Joey Payeur
If a team’s going to lose, it might as well be creative about it.
The Muskie boys’ hockey team pulled off a dubious hat trick in getting swept by the Thunder Bay Minor Midget Kings in a three-game exhibition series split between Atikokan and the new Couchiching arena.
Fort High dropped a 3-2 overtime decision Friday in Atikokan, then fell 5-4 in a shootout on Saturday and 5-3 in regulation time on Sunday at “The Duke.”
Muskie head coach Jamie Davis wasn’t putting too much stock into the results on the eve of the start of the NorWOSSA regular season, which began last night for the Muskies against the host Dryden Eagles (the outcome was unavailable by press time).
“It’s the first couple of games of the year, so it’s hard to have expectations of being perfect right out of the gate,” reasoned Davis.
“The guys know what they’ve got to work on.
“I wasn’t disappointed by any means,” he added. “The boys played with intensity.”
But that intensity also led to the Muskies getting tagged with 59 minutes in penalties and four player ejections over the three games.
“That’s too many penalties,” admitted Davis. “They certainly didn’t help us.”
Two of the disqualifications had an impact on last night’s game in Dryden.
Forward Jarred Taylor received a match penalty for checking from behind in the overtime period of Saturday’s game.
That led to his being suspended for Sunday’s game, as well as last night’s contest against the Eagles and at least the first game of the Muskies’ upcoming tournament this weekend in Morden, Man.
Davis was uncertain as of Monday if the suspension would extend for two extra games.
Meanwhile, forward Jack Hamilton was tossed out of Sunday’s game with 9:38 left in the third after being nailed for checking from behind.
That forced Hamilton to sit for the first 10 minutes of last night’s game in Dryden.
In Sunday’s series finale, the black-and-gold opened the scoring 11:50 into the game when Cole Tymkin beat Fort Frances native and Kings’ goalie Dylan Ossachuk to make it 1-0.
The Muskies doubled that advantage at 1:38 of the second when Carter Brown converted Sam Tibbs’ second assist of the game.
Brad Belisle made it 2-1 at 4:15 on the power play to set off a chain explosion of goals, with David Pryde cashing in for the Muskies at 5:35 and Zack Glowatch cutting the lead to 3-2 at 6:15.
Things settled down after that until the third, when Alex Maticic took control of the affair.
After Belisle netted his second of the game at 3:44 to tie it, Maticic put Thunder Bay in front for the first time at 7:46 with a shot that beat Muskie goalie Jonah Johnson.
Maticic then tacked on an insurance goal at 15:46 to give the undermanned Kings enough to hold on—despite finishing the game with only 10 skaters after starting the weekend with 17.
Saturday’s showdown saw the Kings lead 2-1 after the first on power-play goals by Brendan Gillis and Belisle one minute apart after Taylor had scored only 44 seconds in.
Thunder Bay’s Zachary West and Fort Frances’ Malcolm King traded second-period goals, but Kirk Coppock’s marker 7:11 into the third had the Kings in good shape with a 4-2 lead.
The Muskies didn’t pack it in, though.
King netted his second of the night at 13:07 before Tyler Mosbeck thrilled the hometown fans with the equalizer with only 15 seconds left in regulation time.
But the Kings regrouped and came out on top in the shootout—to the delight of a sizable contingent of supporters who made the trek from Thunder Bay.
Friday’s opener in Atikokan turned out to be a “mano-a-mano” regulation battle between Fort High’s Braden Webb and the Kings’ Avery Slau.
Webb drew first blood with the only goal of the first at 1:48, with Slau responding at 1:41 of the second to tie the game.
Webb again gave the Muskies the lead at 17:32, with David Pryde notching his second assist.
But Slau put the Kings back on even ground at 6:39 of the third to force overtime.
Gillis broke up the two-player party with the game-winner at 2:35 of the extra session.
“This weekend showed us what pace we have to play at to play consistently and to be a team to beat every night,” said Davis.
The Muskies will stage their NorWOSSA home-opener next Tuesday night (Nov. 19) when the Kenora Broncos come to town.
