Joey Payeur
They came for the coronation and stole the crown jewels right from under the king’s nose.
The Thief River Falls Norskies spoiled the Fort Frances Lakers’ championship celebration Friday night at the Ice For Kids Arena as the SIJHL’s newest team skated away with a 4-2 victory to kick off the regular season.
After giving the home crowd a first look at their latest regular-season and SIJHL championship banners hanging from the rafters, the Lakers (0-1) jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the second period.
But the Norskies (1-0) score four unanswered goals to earn the two points in their league debut.
“We got very sloppy in our zone, especially in the second period,” said Lakers’ head coach and general manager Wayne Strachan.
“We had guys running all over the ice and not playing their positions, and the older guys were maybe trying to do too much,” he noted.
Lakers’ newcomer Ian Jarvis made it 1-0 in the first before veteran Dylan Kooner added a second-period tally on the power play.
Peter Gryhtdahl netted the Norskies’ first-ever regular-season goal at 6:02 of the second, then Keaton Huot tied it on a man-advantage tip-in before intermission.
Connor Schuster notched the game-winner at 7:40 of the third, with David Brennan adding an insurance marker with 2:41 to go.
Ryan Buttazoni made 33 saves to earn the win while Brandon Bodnar had 30 stops in defeat.
The Lakers played without forwards Jaden Gustafson (one-game suspension) and Jacob Longmore (concussion), defencemen Matt Bruinsma (upper-body injury) and Bryce Patterson (wrist), and goalie Billy Gorn (groin).
The absences opened the door for some newly-signed recruits to step into the lineup in forward Nathan Washington and defenceman Jun Yi (Frank) Zhong.
Washington, a 20-year-old forward from Coquitlam, B.C., split last season between the North Okanagan Knights of the Kootenay International Junior Hockey League and the Aldergrove Kodiaks of the Pacific International Junior Hockey League.
The 18-year-old Zhong, from Surrey, B.C., spent the last two seasons with the Langley Knights (PIJHL).
The Lakers continue their four-game homestand to open the season tomorrow at 7:30 p.m. against the English River Miners.
