Bowles siblings pace tenacious C-Hawks offence in THHL final

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This article was published 27/03/2024 (794 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Having coached a number of his players when they were kids — perhaps even their fathers — in Elkhorn, Miniota-Elkhorn C-Hawks veteran coach Garth Mitchell knows there’s plenty of talent on his bench.

“I’m fortunate to have a talented corps of players on this team, and it benefits me as coach having this group playing for [the C-Hawks],” Mitchell said.

“I’ve also benefited from having coached a lot of my players when they were kids, so I’m familiar with what they bring to the team.”

While these kids are now adults, and many have played high-level hockey elsewhere, it’s the tenacious approach on the ice which has made the C-Hawks a dominant team in the Tiger Hills Hockey League this past season.

It’s not uncommon for the C-Hawks to fire 50 shots at the opposing goalie, and win by lopsided scores.

“We have a lot of talents players on this roster, with a work ethic second to none. They leave everything on the ice with their tenacious work even without the puck.”

In his seventh season as C-Hawks head coach, Mitchell said keeping the core of his roster together has been easy because players have returned home to good-paying jobs, and remain in the community where they are establishing roots.

“A big part of our success is having these former Junior A or Western Hockey League players coming back, which is something that did not happen 20 years ago, because there are good jobs here.”

Senior hockey is thriving in the THHL because there an abundance of talented hockey players who want to continue playing competitively, but are still able to work and raise their families in the community they call home.

“It sure is physical, not quite as physical in the regular season because these guys still have to go to work the next day,” offered Mitchell, who has experience coaching the U18 AAA Yellowhead Cougars in the past, with some of those players now playing for him out of Elkhorn.

“But it sure ramps up [with physical play] in the playoffs.”

With a roster of 23 players, Mitchell acknowledged he does not always have all of his players on the bench during the regular season.

“We’re two evenly matched teams in the final. The team making the least amount of mistakes, and [receiving] a little puck luck will win. We didn’t have that in Game 2, and they did, scoring when we made mistakes.”– Garth Mitchell

“Players have family and work commitments sometimes, so this is a commitment to playing senior hockey, especially with the guys having younger kids. Family comes first, and they fit playing senior hockey around it.”

Defending THHL champs and provincial A champs, Mitchell’s team is knotted 1-1 after two games in the league final with the equally strong East Division champion Killarney Shamrocks.

In Game 1, the C-Hawks outshot the Shamrocks in Killarney 43-25 en route to a 4-0 triumph. Tanner Kyle, Shawn Bowles, Brad Bowles and Taylor Sanheim scored for the winners, while goalie Cory Gardham earned the shutout.

It was a different outcome in Game 2, with Bryce Enns scoring three goals, including the game-winner in overtime, to pace the Shamrocks to a 6-5 victory.

Jason Bowles, Tanner Kyle, Sanheim and Brad Cole, with two goals, supplied the C-Hawks’ offence.

Answering for the Shamrocks, besides Enns’ hat-trick, were Jaeger Lapointe, Daniel Stagg and Morgan Magwood. Outshot 59-25, Mitchell said the opposing goalie Brian Archibald played well between the pipes to thwart the C-Hawks tenacious snipers.

“We’re two evenly matched teams in the final. The team making the least amount of mistakes, and [receiving] a little puck luck will win. We didn’t have that in Game 2, and they did, scoring when we made mistakes.”

During the regular season, the C-Hawks dominated the west division with a 16-2-0 record, outscoring their opponents 139-47.

In the east division, the Shamrocks recorded the same 16-2-0 record to finish first overall. Killarney outscored its opponents 136-49.

“The post-season is always tough to win compared to the regular season,” said Mitchell. “We had tough series with Hartney and Virden to get to the finals.”

No matter who wins the THHL playoff title, the winner will be in tough during the provincial A final next month, with either the Shamrocks or C-Hawks hosting the best-of-three final this time.

The first-place Ste. Anne Aces have already punched their ticket to provincials after sweeping the Warren Mercs 4-0 in the South Eastern Manitoba Hockey League final.

“We have another shot of winning provincials if we win (Tiger Hills), but either us or Killarney will be tough to beat as they’ve added a few more pieces to the team compared to last season when we won,” said Mitchell.

“We don’t scout Ste. Anne, but we do look at game sheets to see what they have on the roster.”

Still, Mitchell is confident if his team repeats as THHL champions, the C-Hawks will use their strengths and four sets of brothers to challenge for provincial bragging rights facing the Aces.

“We have depth on this team, a solid defence and three lines which are relentless on their shifts.”

Of his four sets of brothers, Mitchell especially knows what the Bowles brothers bring to the rink for every game. Shawn, Jason and Brad are nightmares for opposing goalies, with this trio dominating in both the regular season and post-season when it comes to leading the scoring race.

The C-Hawks also feature the Kyle brothers, Tanner (two assists) and Bryce (11 assists), and the Rookes siblings, Bray (three goals, six points) and goaltender Cody, who had a 3-0-0 record, 2.29 goals-against average (GAA) and .905 save percentage.

And there are the Gardham brothers, Cory in net — 9-1-0 record, 2.29 goals-against average (GAA), .906 save percentage — and Curtis scoring three goals and adding 10 assists in seven games.

When it came to the regular season, Brad Bowles led all scorers to win the scoring race with 23 goals and 61 points in 17 games. Jason Bowles was fourth with 20 goals and 49 points 18 games, while Shawn, in 10 games, scored 11 goals and added 16 assists.

Of the C-Hawks’ 139 goals scored, the Bowles brothers scored 54 times. They amassed 137 points between the three of them.

In the post-season, Jason Bowles is the top sniper with 14 goals and 32 points in 10 games, while Brad Bowles is runner-up with nine goals and 23 points in nine games.

Another player Mitchell relies on offensively is Taylor Sanheim.

“Taylor sure likes to shoot the puck, and he has a hard shot,” he said. “He provides a lot of our offence, too.”

During the regular season, the power forward had 19 goals and 33 points in 17 games, while his playoff totals to date are 16 goals and 20 points in 10 games.

When it comes to the Shamrocks on offence, the top three players are Isaac Friesen with four goals and 22 points in 11 games, while Enns now has a team-high 14 goals and 21 points in 11 games. Jordan Robertson has nine goals and 21 points in nine playoff games.

From when he coached them as kids, to now as adults, Mitchell has the same coaching philosophy he’s always had success with from minor to senior hockey.

“Be focused and play the game the same way, share the puck, and have a team approach … play right, and you’ll have success.”

Game 3 of the best-of-five series goes tonight at the Shamrock Centre at 8 p.m. while Game 4 is scheduled for Virden — Elkhorn’s arena is not viable to use with the ice plant down — on Saturday at 7 p.m. If a fifth and deciding game is needed, teams meet back at the Shamrock Centre on Easter Sunday at 6 p.m.

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