Joey Payeur
The Memorial Sports Centre staff that maintains the Ice For Kids Arena might have some extra work to do today to repair the well-worn path to the penalty box.
Some two dozen minors (12 to each team) were handed out in Game 1 of the NorWOSSA boys’ hockey final yesterday between the defending OFSAA champion Muskies and the St. Thomas Aquinas Saints.
Fort High proved more adept at capitalizing on their man-advantage changes–scoring three power-play markers as part of a four-goal first period that fuelled a 5-2 victory.
“That was awful,” said first-year Muskie head coach Jordan Sinclair.
“It’s unfortunate because we got off to a really good start and then it was just a parade to the penalty box.
“When you’ve got all these penalties, you have some of your guys who barely touch the ice for a good chunk of time,” he noted.
Landon Woods and James Gushulak each notched power-play tallies against Saints’ starting goalie Brandon Scott before the game was seven minutes old.
Mike Drouin added an even-strength tally, followed by another man-advantage marker by Cole Allan to make it 4-0.
Gushulak added his second of the game 1:06 into the second, then the rest of the game saw the Saints trying to play catch-up.
Brett Riehl (on a two-man advantage) got the visitors on the board before the middle frame was out.
That was followed by Skylar Lentz at 1:43 of the third with Sheldon Kelly Jr. serving a double minor for head contact.
The Muskies killed off another two-man advantage immediately after as Brent Jourdain (slashing) joined Kelly in the box, deflating the Saints’ push for a comeback.
Rookie Spencer Murphy, who got the call in goal for the Muskies after veteran Matt Booth won both semi-final games against the Sioux Lookout Warriors, looked sharp in picking up the win.
Connor Tibbs returned to the lineup yesterday to give the Muskies a fully-available roster for the first time since the defenceman was sidelined by injury back in January.
The Muskies can capture their 10th-straight NorWOSSA crown with a win in Game 2 tomorrow in Kenora.
Game 3, if necessary, would go Thursday at 1:15 p.m. at the Ice For Kids Arena.
“It’s pretty exciting,” first-year defenceman Jace Jackson said about being on the cusp of his first league title.
“Especially with us having OFSAA at home this year [March 21-23],” he noted.
“We’re going to have a lot of fans out.”
