Pretty much every year, the Team Ontario entries which compete at the National Aboriginal Hockey Championship will contain hockey talent which are more than a little familiar with the nickel city hockey scene.

It's not every year, however, where those Team Ontario entries manage the gold medal sweep - as was the case in 2024 as Grande Prairie (Alberta) played host to the annual tournament from May 5th to the 11th.

The Ontario women navigated their way through the preliminary games in which they expected to see success, defeating Eastern Door & North (13-0), Saskatchewan (3-0), British Columbia (3-2) and Atlantic (7-0).

At 4-0-0, the team advanced to the semi-finals, besting British Columbia for a second time (5-3) before taking down the remaining unbeaten team with a 3-0 whitewashing of Alberta in the final.

Sudbury Lady Wolves products such as Sequoia Nebenionquit, Laryssa Mayer and Chloe Leduc joined Ava Assinewai from North Bay and a host of teammates from across the province, assembled under the guidance of a coaching staff that features Randi Ray, Tommi-Lee Recollet and Lady Wolves alumnus and Sault College forward Jacinta Eshkawkogan, among others.

The Team Ontario men also made their way through to the semi-finals thanks to a 3-1-0 record in the preliminary round, stringing together victories over Eastern Door & North (9-1), Alberta (4-2) and Atlantic (8-4), all on the heels of an opening game 2-1 loss at the hands of British Columbia.

The provincial entry from these parts then upset Manitoba in the semi-finals (4-3) before bouncing a Saskatchewan team (4-0) which had eliminated British Columbia (4-3) the previous day.

Kohyn Eshkawkogan (1st rd – Ottawa 67’s), Nate Lazarus (Sudbury U18 AAA Wolves), Ashton Morin (College Notre-Dame Alouettes) and Maverick Fletcher (Soo Thunderbirds) could all be found on the men’s Team Ontario roster.