Dave Egan’s fortune-telling needs a little bit of work, but there’s nothing wrong with his hockey team.
Egan’s Fort Frances Midget ‘AA’ Canadians made short work of the Rat River 59’ers on Saturday afternoon at the Ice for Kids Arena here, blasting the visitors 8-1 in Manitoba Eastman Midget League action.
“Rat River had only lost to Mitchell, who we tied, by one goal,” Egan said about his pre-game concerns over the 59’ers. “I expected a little stiffer competition than what we got.”
The Canadians put their stamp on the contest early—striking for four goals in the first to put the 59’ers on their heels.
“It was a total effort by the boys,” praised Egan. “With us skating four lines, we know we’re going to have more energy come the third period.”
Fittingly, defenceman Brian Chambers opened the scoring for the Canadians 2:34 into the first period on a day which saw Fort Frances blueliners net four of the eight goals.
“Anytime you get something offensively from the defence, it’s a bonus,” said Egan. “I’ve said before our defence is the anchor of this team, and has been excellent in keeping the other team off the scoreboard.”
Brian Vargas connected at 7:38 of the frame, stealing a pass at the Rat River blueline and racing in to beat 59’ers goalie Randy Hebert with a shot to the stick side to make it 2-0.
Brett Perreault and Trevor Lind then scored 17 seconds apart later in the period to up the lead to 4-0 as Rat River was the victim of its own poor discipline.
Twice the Canadians were called for minor penalties in the period that turned into coincidental infractions because of the 59’ers inability to control their emotions after the calls were made.
Eric Laszchuk’s wraparound squeaked through Fort Frances goalie Mark Buist’s pads 3:57 into the second to revitalize Rat River, but 1:03 later, Brett Meyers set up David Pollard for a one-timer to push the advantage back to 5-1 and effectively kill any momentum for the 59’ers.
Tanner Ward, Tyler Pocock, and Perreault (with his second on a wraparound play of his own) accounted for the goals in the third.
Then the Canadians were handed a 4-0-1 record on Sunday when Pinawa forfeited their game, which originally had been scheduled for the following Sunday.
While Egan is pleased with his team’s undefeated effort so far, he’s anxiously awaiting the end of the seven-game round-robin within the league’s two divisions and the subsequent placement of all teams into the division appropriate for their talent level.
“When the league placed us in the [Red] Division, I think they underestimated what we can do,” said Egan, whose team has outscored their opponents 24-6 in their five games this season.
“It appears the stronger competition is in the [Blue] Division,” he noted. “We’ll be getting switched over there in December. We definitely will have to be sharp come then.”
With the Pinawa game off the calendar, Egan has organized a home-and-home exhibition series with the Midget ‘AA’ squad in Dryden for this weekend.
The Canadians will play in Dryden on Saturday, then return to the Ice for Kids Arena for a 12:45 p.m. contest Sunday.
Fort Frances wraps up play in the Red Division on Nov. 22-23 when they travel down the highway to face the Southern Steelers and Steinbach, respectively.
Fort Frances Times
Local News from Across the Rainy River District
