Joey Payeur
David Pryde wasn’t content with just being along for the ride.
Rather, he chose to get behind the wheel and drive the Fort Frances Lakers’ to home-ice advantage throughout the SIJHL playoffs.
Making his junior debut, the former Muskie netted three goals to help the Lakers to an 8-3 win over the English River Miners on Friday in Ear Falls.
The victory ensured the Lakers (37-9-0-1) cannot be caught by the second-place Minnesota Iron Rangers (26-17-6) for top spot in the league.
It also helped Fort Frances retain its No. 9 spot in the CJHL top 20 weekly rankings for the second-straight week.
Pryde and fellow forward Jack Bernie from Kenora were recalled from the Kenora Thistles of the Manitoba Midget ‘AAA’ Hockey League for Friday’s game and Saturday’s 8-1 romp over the Thunder Bay North Stars at the Ice For Kids Arena.
With forwards Matt Vela, Nolan Ross, and Donovan Cousineau all on the shelf with injuries, and Wyatt Cota needing a break to nurse some wounds of his own, the two affiliate players were glad to get their chance to contribute to the Lakers’ cause.
“It felt awesome,” Pryde said about the chance to face the Miners and North Stars.
“The team welcomed us right in and just told us to play our best,” he added.
“It took a little getting used to,” admitted Bernie, whose dad, Bob, used to live in Fort Frances and whose mother currently resides in Rainy River.
“But once I got used to the pace and got into the flow, it was good.”
Pryde’s first SIJHL goal midway through the opening period wasn’t a thing of beauty by his own description, but he’s not about to throw it back.
“Bowen Alcock passed it up to me from centre, and I came over the blueline and fired it at the net,” he recounted.
“It was kind of a soft one by the goalie,” he noted. “I didn’t expect it to go in.”
Pryde’s tally made it 2-1 for the Lakers after Miles Nolan and Richard Dartnall had exchanged markers.
After Dartnall tied it with his second of the night, Bernie set up Dylan Robertson later in the period to make it 3-2 and send Miners’ starting goalie Greg Harney to the bench in favour of P.D. Melgoza.
Marco Romano and Landen Matechuk traded goals in the second before the Lakers scored four times in a span of 3:39 in the latter half of the third to pull away.
A.J. Kapcheck and Nolan got the first two before Pryde netted a pair to complete his hat trick.
Pierce Dushenko made 30 saves to get the win.
Lakers’ head coach and general manager Wayne Strachan said the young Thistles’ tandem did a great job.
“David just kept it simple and went to the net,” he noted.
“Jack is a similar player who is a strong skater and good at pressuring the puck,” Strachan added.
“He had some great opportunities with his line.”
Then here Saturday against Thunder Bay, the Lakers won their fifth-straight by scoring five unanswered goals in the second to take care of a North Stars’ team that only iced 12 skaters due to injuries.
Lucas DeBenedet led the attack with two goals while Nick Minerva, Colton Spicer, Robertson, Jasper, Romano, and Cody Antonini added singles.
Bradley Belisle had the only goal for Thunder Bay, which now has lost six of eight.
“I’m not one to make excuses but the last couple of weeks have been really hard on the hockey team,” said North Stars’ head coach Jeremy Adduono.
“We’ve just barely had enough players to be able to legally play and some of the guys in the lineup are injured right now,” he noted.
“I feel for the kids.”
Nathan Park had 33 saves to improve to 11-1 for the Lakers this season.
The Lakers are in Dryden tonight to face the GM Ice Dogs (24-21-5), who are coming off of three-game sweep at the hands of the Iron Rangers this past week.
Fort Frances then returns home tomorrow to face Minnesota, with a special start time of 7:15 p.m. at the Ice For Kids Arena.
