By Jeff D'Andrea

‘Starr’ of the show wins his 2nd Senator’s Cup

Apr 10, 2016 | 8:43 PM

The Senator’s Cup Aboriginal Senior Contact Hockey Tournament has only been around for two years, and Aaron Starr has won it both times.

Starr capped off his Tournament MVP showing with a goal and two assists in the finals, leading to the Red Pheasant Rebels’ 3-0 win over the Peter Ballantyne Cree Nation Stars Sunday at the Art Hauser Centre.

In the inaugural tournament last year, Starr was on the Patuanak Pats from English River that won the Cup. In fact, there’s a big part of the Rebels’ roster that can say they’ve won both Senator’s Cups, including this year’s captain Sheldon Wuttunee, last year’s captain Trent Campbell and goaltender Jordan Nighttraveller, who won the Top Goaltender Award in both tournaments.

It was the connection of dreams between Campbell and Starr that made all the difference as both finished with a goal and two assists. The also both assisted on Tyson Wuttunee’s eventual game winning marker scored in the second period.

“Trent’s my best friend, we play a lot of tournaments and we play rec hockey in city,” Starr said, who works as a lawyer in Saskatoon. “Me and Trent play on a line quite bit. If you see, when I’m battling in the corners, I’ll always look for him in the slot. He shoots to score, he’s a goal scorer. Me on the other hand, I just muck and grind and try to get the rebounds.

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“With all the Aboriginal talent that shows up at this tournament, it’s great to compete and play against friends you grew up with playing minor hockey and Aboriginal minor hockey tournaments,” added Starr. “It’s good for the fans and the communities.”

This isn’t Starr’s first rodeo with the Rebels. He’s had a lot of success with them in the past and said that how they prepare for games and carry themselves, it reminds Starr of the time he played CIS hockey with the University of Manitoba and junior hockey with the Saskatoon Blades and OCN Blizzard in the MJHL.

“I’ve played with Red Pheasant for the past three tournaments and we won all three, big tournaments,” said Starr. “The chemistry’s there, we always keep the same guys, we keep the same imports and have some older guys that are leaders on the team. They’re a physical team that comes to compete and work hard, they dump and chase if they need to.

“Of course, we have a great goaltender in Jordan Nighttraveller who always gives us a chance to win.”

A number of the PBCN Stars had a lot of players from last year’s runner up Prince Albert Kings, like Dylan Yeo and Korey Diehl.

The Stars had a longer day on Sunday. They lost the 12:30 p.m. matchup to the Rebels to send them to the Loser’s Bracket, and then beat the Beardy’s Blackhawks 1-0 to advance to the finals.

“I think PBCN had a great hockey team,” said Starr. “It was their third game [on Sunday] but they still had a lot of energy. They’re younger guys, but if you look forward with these guys in a few years, I think they’ll be winning some tournaments, for sure.”

Prize Money

With their finals win, the Red Pheasant Rebels will split $15,000 between them. The Stars will bring home $10,000, while the Blackhawks will have $8,000 as well for finishing in third place.

When asked what he was going to spend his share of the winnings on, Starr immediately thought of his family.

“I have two girls at home, I’m sure I’m just going to spend it on them when I get back,” said Starr. “They give me the opportunity to play in tournaments. I’ll buy my wife something nice.”

Tournament Awards

Most Valuable Player: Aaron Starr, Red Pheasant Rebels 

Top Goaltender: Jordan Nighttraveller, Red Pheasant Rebels (also won it last year)

Top Defenceman: Dylan Yeo, PBCN Stars (also won it last year)

Top Forward: Wilson Dumais, PBCN Stars

jdandrea@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @jeff_dandrea