Sus, Sinclair solid in debut with Sabres

Steven Sus and Chris Sinclair’s debuts as Fort Frances Jr. Sabres were, if nothing else, a night to remember.
The pair powered their new team to a weekend sweep of the defending SIJHL champion Schreiber Diesels—propelling the Sabres to fourth place in the standings.
But even with the stellar introductions of two local players and a step up in the standings, what will endure is the newfound bad blood between the two clubs after 4-1 and 5-3 wins here Friday and Saturday night.
Schreiber goalie Matt Kernick jumped Sinclair moments after the end of the second period Friday night as the forward was making his way past the goaltender to the Sabres’ dressing room—pounding him on the ice and leading to a cross-ice shouting match between the teams.
“For the team they had last year winning the whole league to the way they played tonight, they should be embarrassed,” Sabres’ head coach Wayne Strachan said.
“I guess I thought for the first two periods they were taking liberties on our skilled players and then their goalie jumps Sinclair . . . I don’t know how to put the word without swearing,” Strachan chuckled.
“It’s not good for the game, but you’re not intimidating us.”
The liberties taken on-ice were apparent, with Sinclair (listed quite generously in the Sabres’ program as 5’8” but, in fact, a few inches shorter) drawing much of the physical ire of the Diesels.
Sinclair said he doesn’t mind drawing a few penalties for the team, but getting jumped by Kernick was wholly unexpected.
He didn’t deny chirping at the goalie or a few other players, but said no words were exchanged on his way off the ice.
“I was just kind of smiling at him all game. I was skating by him, smiling at him, next thing I know he’s in my face,” Sinclair recalled. “Never seen that [before].”
What followed was a scrum in front of the Schreiber net and several minutes of shouting cross-ice between the players, who mostly had spilled onto the ice at the close of the period.
The fracas was punctuated by Strachan and his coaching staff arguing with Diesels’ head coach Bobby Spadoni and his coaches from their respective benches.
Gritty Sabres’ centre Logan McDonell had plenty to say to a couple of Diesels as they left the ice. And while there was very little by way of physical play for the third period, McDonell said that was their decision.
“The guy was running my guys, being a rat, had to let him know what time it was,” he said. “I just told him to stop pulling the cheap [expletive] or we were gonna go.”
McDonell, who has fought on a half-dozen occasions in his time with the Sabres, said no one on the ice was interested in the diversion in the third. “I’d never jump a guy,” he added.
Sabres’ goalie David Novak, who did not play Friday, also was quite animated in voicing his displeasure over Kernick’s move. He said afterwards that his exaggerated pointing and shrugging had nothing to do with the lack of class shown by the rival goalie.
“It wasn’t even that. It was just that this guy’s a buddy,” Novak said, explaining he and Sinclair had played hockey together in Kenora since grade school.
As for what exactly he had to say? “You don’t really want to know, to be honest with you,” Novak replied.
Also taking issue with the physical play of the Diesels was right-winger Kyle Turgeon who, after a knee-on-knee collision with Schreiber forward Jared Saunders, was given an early diagnosis of a sprained ACL and suspected to be out of the lineup for about four weeks.
When asked if he thought the contact was intentional, Turgeon couldn’t help but smile and say, “Oh, yeah.”
The Sabres (8-12-3-3) complaining of the Diesels’ dirty play, and the Diesels (10-13-1-0) complaining of the Sabres’ filthy mouths, blurred some of the focus on what otherwise was a well-played game.
Sus and Sinclair worked on a line anchored by Chad Reynolds that looked ready-made, scoring just a minute-and-a-half into Friday night’s contest. Diesels’ back-up goalie Josh Baker also was strong enough to fend off a few decent scoring chances the Sabres mustered in the third.
Not to mention Quinn Amiel and Alessio Tomassetti combining for what was one of the prettiest goals in Sabres’ history. The pair tore down the ice undefended, with Amiel passing the puck to Tomassetti, who buried a shot past Kernick so hard it bounced around the net and knocked it off its moorings.
Saturday night’s game saw the Sabres overcome an early deficit and a few fights break out, with McDonell and Joey Shaw finding the Diesels more open to scrapping.
The win brought the Sabres’ points total to 22—just ahead of the Diesels (21). Schreiber has two games in hand on the Sabres, however, who remain 12 points behind the third-place Bearcats (17-8-0-0).
Sus and Sinclair led all Sabres with four points each on the weekend, with Sus earning a goal and assist while Sinclair contributed a pair of assists in each game.
Sus admitted he was “a little bit nervous” playing back in front of a hometown crowd after spending the last few years away from Fort Frances, but getting his first goal in a Sabres’ uniform to open Friday night’s game just 1:31 in made for an easier weekend.
“It felt pretty good to get it out of the way, calmed me down a bit, too,” he said.
Sus said the natural chemistry of his line came from the time he and Sinclair spent on the Beausejour Blades of the MJHL, with Reynolds being a natural complement to their game.
It also gave him a bit of security playing in front of a select group of friends and family that Sus smiled wasn’t so much of a row as “a pretty big section.”
Also joining the Sabres for their weekend homestand—their last home date until Jan. 11—were blueliner Tyler Hodges and forward Graham Dyck.
Dyck, a native of Atikokan, came to the Sabres on Saturday night, received in a trade with the Nipawin Hawks for future considerations, and proceeded to register his first points with the team with a pair of assists.
The Sabres are off next weekend and next play Dec. 19 in Dryden against an Ice Dogs squad (19-8-0-1) they’ve yet to earn a single point from.
Local fans hoping to see the Sabres at home in the next month should check out the team’s hockey school that will run Dec. 30-Jan. 3.
Further details are available at www.fortfrancesjrsabres.com