The 14 Wing Greenwood senior men’s hockey Bombers are Canadian Armed Forces bronze medal winners, following the national championship tournament at CFB Borden March 22 to 26.
The Bombers, as the Atlantic Region reps, had to play the Canada West reps, 19 Wing Comox three times in a row to make that happen; their two-out-of-three wins were their only wins in the tournament.
March 22 started out with a schedule rearrangement, as Comox’s travel time was delayed: Greenwood met the Ontario Region reps from 8 Wing Trenton in the opening game. Trenton won 2-1, with Greenwood’s goal coming from CFB Halifax pick-up Lieutenant Commander Jeffrey Brooker, assisted by Captain Trevor Porteous.
March 23’s match against the Quebec Region reps, Ottawa, went into a full overtime period, before Ottawa scored to take a 4-3 win with just under a minute left in the OT. The bulk of the scoring happened in the third period, with Ottawa adding two and Greenwood adding three – from Petty Officer First Class Curtis Chambers, assisted by Captain Marc Roach and Warrant Officer Pier-Olivier Poulin; Roach, assisted by Poulin and Sergeant David Jenkins; and Brooker, assisted by Warrant Officer Evan Burchell. Ottawa scored with under a minute left in the OT to take the win.
March 24, 25 and 26, Greenwood met Comox three times in a row. In the round robin, Greenwood won 5-2. Period 1 saw two back-to-back goals, the first at 5:09, from Sergeant Luke Verran, assisted by Captain Chris Flaherty; and the second from Burchell, assisted by Brooker and Major John Dickens. In the second period, Colonel Luc Vachon added an unassisted goal, followed in the third with goals from Halifax pick-up Petty Officer Second Class Brad Northrup, assisted by Brooker and Burchell; and Vachon, assisted by Brooker.
In the March 25 quarterfinal, Greenwood was third seed over Comox, but lost 4-1 – also losing the semifinal opportunity later that day. Greenwood’s goal came from Roach in the first; Comox got three in the second period, and scored their fourth with just 26 seconds left in the third on an empty Greenwood net.
Comox lost its semifinal against Trenton to return to the ice against Greenwood March 26, with Greenwood taking the best-of-three – and the bronze medal – 5-2. First period Greenwood goals came from Burchell, assisted by Poulin; Brooker, assisted by Burchell and Northrup; and Major Mark McNeill, assisted by Brooker. Poulin scored the second period goal, unassisted. In the third, as Comox got in two, Roach scored an empty-netter, assisted by Northrup. Unfortunately, Dickens was hurt within the game’s first five minutes and had to leave the game.
That evening, Porteous and Vachon were fortunate to join the CFB Borden all-star team in a friendly against the visiting Maple Leafs Alumni team. Events included an afternoon autograph session with the Leafs’ alumni, and then the game, with a full house of military families in the stands – and a $20,000 Leafs Alumni donation to local sports programs. Porteous managed a goal against the Leafs!
Finally, a shout out to 14 Wing’s Master Corporal Yannick Gagnon, on ice at the CAF nationals as a member of the officiating team.
