Staff
The Fort Frances Canadians have found the golden touch again.
The local Midget ‘AA’ team took home the top prize at a tournament in Grand Forks over the weekend, edging Duluth 3-2 in the final.
The Canadians got off to a solid start, edging the Rugby Ice Hawks 2-1 in their opener Friday night.
After a scoreless first period, Ryan Lundy put Fort Frances on the board at 1:51 of the second.
The Ice Hawks tied is just under two minutes later when Aaron Teigen beat James Wallin at 3:39.
But that was all Wallin allowed, with Lundy notching his second of the game at 12:29 of the third to seal the victory.
Brad McDonald assisted on both goals for Fort Frances.
Wallin made 25 saves for the Canadians while Rugby’s beleaguered goalie, Thomas Seaver, stopped 44 in a losing cause.
Fort Frances then improved to 2-0 with an 8-1 shellacking of the Mayport Ice Dawgs on Saturday morning.
The Canadians surged to a rousing start just 93 seconds into the game as Lundy struck again. Brandon Sinclair then made it 2-0 at 6:13.
Fort Frances notched another early-period goal in the second, too, when Chris Bobczynski tallied just 47 seconds in.
Lundy’s second of the game came at 2:18 of the middle stanza, but Mayport responded just 26 seconds later when Nick Noyes put the Ice Dawgs on the board.
But McDonald struck back at the eight-minute mark to boost the Canadians’ lead to 5-1 after two.
Fort Frances buried Mayport in the third as Jeff Gustafson and McDonald scored 11 seconds apart midway through the frame.
Cody Bodnar rounded out the rout at 14:13.
Wallin was sharp when tested, turning aside 13 shots, while Mayport’s Roy Nelson blocked 54 fired his way.
The point system in the tournament rewarded margin of victory and shutouts, as well as wins, so the Canadians entered their last round-robin game needing at least a 3-0 shutout to win their pool.
The squad did just that with a 4-0 whitewashing of the Fargo Flyers.
Lundy was at it again, putting the Canadians on the board at 15:07 of the first. Sinclair then made it 2-0 at 13:06 of the second.
After Ryder Woolsey scored at 12:10 of the third, Bobczynski wrapped things up just over two minutes later.
Wallin turned aside 29 Flyer shots while Fargo’s Cody Sturlaugson blocked 40.
The win advanced the Canadians to the final against Duluth. And for the first time all tournament, Fort Frances didn’t score first as Mike Sorensen beat Wallin early on.
Wes Anderson netted his first of the tournament at 9:14 of the opening period to knot the score at 1-1.
The Canadians then took the lead at 12:05 of the second as Tarran Romyn tallied.
Duluth got the equalizer in the third period, but Jacob Hawley’s first of the tournament at 4:33 proved to be the game-winner as the Canadians held on for the gold medal.
Wallin and Duluth’s Lucas Broska made 25 saves apiece in the final.
