Muskies rack up two wins

The unbeatable and nigh unstoppable Muskie boys’ hockey team marched on, winning a tough NorWOSSA game against Kenora, followed by yet another exhibition blowout.
The Muskies earned a 4-2 win over the host Broncos on Friday night, then returned home for a 10-1 shellacking over the Kittson Central Wolfpack on Saturday.
“I’m quite surprised with the final score,” Muskie head coach Shane Bliss said of the win over Kittson.
The Muskies had blanked Kittson 5-0 back on Dec. 1 at full health while the Wolfpack was short several regular players. This time around, it was Fort High with a number of players out due to injuries.
With seven of our guys out and eight of their guys back, I thought, ‘Oh man, we’re gonna be in for a dogfight,” Bliss admitted.
Kevin Bobczynski led all scorers with four goals and a pair of assists against Kittson. He didn’t want to discuss his own performance, but said the blowout was important for the team.
“It builds confidence, and confidence is what we need going into next week,” he said.
The team is staring down a pair of important games before their holiday break, including one here tomorrow against the Dryden Eagles and then an exhibition tilt Friday night versus the International Falls Broncos.
Bliss is looking forward to the break.
“[We’re] a banged up team right now. We’ve got six guys in the stands, more playing hurt,” he noted. “You want to have more games, especially at home for the home crowd . . . at the same time, you can’t have a crystal ball and know when you’re gonna want the time off.”
The injury toll on the team was apparent in their game against Kittson—even if the 10-1 score made the Muskies look invincible.
Kittson jumped out to a 1-0 lead just a minute into the game. And other than two goals in the first by Bobczynski (the first quite a tough, quick shot from a difficult angle, the second largely a fluke), the Wolfpack outplayed Fort High throughout the period.
Meanwhile, Friday night’s win in Kenora (1-5) exposed the Muskies (6-0) even further. George Halverson padded the score with an empty-net goal—his second tally of the game—to inflate what essentially was a one-goal battle.
“I was a little worried [against Kenora],” Bliss admitted. “[Friday] night we were terrible without the puck, I hate to say. Terrible.”
The team’s offence wasn’t much better. The Muskies managed just five shots in the third period, “and two of those shots were goals,” noted Bliss.
The Muskies wrap the first half of NorWOSSA play when they host the Eagles tomorrow at the Ice for Kids arena.
But while a lot of the focus is on the rivalry with the Falls Broncos, currently ranked fourth in Minnesota high school hockey, Bliss said the Muskies are focused on winning tomorrow night.
“That’ll give Dryden three losses on the season. That’ll give us a good chance to win the league,” he remarked.