Railer Express brings home championship

Transcona

St. Boniface

It took seven games, but a Manitoba Major Junior Hockey League champion has been crowned.

The Transcona Railer Express beat the St. Boniface Riels 5-0 on home ice at the Transcona East End Arena on April 28 to bring home the club’s first MMJHL championship.

“It was a long time coming,” said longtime Railer Express coach Derek Gagnon. “We put a lot of hard work in. The players show up to practices in January when it’s really cold. Hard work and dedication has led to the fruition of our long-term goal.”

Captain Nolan Van Den Bussche led the way in Game 7 with four goals, scoring once in the first period, twice in the second, and again in the third, with a fifth goal from Ryder McLure. Sage Delaronde stopped all 29 shots he faced in net.

“I was a little bit nervous at first, but it felt amazing to lift it at the end there,” said Van Den Bussche, a 22-year-old centre. “The whole day I was just thinking about the game. I knew I needed to step up and lead the way. As a captain, I’m not the biggest talker. I like to let my game do the leading. I got a lot of great passes from my teammates. It felt awesome to get it done.”

The win was the first for a Transcona team since the days of the original Railers club, which won back-to-back titles in 1990-91 and 1991-92.

“The community is a huge support,” Van Den Bussche said. “Even after, driving through Transcona you see signs, ‘Good luck in the finals!’ Or (people) posting congrats after. The community plays a huge role. They’re probably the loudest fans in the league.”

The final series was a rematch of last year’s eastside showdown, when St. Boniface emerged with the title in six games.

“From last year, when we lost to them in the finals, that was all I was thinking about all summer — coming back to end it the right way,” Van Den Bussche said.

This time around, St. Boniface took an early lead in the series, winning the opening match 4-2 on April 14. Transcona evened the series with a 2-1 overtime win on April 17, then won the next two games 5-3 on April 19 and 4-1 on April 21. Facing elimination, St. Boniface answered back not once but twice, winning 5-4 in OT on April 23 and 5-1 on April 26 to tie the series and force the deciding seventh game on April 28. Those three losses were the only ones Transcona suffered in its run to the championship.

“We had a great set of wins, where we won three in a row,” said Van Den Bussche, who led the team with 14 goals and 13 assists in 15 playoff games in his final year in the league. “We wanted it so bad, when it came to Game 7 and our backs were against the wall, we just had to go play our game.”

“We like to keep everything uniform. Every game is the same,” Gagnon said. “For playoffs, there wasn’t any extra preparation apart from specific team stuff against we were playing. When we got to Game 7, it was just another day in the office.”

Along with Van Den Bussche, Gagnon said the rest of the graduating Railer Express players — Carter Johannesson, Trey Sellen, Nathan Turner, Kaden Bruchanski, and Jace Larkins — laid it all on the line for the final. (Kaeden Siwak, another 2004-born player, was with the team but not dressed for the final match).

“Everyone of (them) stepped up their game in their final game,” Gagnon said.

For returning players, the experience of going all the way will serve the team well next season, despite losing so many key pieces to graduation.

“They can bring that into next year,” Gagnon said. “By no means will we be a bad team next year. Hopefully we can keep going in the direction we’ve been going.”

For now, though, the players and the community in Transcona will just enjoy the moment.

“It feels so cool,” Van Den Bussche said.

“To the team, the board members and everyone, it means so much. I thought we had a really strong team this year. To do it felt awesome. It will be memories I have forever.”