With the level of hockey only increasing with every passing year, the Moose Cree Scrappers were unable to defend their title at the U21 National Indigenous Junior Hockey Championship in Toronto, beaten 3-2 in overtime by the Cree Nation Trappers from Quebec.
Local coach and former junior standout Jordan Cheechoo was once again at the helm of the Moose Cree squad, a team that featured a number of very familiar names for those who follow high level hockey in both Sudbury and northern Ontario.
"We try and give them a bit of a system that we can work off: simple forecheck, a power play, a penalty kill," he said. "In a short tournament like this, if you're hot, maybe you'll hop on the power play and it you're not playing so well, maybe you won't be seeing as much as time as other guys."
Though the Scrappers' attack certainly missed the offensive wizardry of Nolan Newton, there were still plenty of weapons at the disposal of coach Cheechoo, who was a little more concerned about his depth on the blueline beyond Sudbury Cubs veteran Nate Lazarus and Khade Metatawabin of the Sudbury U18 AAA Wolves.
"The overall skill level, I wasn't too worried about," he said. "Once you are outside of our zone, go and be creative."
Though he coached the Sudbury U16 AAA Wolves during the 2022-2023 campaign, Cheechoo indicated that he was in no hurry to jump back behind the bench any time soon - especially given the fact that he might want to follow the progress of his nephew, Jack.
The son of former 50-goal NHL sniper Jonathan Cheechoo is now 15 years of age and coming off back to back seasons as a point a game producer with the San Jose Jr Sharks.
"I am enjoying the player development side of things right now," said Jordan. "It's not really a priority of mine to coach."
The 2026 Moose Cree Scrappers roster also included Tyson Scott, Jordan McLeod, Tannen Iserhoff, Billy Biedermann, Lincoln Moore, Ethan Neller, Cameron Sutherland, Sam McCue, Shawn Gagnon, Kaddes Katapatuk, Khamdyn Ross, Tylen Iserhoff, Maverick Fletcher, Kessler Koosees, assistant coaches Khadyn Butterfly and Jon Lazarus and team manager Brenden Chilton.
