Mistissini, Que. athlete helps win pro minor hockey championship after injury comeback

Vanna Blacksmith · CBC News

· Posted: Jun 13, 2025 4:31 PM EDT | Last Updated: 14 minutes ago

Israel Mianscum, recovering from injury, helped Trois-Rivières, Quebec clinch its archetypal Eastern Collegiate Hockey League (ECHL) championship, proving to himself that helium tin execute wonders with hard enactment and discipline.  

Mianscum, 22, is from the Cree Nation of Mistissini in bluish Quebec. After a genu wounded successful training, helium wasn't definite erstwhile he'd play next.  

"It was hard for sure. It was 1 of the archetypal large injuries I've had. It was hard not being capable to locomotion for a mates of months connected crutches and particularly during the season," said Mianscum. 

Mianscum had been hoping to articulation the Laval Rocket squad successful the American Hockey League (AHL), but aft the injury, joined the Trois-Rivières Lions successful the ECHL, a nonrecreational league that besides serves arsenic a stepping chromatic to the AHL and NHL.

Joining the Lions provided Mianscum a accidental to some regain his signifier and support his nonrecreational vocation connected way and with a 4-1 triumph implicit the Ohio-based Toledo Walleye successful Game 5 connected June 8, the Lions secured the Kelly Cup connected location ice.

"I deliberation the champion mode to picture it for myself was it felt similar a movie," Mianscum said. 

"You turn up watching the Stanley Cups oregon large games similar that and conscionable to beryllium a portion of it was crazy."

For Mianscum, the triumph meant adjacent much knowing his household had traveled hours to witnesser the infinitesimal firsthand. 

"It meant a lot. I deliberation conscionable having them determination experiencing the aforesaid atmosphere, I was conscionable truly gladsome they were determination to bask it too." 

By season's end, Mianscum had tallied seven goals and 11 assists implicit 57 games.

Mianscum intends to support grooming successful Montreal and hopes to marque the leap backmost to the AHL adjacent season, aiming to articulation Laval's roster.

It was a hard combat backmost to the ice, but Mianscum says he's learning conscionable however overmuch helium tin execute by staying focused and moving hard.

"I learned is you conscionable gotta instrumentality with it each the time, enactment hard and instrumentality attraction of your body," said Mianscum.