Joey Payeur
The shadow of his predecessor’s learning tree clearly can be seen in the approach of Jordan Sinclair—even though the new head coach of the Muskie boys’ hockey team needs to get something out of the way up front.
“It’s important to know that I’m not Jamie Davis and I’m not going to try to be,” stressed Sinclair, who took over the reins after Davis stepped away following three-straight NorWOSSA titles—the final one capped by Fort High winning its fourth OFSAA championship.
“We agreed on just about everything so there’s not going to be a lot of change on how things are going to run this year,” Sinclair noted.
“But we are different personalities and we handle situations a little differently, even though our philosophies are very similar.”
Sinclair, who coached the Fort Frances PeeWee ‘AA’ Canadians from 2013-15 and the PeeWee ‘AAA’ regional team two seasons ago, won’t have much of a chance to ease into his new role.
That comes with the territory of not only being the defending provincial ‘A/AA’ champs but also the fact the Muskies are guaranteed to be in the field for the 2017 OFSAA playdowns March 21-24 due to being the host team.
“It starts with discipline and the expectation to do whatever it takes to win,” declared Sinclair, referring to the team avoiding the urge to take its foot off the gas pedal with an all-Ontario berth already locked up.
“I told the guys we have a long way to go and a lot of work to do, and they have to come every day with the right attitude to get better.”
Sinclair was blunt when addressing the idea of the coaching staff figuratively needing to twist arms to put the team in the right mindset.
“We’re here to help you get better but we’re not here to motivate guys to work hard,” he reasoned.
“I don’t have the time or energy to waste on guys to get them to work hard,” added Sinclair.
“You’ll decide that on your own,” he said.
“If you don’t want to work hard, that’s fine. You’ll sit and watch the guys who do.”
Sinclair also shared his expectations for himself for this season.
“I want to be there for the guys, be patient, have their backs, love them, and do my best to want to get better every day like I want the guys to get better,” he remarked.
Sinclair got his first long look at where his squad is at, and how much ground it has to cover before the spring, while watching the Muskies capture the ‘B’ title of the 16-team boys’ division at the 2016 Husky Classic in Winnipeg over the weekend.
The Muskies opened play by blanking the Garden City Gophers (Winnipeg) 8-0, with veteran Matt Booth earning the shutout.
Chase McGuire, last season’s top returning scorer, led the way with two goals and four assists.
Meanwhile, rookie Landon Woods had a dream start to his high school career with two goals and two assists—all in the opening period.
“‘Woody’ was the most surprising player to me and, aside from Chase, was maybe our best player all weekend,” lauded Sinclair.
“When he got an opportunity, it was going to the back of the net.”
Brent Jourdain, Sheldon Kelly, Brett Kenny, and Mikel Ward also scored.
The Muskies then thumped the Steinbach Sabres 5-1, with goals going to McGuire, James Gushulak, Cam Gushulak, Cole Allan, and Kenny.
Rookie Spencer Murphy was almost unbeatable between the pipes to win his first high school start.
But a crucial 7-3 loss to the Vincent Massey Trojans (Winnipeg) left the Muskies second in Pool #1, which relegated them to the ‘B’-side bracket.
“It’s good to get a shot in the shins,” said Sinclair, whose squad got goals from McGuire, Woods, and Mike Drouin while Booth took the loss in goal.
“It shows you have to do more than just show up at the rink in the Muskie jersey to be successful,” he stressed.
“The coaching staff was not overly thrilled about the game,” Sinclair admitted.
“We got what we deserved the way we played.”
In the ‘B’ semi-finals, the Muskies let a 4-2 lead in the third period get away as the St. John’s-Ravenscourt Eagles tied it with two goals in the final three minutes against Murphy.
But McGuire, who led the team in tournament scoring with 13 points, raced into the Eagles’ zone and fired a shot that Cam Gushulak cleaned up in front for the game-winner with 15.7 seconds left.
The older Gushulak brother on the team carried that good feeling into the ‘B’ final against the College Jeanne-Sauve Olympiens, netting three goals as part of a 7-3 victory for the Muskies.
Allan, Woods, Jon Busch, and Kendyn Faragher added singles while Booth got the win in goal.
“For their first games of the year, and being such a young team and a new group of guys, it was not too bad,” said Sinclair, whose day-to-day perspective on the team’s progress isn’t completely without thoughts of what lies ahead come March.
“It’s going to be absolutely electric and an experience of a lifetime for all the players and coaches,” he predicted about getting to play in front of what most surely will be a boisterous and frenetic home crowd at OFSAA.
“Just thinking about it now gives me goose bumps,” he admitted. “To play in front of a crowd like that, there’s no way to explain how beneficial that could be.
“If you’re not motivated with that, you’re not breathing.
“I don’t think anyone expected last year what happened,” Sinclair added. “But like last year, from Day 1 I believe in these guys.
“We’re in charge of our ultimate destination and that started already in September.”
The Muskies next head east for a three-game exhibition series Nov. 4-6 against the Thunder Bay Minor Midget ‘AAA’ Kings.
They’ll open NorWOSSA play Nov. 15 at the Kenora Broncos, with their first home games slated for Nov. 22-23 versus the Red Lake Rams.
