The Beardy's Blackhawks take on the Whitefish Flyers in Senators Cup action at Prince Albert's Art Hauser Centre on April 26, 2025. Both the Blackhawks and the Flyers will be participants in this years Fred Sasakamoose “Chief Thunderstick” National Hockey Championship in Saskatoon later this week. (Mackenzie Carriere/Facebook)

By Logan Lehmann

National Championships

Local teams vying for national gold at Chief Thunderstick tournament

May 14, 2025 | 1:44 PM

Local hockey teams are among those in Saskatoon this week as they get ready to battle for gold in the Fred Sasakamoose “Chief Thunderstick” National Hockey Championship.

The tournament includes 40 teams in the men’s division and eight in the women’s and will be played at four different arenas across the Bridge City. Either tournament will begin on Thursday with the women crowning a champion on Saturday night, while the men will do the same on Sunday.

Of the 30 mens competitors includes teams from across the country, with teams coming from the Territories and Maritimes, as well as from our own backyards.

Pool A will feature the La Ronge 89ers along with the Sweetgrass Broken Feathers as the Sask. representatives, and will be joined by Nunavut’s Rankin Inlet Falcons, Ontario’s Akwesasne Wild, and the defending national champions Eagle Lake Chiefs, who also hail from Ontario. La Ronge opens their tournament on Thursday at 6 p.m. against Rankin Inlet.

(Fred Sasakamoose “Chief Thunderstick” National Hockey Championship)

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Pool D includes the most local teams with four, featuring the Whitefish Flyers, Sandy Lake Chiefs (Ahtahkakoop), PBCN Stars, and Waterhen Blues. The Pool also has the Norway House Bruins from Manitoba. The first game for Pool D is set for 10:45 a.m. Thursday when Norway House faces off with PBCN, which will be followed by Whitefish versus Sandy Lake at 7:45 p.m. Waterhen will play their first game on Friday morning against PBCN.

(Fred Sasakamoose “Chief Thunderstick” National Hockey Championship)

Pool G will feature more locals in the Beardy’s Blackhawks and the Canoe Lake Young Guns, along with other teams from further out, including the Minahikosis Jets (Little Pine), Alexis Nakota Sioux from Alberta, and the Sagkeeng Braves from Manitoba. Beardy’s will play in the first game for the Pool on Thursday afternoon at 1:30 p.m. against Sagkeeng. Meanwhile, Canoe Lake will play later that night at 10:30 p.m. against Alexis Nakota.

(Fred Sasakamoose “Chief Thunderstick” National Hockey Championship)

Finally, Pool H will feature the last of the local teams in the men’s division with the Mistawasis Nehiyawak and Cumberland Cree, while rounding out the division is the Goodfish Lake Flames from Alberta, Gordon’s Golden Hawks from Southern Saskatchewan, and Fisher River Cree from Manitoba. Mistawasis kicks off Pool play on Thursday at 1:45 p.m. against Gordon, followed by Cumberland and Goodfish Lake at 10:45 p.m. that same night.

(Fred Sasakamoose “Chief Thunderstick” National Hockey Championship)

In the women’s division, the eight teams will be split evenly into two pools of four. Pool A will consist of the defending national champion Red Pheasant Lady Rebels, Treaty 4 Ladies from Southern Saskatchewan, Cross Lake Lady Islanders from Manitoba, and Fort Carlton Blackhawks. Treaty 4 will play Red Pheasant in the Pool’s opening game on Thursday afternoon, while Cross Lake and Fort Carlton will battle right after.

(Fred Sasakamoose “Chief Thunderstick” National Hockey Championship)

In Pool B, it’s the Alberta Thunderbirds, Métis Nation from Saskatchewan, North East Wildcats from Northeastern Saskatchewan, and the One Nation Thunder from Ontario. Métis Nation will play Alberta in game one for the Pool on Thursday, followed by North East and One Nation immediately after.

(Fred Sasakamoose “Chief Thunderstick” National Hockey Championship)

The finals for the women’s tournament is set for 9 p.m. Saturday at Merlis Belcher Place in Saskatoon, while the men’s final will happen on Sunday at the same place and time.

Results and an update schedule can be found on the tournament’s website.

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loganc.lehmann@pattisonmedia.com

On Bluesky: @loganlehmann.bsky.social