Although he knew the 2010-11 hockey season was bound to be a good one for the Mallaig Midgets, head coach Jay St. Arnault admits he was rather surprised to see the team have such an amazing season.
Heading into Midget C provincials, the team has yet to lose a game all season. The only blemish on the local team’s record is one tied game against a team the Mallaig Monarchs would face later on in their quest to capture the Tier I North Eastern Alberta Hockey League championship in Vermilion.
“I knew that we would probably be the strongest hockey team I’ve ever coached,” says St. Arnault, who has coached many of the current midget players since they were peewees. “Once we saw we had a chance for an undefeated season, we really made a push to make that a reality.”
After beating Vemilion in two dramatic games in one weekend, the Midget Monarchs celebrated a near-perfect season by hoisting the league championship trophy and banner in the air in Vermilion, on March 13. But the Monarchs season has yet to come to an end, as the team has been preparing for Midget C provincials in Caroline this weekend.
“It was a surprise to me that we were undefeated,” admits St. Arnault. “But it wasn’t a surprise that we were competitive.” The team chose to move up to a higher level tier, to ensure the boys were well prepared for a possible provincial showing. Last year, the Mallaig Monarch Midget C team hosted provincials, and won the tournament on home ice, after playing the regular season in a Tier II league.
Following an undefeated season as a Tier I team, St. Arnault says the team is now “better prepared for provincials,” and the boys are playing as good as they ever have.
To get to provincials, the Monarchs took on Gibbons-Bon Accord, then Bonnyville, and then Dewberry, winning each series in just one game – which means Mallaig beat each team by almost 10 goals, making them the C Provincial, Zone 2 champions.
There will be eight teams competing in the provincial tournament in Caroline.
“These types of seasons are unheard of,” says St. Arnault, who explains that considering Mallaig was going up against communities with a much larger pool of players to pull from, it is even more amazing that the boys were able to achieve an undefeated season.
Along with achieving success as a team, some of Mallaig’s players stand out on their own with the number of points tallied. Marc Dubeau was the team’s highest scorer, racking up 61 goals and 43 assists, for a total of 104 points in the regular season.
But, St. Arnualt says it’s important to note Dubeau was able to achieve those numbers thanks to the other top players on the team’s first line, which includes captain Dana White and Jordan Hebert – both who tallied many points too.
“We could never have done as good as we did without our outstanding coaching staff,” credits Debeau. “I’m very excited for provincials and our team wants nothing less then gold.”
Something can also be said for the team’s defensive squad, since the Monarchs only allowed a total of 61 goals against in the regular season, while managing to score a total of 178 goals for.
“I also had solid goaltending all year,” says the coach.
During the playoffs, St. Arnault says that one player really stepped up his game. Gilles Laramee managed to score the most goals during the playoffs for the Monarchs, making him a very valuable player.
Following provincials, many of the current midget players will not return to the ice next season, being that it’s their last year playing minor hockey. This year also signifies a temporary end to St. Arnault’s minor hockey coaching career.
“I love coaching, and I’ll probably coach again,” says St. Arnault. After coaching for many years in Mallaig, he has decided to take a break - for now. St. Arnault and his wife are expecting their second child together this fall, and it will be only a matter of time before St. Arnault coaches his own kids on the ice.
The head coach says his job could not have been done as successfully had it not been for the involvement of the team’s assistant coaches and management, which included Al and Bev McDonald, Martin Corbiere, Randy Warchola and Paul Laramee.
Coaching hockey in Mallaig is “something I’ll never forget,” says St. Arnault.
