By Jeff D'Andrea

Pats win first Senators Cup; ex-Raider McCallum named Top Forward

Apr 12, 2015 | 6:27 PM

Prior to this weekend, the last time Craig McCallum stepped on the Art Hauser Centre ice was on March 13, 2010, the last game of his WHL career with the Prince Albert Raiders.

He had quite the return.

McCallum and his Patuanak Pats from English River won the inaugural Senators Cup Aboriginal Full Contact Hockey Tournament this weekend. In the Pats’ 3-0 win over the P.A. Kings in the finals, McCallum had a goal and an assist. He was even named the tournament’s Top Forward and seemed to be a menace for the opposition every shift he took.

“I’ve always loved this rink,” said McCallum, 26-year-old from Canoe Lake who just finished playing five years with the University of Saskatchewan Huskies. “Being able to play here all weekend was a pleasure, for sure.

“It’s always fun to come to these things, it’s even bigger than the hockey—it’s being around family and friends and being able to play in front of your community again.”

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Not only was McCallum playing in front of friends, he was playing with a number of them to. He got to know Pats captain Trent Campbell through hockey and their friendship shows up in their flawless chemistry on the ice.

Although the Pats shifted around their lines a bit throughout the weekend, but Aaron Starr (former Saskatoon Blade and University of Manitoba Bison) often completed that line. Campbell said he’d put that line against anybody, even against the Kings’ top forwards of Wacey Rabbit and Colton Yellow Horn.

“Aaron Starr, McCallum and myself; honestly I’m not trying to brag, but it’s hard to beat us three,” said Campbell, the 32-year-old from Beauval who played five professional years in the AHL, ECHL and France. “You gotta have playmakers and Starr is such a hard worker, he extenuates us. Craig and I can fly around and Starr’s in the corner working and finding us.”

The Pats were the only team to beat the Kings all weekend and did so twice. Their 4-3 shootout win on Saturday turned out to be vital, meaning the Kings had to play the late game Saturday and three more on Sunday. The Kings beat Sandy Lake and the La Ronge 89ers before finally getting to the finals, but the Pats seemed to have more gas in the tank as they had an easier road.

“I think that worked in our benefit because in the second period, I think kinda they let up, got tired and got gassed a bit,” said McCallum. “That was our plan starting from yesterday, was to get through that first game and give them a harder road.”

This weekend marked the opening Senators Cup tournament and the Grand Council said before the tournament was run that it could very well turn into an annual event. McCallum would say that would be a great idea.

“We’ve played in a lot of contact tournaments before and sometimes they can get out of hand, you get some meatshows doing some silly things, but I think the organizers and the refs did a good job keeping everything in line,” said McCallum. “It was just good quality hockey all weekend, I enjoyed it.

“If they decide to do it annually and keep putting it on like they have been, it’s going to be a great tournament for a long time.”

Tournament Awards

Top Forward: Craig McCallum, English River
Top Defenceman: Dylan Yeo, P.A. Kings
Top Goaltender: Jordan Knight Traveller, English River
Most Sportsmanlike: Colton Yellowhorn, P.A. Kings
Most Valuable Player: Trent Campbell, English River 

$15,000 first place prize: English River
$8,000 second place prize: P.A. Kings
$6,000 third place prize: La Ronge 89ers
$4,000 fourth place prize: Sandy Lake

Scoring summary

After a scoreless first half, Trent Campbell opened the scoring 50 seconds into the second half to give the Pats a 1-0 lead. Like he did all tournament, Craig McCallum set up Campbell with a gorgeous cross-ice pass.

McCallum had a great chance to beat Guard in close on a shorthanded opportunity four minutes later, but was denied.

McCallum scored the 2-0 goal with 12 minutes remaining. Darren Reid scored late to make it 3-0 and put the game virtually out of reach for the Kings.

jdandrea@panow.com

On Twitter: @princealbertnow