Joey Payeur
Many coaches would embrace a two-game sweep in which their team outscored its opponent 21-0.
But Jamie Davis believes—and expects—his team can do better.
The head coach of the Muskie boys’ hockey team wasn’t overly thrilled with the opening half of its two-game sweep of the Red Lake Rams in Cochenour on Friday and Saturday.
Fort High, which sits atop the NorWOSSA standings with a 7-0 record, blanked the Rams 5-0 in the first game before cruising to a 16-0 romp in the second one.
But Davis still was mulling over the initial encounter when approached Monday.
“It was a lack of interest on our part,” he said tersely about Friday’s game.
“You never want to take steps backwards when you’re trying to improve and I thought we did that.
“It falls on their shoulders as players,” Davis stressed.
“You could kind of sense that we were going to have a rough start and not much improved throughout the game,” he remarked.
“They [the Rams] had as many scoring opportunities as we did, and they even had a goal disallowed that I thought was in.
“We come off a weekend tournament in Brandon, where we played some good teams, and you want to keep that momentum going and elevate your play,” Davis reasoned.
“But [Friday] was not good.”
Matt Booth earned the shutout Friday while Dylan Ossachuk did the same when he got his turn on Saturday.
Goal scorers for both games were unavailable as of press time.
The Muskies next host the Kittson Bearcats (Hallock, Mn.) for an exhibition game this Friday at 7:15 p.m. at the Ice For Kids Arena.
“I expect they’ll be a quick, physical, strong team that plays tough,” Davis said of the Bearcats.
“Being competitive and relentless regardless of the score is in the nature of those Minnesota kids.”
Davis also was confident the Kittson game will be a good tune-up for an intense post-Christmas schedule.
“We’ve got the Thief River Falls tournament coming up, then three games with the Thunder Bay [Minor Midget] Kings,” he noted.
“And then we go to Winnipeg to play St. Paul’s [Crusaders].
“That’s six-eight games against solid competition and we’ve got to be ready to play,” Davis warned.
Muskie forward Nick Hahkala and defenceman Connor Tibbs both are dealing with concussions, though Davis said they possibly could play against Kittson.
It will be a holiday-themed evening as the Fort will hold its “Teddy Bear Toss” at Friday’s game.
Spectators are encouraged to bring along newly-purchased stuffed animals to the game and then throw them on the ice after the Muskies score their first goal.
All the collected toys will then be redistributed as Christmas gifts for underprivileged children in the district.
The black-and-gold then head south for another exhibition clash Saturday against the Lafayette Eagles (Red Lake Falls, Mn.) in their final game before Christmas.
