Lakers head coach and GM Luke Judson said he’s optimistic the team will come together and perform well once the Junior A hockey regular season gets started, after a preseason shootout loss at home to the Thunder Bay North Stars Saturday night.
“It was a great opportunity for us to see where our returning guys are at, how the new guys play in a game,” Judson said. “They’ve worked hard for a couple of weeks here, and generally I’m happy. We’ve got lots to clean up, lots of systems to go through.”
The Lakers lost the weekend-opening game 3-2 in a shootout with a mixed bag of a performance from a team that was made up of newcomers and potential prospects for the Lakers in the years to come, with some AAA and high school players in the mix.
Newcomer between the pipes Ethan Mann stopped 39 of 41 shots across regulation and overtime.
The Lakers fired 35 shots at two different goaltenders for Thunder Bay, scoring a goal against each.
Braydon Cameron, a rookie defenseman from Manitoba, scored the game’s opening goal in the second period with the Lakers on the power play, with assists from another newcomer, Ayden Mackay, and captain Gunnar Simon.
Thunder Bay scored one of their own to head into the second intermission tied at a goal apiece.
The Lakers looked sharp on the penalty kill for the preseason game, holding the North Stars off the scoresheet with five opportunities with the man advantage.
The Lakers took the lead with William Yerxa setting up cousin Anthony Yerxa on the doorstep for the Lakers’ second of the game, but the North Stars would tie it up once again, sending the game to overtime. After five minutes of three-on-three solved nothing, they went to a shootout where the Lakers fell 2-1.
Judson said he liked how Mann responded to the pressure from the North Stars.
“I thought Ethan had a strong game,” he said. “There were times where we were hemmed in pretty good, there were lots of second and third opportunities that he stood tall on, and he did as much as he could in the shootout, so I think he should be happy with how he played.”
The Lakers headed to Thunder Bay on Sunday, where they took on the North Stars again at Current River Arena. They lost 7-4, according to the Thunder Bay North Stars Facebook page. Due to technical issues, the online game sheet for Sunday’s game has not been updated, so the Times does not have any details on the scoring for that game.
The Lakers will hold their annual fall golf tournament next weekend at Heron Landing Golf Course. Then they will host the North Stars for a season-opening weekend series at Ice for Kids on Sept. 18 and 19 at 7:15 p.m. Tickets are available online at fortfranceslakers.simpletix.ca.
