The Champlain Requins exploded in game two of the 2023 Franco Hockey Tournament recently in Hamilton, hitting double digits in a win over E.S.C. Regionale de Hawkesbury (11-1) - but make no mistake: their gold medal at the event had far more to do with their proficiency on the defensive side of the puck.

Limiting opponents to a total of just four goals against in their six tournament outings, the Requins captured the medium school bracket with a 3-0 win in the final over E.S.C. Saint-Charles-Garnier (Whitby), the same score that they recorded in half of their games in Hamilton.

After opening the competition with a 4-2 triumph over E.S.C. Sainte-Marie (New Liskeard) and thumping Hawkesbury, the Requins closed out round robin play with back to back 3-0 victories over both E.S. E.J. Lajeunesse (Windsor) and E.S.C. Renaissance from Aurora.

Champlain kept on rolling in the semis, besting E.S.C. Samuel-Genest from Ottawa 3-1, pitting them against Charles-Garnier in the gold medal affair.

Members of the 2023 Champlain Requins boys hockey team which competed at Franco were Zachary Brulé, Nathan Gerling, Wyatt Crossman, Joshua Cholette-Hébert, Nicholas Duquette, Evan McNeil, Nicholas Lapensée, Cory Robillard, Ty Cloutier, Nolan Cardinal, Drew McNeil, Justin Girouard, Jacob Chouinard, Sebastien Drouin, Brody Cloutier, Noah Gladu, Vincent Brosseau, Kyle Dessureault, Madix Lavoie and Carson Robert.