Dan Falloon
The Fort Frances Canadians knew what was coming when their Midget ‘AA’ opponents from Shattuck-St. Mary’s rolled into town for a three-game exhibition series over the weekend.
The famed Faribault, Mn. prep school has had a number of current NHL stars grace its halls, including Zach Parise, Jonathan Toews, and Sidney Crosby.
And the visitors crossed the border with another strong lineup, outscoring the Canadians 24-2 over the three games played Friday through Sunday at the Ice For Kids Arena.
The Canadians were taking positives from the series, playing a closer game each time out—narrowing the margin from 13-1 on Friday night to 8-0 on Saturday to an evenly-matched 3-1 defeat on Sunday.
“Friday, we weren’t overly strong, but we picked our game up [Saturday] even though the score doesn’t indicate it,” said Canadians’ coach David Egan.
“Today [Sunday], we put everything together.
“Playing that close to Shattuck is a real credit to the boys,” Egan added.
Egan said he noticed improvement in the team’s passing, and also was encouraged that a focus on conditioning during practice helped his players compete for nine full periods.
The final game of the series was scoreless until the third period.
With Ben Bruyere in the box for cross-checking, Shattuck’s Sebastian Weberg took a feed from Ben Tegtmeyer and blasted the puck past Canadians’ goalie James Wallin only 53 seconds into the period.
Bruyere quickly redeemed himself, though, as he intercepted a clearing pass and wired the tying goal past Stormer Santana.
But less than two minutes later, Shattuck reclaimed the lead for good as Taylor Parkinson jumped on a puck that was lost in a maze of skates and snapped a quick one past Wallin.
Hunter Fejes then rounded out the scoring during another goalmouth scramble.
