Joey Payeur
Brett Hahkala knew he was on a strong team.
But even he didn’t realize how good until taking a magic carpet ride through the post-season that he hopes will continue this week.
The 17-year-old forward from Fort Frances was part of the championship run pulled off by the Powassan Voodoos, who captured the NOJHL Copeland Cup-McNamara Trophy on April 21 after sweeping the Blind River Beavers in the best-of-seven final.
That capped a 12-0 march through the league playoffs after a dominating 46-7-2-1 regular season.
“I’m definitely surprised,” said Hahkala, who had 37 points in 45 regular-season games before adding eight more in 10 post-season outings.
“Twelve games without a loss is almost unheard of.
“It’s tough to do, especially in the playoffs, where it’s so tough and especially with a younger team like yours where we have only one 20-year-old,” he noted.
Hahkala and the Voodoos currently are in Trenton taking part in the Dudley Hewitt Cup, which began yesterday and runs through Saturday.
The winner advances to the RBC Cup national Junior ‘A’ championship in Cobourg from May 13-21.
But first things first.
“All the focus [this] week has to be on Trenton,” stressed Hahkala, who came to the Voodoos after playing last season with the Phoenix Jr. Coyotes’ U16 team in the Tier 1 Elite Hockey League.
“Obviously, we want to keep the season going and, sure, the RBC is in the back of our minds,” he admitted.
Powassan’s overall team speed has been a valuable weapon all season, leading to a league-high 271 goals during the regular season and another 65 in the playoffs.
“We’re a hard forechecking team. We never stop moving our feet and we move the puck well,” said Hahkala, who added the bigger part of the team’s success is linked to team unity.
“The chemistry between the guys is so great,” he enthused.
“It’s incredible how close we are. It’s like having a team of 22, 23 brothers.”
Hahkala got a brief taste of hockey life at the next level after the OHL’s North Bay Battalion, who are affiliated with Powassan, called him up for a five-game stint, which saw him notch his first OHL goal.
“It was right after Christmas and I had been doing really well, and they asked for me to go up and play,” he recalled.
“It was unreal and a lot of fun,” he added. “I felt like I did a good job showing them what I can do.”
Hahkala’s OHL tenure meant that, for a brief time this season, there were two Fort Frances exports in the league as he joined London Knights’ rookie Cole Tymkin.
“With both of us having grown up there, I think it shows the minor hockey program in Fort Frances is always strong,” he reasoned.
As for the Voodoos, they’ll have to earn their way to the RBC Cup going up against a field that includes the OJHL champion and #2 nationally-ranked Georgetown Raiders, the 10th-ranked host and defending champion Trenton Golden Hawks, and the SIJHL champion Dryden GM Ice Dogs.
“I think we’ve got a pretty good chance at the Dudley,” said Hahkala.
“A lot of the teams we will be playing have a lot more older guys than we do,” he conceded.
“But if we play the way we can play, we’re going to do really well.”
