Edmonton ball hockey team makes gold-medal history

The Edmonton Savages went into the Canadian Ball Hockey National Championships last weekend with a shot at making history. They ended up doing it twice.

No team from Edmonton has ever won gold in the 40-year history of the tournament. The team came closest in 1996 when the Edmonton Playboys took home the silver medal.

But this year, the team came into the tournament in Saint John, N.B., full of confidence as the returning bronze-medal winners.

“We were excited to create some history,” said backup goalie and general manager Matthew Lui, who founded the team in 2011.

It took a 6-3 semifinal victory over the undefeated Newfoundland Black Horse to set up an improbable Western Canada showdown — the last team out west to win the tournament was the Burnaby Beavers in 1986 — between the Savages and the Vancouver Falcons in the gold-medal game, which the Savages would go on to win 3-2.

Lui says the team rallied around their player/coach Jason Cormier, who has played at nationals for the past 20 years and had yet to win.

“We wanted to win for him,” said Lui. “He told us not to take this for granted. He was emotional and we took that to heart and went out there and knew that we had to play like we may not ever be back.”

Lui says the team didn’t have time to raise money to travel to New Brunswick, so players paid out of their own pocket.

“The guys take it seriously and it means a lot to them, and it means a lot to everyone for different reasons,” said Lui. “It was a far trek. Some guys brought their whole families with them and a lot of people took time off, so I’m really happy for them.”

PUNJABI PRIDE

For brothers Tony Singh Brar, 25, and Sunny Singh Brar, 28, the trip to New Brunswick took on a whole other meaning as they — along with fellow teammate Kik Singh Brar, 38 — became the first Indo-Canadians to ever win gold at the tournament.

“I am very proud of all my teammates and coaches,” said Sunny Brar.

“The passion for the game of hockey is what unites me with my teammates. They don’t and have never seen me as a minority. I am their equal. That is what’s special to me. We are all the same.”

Sunny Brar and Tony Brar’s parents emigrated to Edmonton from India in 1981. Born in Edmonton, they were both immediately drawn to hockey but the financial demands of the sport kept the brothers off the ice.

Instead, like most Canadian children, they took to street hockey.

“Being the son of immigrant parents, we didn’t have a lot growing up. We played street hockey literally three-quarters of the year outside on our driveway or at our local school ground after school,” said Sunny Brar. “Achieving this alongside my brother Tony is beyond words.”

A POSITIVE OUTLET

All three teammates also represented India on the world stage at the World Ball Hockey Championship in Pardubice, Czech Republic, in June, narrowly losing in the quarter-finals to the host Czech Republic team.

For Sunny Brar, ball hockey has always been a positive outlet.

“It has taught me how to be a good leader, how to work as a team, how to battle adversity, how to win, how to lose,” he said.

It’s something he hopes he can pass along to the next generation of Punjabi players.

“I try to lead by example for them by leading a healthy lifestyle and having healthy friendships with people from all cultures. Unity amongst all cultures is key.”