was ultimately our goal, especially after last year losing in the finals. We knew we had a really good team and we knew our 30th year was going to be a very special year.”

Logan Fillion opened the scoring for the Warriors in game six, just 26 seconds before the end of the first period. Fillion picked up his own rebound after an initial rush attempt was stopped. The St Jean Baptiste born forward played over 60 games for the Winkler Flyers over the last two years before joining St Malo.

“(Junior A experience) shows in how hard he works every shift, he never takes a shift off,” Collette said.

“He’s got a knack to get in front of the net. He’s a hard worker, he’s a Fillion, he’s my little cousin, so I give him a lot of credit.”

Fillion had a dominant post-season, with 11 goals in 10 games to lead the league.

“I came into the game with the mindset that I just had to help the team out,” Fillion said.

“It’s never a solo effort. I gotta thank the boys on that one. We just came in tonight ready to play. Ever since we won the first one of this series, nothing could get in our way, we were just rolling.”

The victory came in four straight games after St Malo dropped the first two games of the series by 6-5 scores. Collette said the veteran players with finals experience from last season were able to keep the younger players calm and helped spark the comeback.

“We never lost motivation, we knew we could do it even when we were down two (games),” team captain Thomas Maynard said.

After Liam Johnston evened the score for the Comets, Fillion responded again, battling for position in front of the crease and knocking a rebound home to give St Malo a lead they never looked in danger of losing.

Both tallies from Fillion came just moments after fans in Beausejour had been taunting him. After the game Fillion confirmed he had heard the chirping and was eager to respond.

“The whole fanbase for them, they were at me the past three games, it feels good to come out on top,” Fillion said.

“(Scoring after the taunts) was one of the best feelings I could have had.”

Fillion wasn’t fully able to enjoy the celebrations after the final whistle, as he and Mason French were ejected in the final minute after a scuffle and full blown fight between French and Beausejour’s Jace Ticknor. They were able to re-join their teammates for the medal and trophy presentation.

Maynard said the third period of game six was their best of the series. Facing a desperate team eager to force a game seven, the Warriors held Beausejour to just six shots, while Damon Johnson and Jeremie Collette scored insurance goals to clinch the win.

Collette said the final period performance was the perfect culmination of a season of hard work.

“It gets tedious to practice defense, but that’s what made the difference in the third period,” Collette said.

The championship win was St Malo’s first in the CRJHL after the league split from the Keystone Junior Hockey League in 2018..

“It was just our time,” Collette said.

“Hockey’s about bounces, but we’re still around after 30 years, so we must be doing something right.”