After an incredible regular season, a grueling playoff run and more incredibly huge overtime games than ever before, the Ste. Anne Aces came out on top and were crowned Provincial Champions, something Kevin Lansard says he will cherish forever.
Having a few days to reflect, Lansard says it was a pretty taxing season, but having it end with a championship makes it all the sweeter. "You know, I said it in the speech at the end, it was a emotional and very hard on the guys, all the effort that put in, it makes it more rewarding when you find ways to win. Especially with this group, it's been great."
It's not an easy thing for players and coaches to go into early April but Lansard says it speaks volumes about the character of the group that they always wanted to battle for each other. "It's a culture thing and it's contagious. We faced a lot of injuries in this playoff run, which is something you don't want to see, but other guys stepped up. Winning is obviously important but the guys are having fun doing it. To compete that hard and see how hard they're working, it makes it enjoyable. We get new guys that join every year and they kind of keep us fresh by saying how we do it. This year was one of the hardest years but we found a way."
As a group, the Aces are very tight and Lansard says it makes coming to the rink very enjoyable. "It's just amazing, it's why you want to do it and keep doing it. These are really good hockey players that have played all over, they've had great coaches, mentors and teammates, and they come here and just have fun. Everyone enjoys coming to the rink and no one is ever in a rush to leave. Thinking about the families, they have to be a part of it. It takes a lot of time but it's great when they get to come and be involved. The support we have with that is really special."
This year in particular, the Aces have had a flair for the dramatics, something that's caused Lansard to get a few more grey hairs over the course of the year. "This year was a little extreme," the veteran coach says with a chuckle. "This year was hard to figure, we just couldn't seem to hold a lead or some other things, make whatever excuses you want, but the reality is the opponents, everyone is getting better. I learned that winning is hard but trying to stay on top is even harder, everyone is gunning for you. There's definitely more grey hair and most came from the last couple of weeks."
Going back to that deciding game in Killarney, Lansard talks about some of the details that led to the Aces scoring with eight seconds left to tie it and then win it in overtime. "I was having a short bench and guys were taking turns but getting tired, we were changing but you felt any time a guy got a shift, he wanted to help out as much as possible. The emotions were we felt it was coming, it was a real positive vibe and that's kind of part of the culture of winning. For Steph (Pattyn) to score the winner, he was coaching with me to start the season and when we were short players, he decided to play and just went off from there, for him to get the winner, that's special. It was a real satisfying feeling for a group that did it for one another."
A real highlight for Lansard was getting to share the whole run with the community of Ste. Anne. "I think it's the most important part. You win, you lose, you go on bus trips but they're there to support. They're always on the edge of their seat and it's really important for them to be a part of it. To see the turnout that senior hockey got this year, it's something the players will never forget."
It's been an emotional grind of a season and Lansard says getting to the top of the mountain makes it all even more special for him. "It was very overwhelming. To see how hard all the teams worked, you've got to give credit to Springfield and Killarney, they worked really hard but you don't want to be on the wrong end of things. So, you take a deep breath, you're happy it's over because it's on the nerves right up to the end, but it all comes down to the guys, they really deserve it. They do all the little things all the time and they got rewarded for it."