The Rankin Inlet Falcons couldn’t hang onto a three-goal lead in their final round-robin game and missed advancing to the playoff round of the 2024 Fred Sasakamoose “Chief Thunderstick” National Hockey Championship in Saskatoon from May 16 to 19.
And the insane set of circumstances that led to the Falcons missing the playoffs by a single goal boarded on the unbelievable.
Team manager Patrick Tagoona said the tournament was a tough pill to swallow this year.
He said the Falcons went from having the highest of hopes to, all of a sudden, not making it to the playoff round in the blink of an eye.
“That tournament is pretty unforgiving,” said Tagoona.
“And, unfortunately, one week before the tournament began our top defenceman broke his finger and we had to pick-up a replacement player just a matter of days before the tournament began.
“In our final game of the round robin we were leading Six Nations 3-0 and they came back to tie it in the third period. We win that game and we’re into the playoffs. Finishing the final game tied knocked us out of the playoff round.
“Six Nations then made it all the way to the final and they were winning their games fairly handily on their way, so it was really a tough pill to swallow.”
Tagoona said the Falcons believed they had the team to make a deep playoff run this year.
He said nobody’s making any excuses, but there’s little doubt in his mind that it would have been a different story had their top defenceman (Chase Stewart, of the East Coast Hockey League (ECHL)) been able to play.
“Any team that loses its top defenceman just a week before a tournament is going to feel it, but our boys really played hard. It was heartbreaking to come up just one-goal short.
“Chase played the past few years in the ECHL and, this year, we were able to pick-up his goalie brother, as well.
“This was the most depth as a team we ever had and missing the playoffs the way we did was a real gut punch.
“And, to top it all off, the tying goal in that final game was scored shorthanded, and moments after we just missed scoring on the power play and going up 4-2. That win also put Six Nations into the playoffs, so talk about salt in the wound. But the boys played hard and we’ll be back. I know we have the team that can win that tournament.”