Lucas Punkari
Following a 4-1 win over the Kenora Thistles here Feb. 18, it seemed as if the Fort Frances Thunderhawks were in the driver’s seat to host the Gary Cook Cup playdowns heading into the second leg of their two-game, total-goal series this past Sunday in Kenora.
However, the Thunderhawks instead elected to withdraw from the regional championship series after they were unable to field a full squad for Sunday’s game.
“We had only eight players that were committed to play this weekend,” noted co-manager Travis Green.
“Obviously thought that we would have a lot more than that, but we just couldn’t get the commitment from the guys that we thought we would.
“It wouldn’t be fair to Kenora if we were to challenge them to a three-game series next week and beat them, and then not have enough guys who were able to go down to Toronto to play for a spot in the Allan Cup,” he reasoned.
“It’s just a tough situation for everyone,” he sighed.
After not having enough players to field a full squad, the Thunderhawks’ staff then talked with the members of the Thistles and made the decision to throw in the towel for this season.
“We pretty much told Kenora that we’re not going to keep doing this to you,” said Green, who co-manages the T’hawks with Kevin Webb.
“We basically said that in fairness to them that we would forfeit our playdown opportunity as they [Kenora] have the players ready and able to go down to Toronto and play the southern Ontario champs.
“While if we won that playdown series against them, we couldn’t guarantee that we could move on.
“After we won that game against Kenora here, we started to look at the possibilities of what would happen if we moved on,” Green added.
“And if we were having trouble having guys come in to play here in Fort Frances and in Kenora, how were we going to get them down to Toronto next month?”
The decision to end the season abruptly not only left Green disappointed, but also head coach Gary Noga, who was pleased with how his squad performed against Kenora here two weeks ago despite not having a full roster.
“It really sucks to be honest with you and I’m not happy at all,” Noga said.
“It stinks for people who have been putting a lot of time and effort to get things organized, as guys like Green and ‘Webber’ have been busting their butts to try and get a team together for this year, and to be unable to get the commitment out of guys is pretty disappointing.”
“It’s really tough, as well, after our game here as I really thought that we had a team that was capable of beating Kenora,” Green added.
The Thistles now will take on the southern Ontario champs in the Renwick Cup next month to determine which team advances to this year’s Allan Cup, which will be held April 16-21 in Lloydminster, Sask.
Although Green said it’s way too early to even discuss plans for next season, the lessons learned from this year’s exit will be key.
“In hindsight, the mistakes that were made this year have us thinking that we could have done things a lot different in a number of areas, and that will help us be successful for next year,” Green reasoned.
“One of the things that we found this year was that there is definitely a lot more players here in the area, or that are close by that area, willing to come in and that are willing to play,” he noted.
“But in the end, I think we made some errors in our decisions in taking the players who we thought were able to play, but who ended up being unable to commit due to work issues and whatnot.”
