Staff
The Brockie.org 99’ers Atom ‘AA’ team represented Fort Frances well at the annual Fargo Flyers International tournament, taking the ‘B’ division title as the lone Canadian representative against competition from all over the United States.
Forty-eight teams were in their division alone, with 112 squads from across the continent participating in the tournament overall.
The 99’ers opened play Friday with a pair of wins over Bismark, N.D. (7-3) and Moorhead, Mn. (8-1).
Then on Saturday, they got the early draw against Armstrong-Cooper from Minneapolis.
In a hard-fought battle that went the distance to overtime, the 99’ers scored with just 30 seconds left on the clock to take the 3-2 win and avoid going to a shootout.
The 99’ers continued their hot play with a 6-2 victory over the Des Moines Buccaneers, which secured them a spot in the semi-finals against the Park River Red Machines from North Dakota.
The 99’ers came out flat in this game, facing a 2-0 deficit after one period, but answered back with three goals in the second to take a slim 3-2 lead to the third.
Park River, however, notched the tying goal in the final frame to send the game to overtime.
Hard work and solid goaltending by Dylan Ossachuk paid off in the extra period as the 99’ers were able to score first to win 4-3, sending them to the gold-medal final Sunday afternoon against the Bakersfield Dragons at the Urban Center Arena.
The game was televised by three networks and came complete with all the bells and whistles, including smoke machines, spotlights, and our own Dylan Ossachuk singing the national anthem.
“What an experience for these kids, and when it came time to play, they were definitely excited and nervous,” coach Keith Knapp noted.
The 99’ers showed their anxiety in the first period, allowing Bakersfield to claim an early two-goal lead.
But Kyle Knapp cut that lead in half with an unassisted tally early in the second, and that seemed to take some wind out of Bakerfield’s sails as Tyler VanUden scored soon after on a beautiful goal to tie up the game.
The 99’ers then dug deep and continued to press for the lead, and were rewarded for their effort off an offensive-zone face-off when Graeme Kitt drilled a shot in from the point.
Bakersfield did not give up, however, stemming the tide and tying the game late.
But just when it looked like overtime was an inevitability, Austin Angus sent a perfect pass cross-crease to Noah Loveday, who tapped it in for the winning goal in the dying minutes.
Coaches Paul Davis, Shawn Ossachuk, and Knapp could not be more proud of the heart and determination all the players showed, allowing them to end the season on such a successful note.
