Lucas Punkari
While it may not have gone according to plan, the Muskie boys’ hockey team is now set to battle the Kenora Broncos for the NorWOSSA crown and a trip to the all-Ontarios.
The best-of-three final gets underway tonight at 7:15 p.m. at the Ice For Kids Arena, with Game 2 going Sunday at 8:30 p.m. at the Kenora Rec Centre.
Game 3, if necessary, would be back here on Tuesday at 7:15 p.m.
“It’s going to be a really tight series,” warned Muskie head coach Shawn Jourdain.
“They’ve [Kenora] come a really long way this year, and the kids know that we owe them one,” noted Jourdain, whose team lost the regular-season series to the Broncos.
“They go at it hard all of the time,” agreed Muskie defenceman Davis Ross.
“It’s going to be a tough game on Friday to start things off, and we’re just going to have to get through it,” he added.
The Muskies ended up being pushed to the limit by the fourth-place Red Lake Rams in their best-of-three semi-final series, which the black-and-gold eventually won thanks to a 6-2 victory in Game 3 here Tuesday night.
That win came a day after the Rams had triumphed 9-5 in Game 2 of the series up in Red Lake—the first time the school had beaten the Muskies in a playoff game since Red Lake’s NorWOSSA championship run way back in 1978.
“We were down a few guys on Monday due to injuries and what-not, so it was nice to have a full lineup once again [Tuesday night],” Jourdain said following the game.
“We had some jump right off the start from some kids who haven’t played in a while, and everyone else keyed off of those players,” he noted.
“And it was also nice to have four lines rolling once again.”
The teams were deadlocked after the first 20 minutes, largely thanks to some stellar netminding from Rams’ goalie Scott Sidders.
But once the Rams started to head to the penalty box during the second period, Fort High was able to capitalize on their power-play chances to pull away.
“In the first, we played the way that we wanted to play,” noted Rams’ coach Mark Vermette.
“But once we started to run into some penalty trouble, they capitalized on that.
“But in the end, I’m very proud of our players, especially since no one thought we’d go the full three games with Fort,” Vermette added.
“The kids have earned some respect here, I think, and we’re starting to get our program moving in the right direction, which is what we wanted to this year,” he remarked.
Leading the Muskie offence Tuesday night was forward Nick Jourdain, who netted a pair of goals and added an assist, and Ross, who finished with a goal and an assist.
“Nick hadn’t played in a while so I knew he would have some legs to play well out there, which he did,” Coach Jourdain said.
“And Davis [Ross] had probably his best game all year with a Bobby Orr-ish type goal in the third and a nice pass to set up Nick Kaun’s goal in the second, so that was nice to see,” he added.
With Jeff Davis (separated shoulder) and Brendan Cawston (knee) already out for the rest of the post-season, the Muskies suffered another scare in the second period Tuesday night when Robbie Rea was helped off the ice with a knee injury.
“I’m not sure the extent of it, but it looks like just a bruise above his right knee so I think he’ll be okay for Friday,” Coach Jourdain noted.
But despite any concerns the Muskies may have due to injuries or banged-up players, the squad does feel very strong about having home-ice advantage for the NorWOSSA final.
“We don’t get beat here very often,” Jourdain reasoned. “I think in the three years that I’ve been the head coach here, we’ve only lost twice at home in league play.
“It’s comfortable for us, the kids like the room, and it’s just nice to be at home,” the coach added.
