A look back at 2010

January
•The NorFab Flames PeeWee ‘AA’ girls’ team rang in the New Year the right way, taking gold at the Best of Times Fargo Girls’ International Hockey Classic. The Flames overcame the Bismarck Chill 6-1 in the final.
•The Fort Frances Canadians Midget ‘AA’ team captured the titular medal at the Jr. Gold Tournament in Brookings, S.D. with a 4-1 victory over Mounds View on Jan. 10. Two weeks later, the Canadians won a tournament in Grand Forks, N.D., downing Duluth 3-2 for the title.
•On Jan. 10, the Fort Frances Lakers dealt captain and leading scorer Colton Kennedy to Melville (SJHL) for future considerations and defenceman Conner Foster to Dryden for forward Matt Caulfield and defenceman Brett Williams. The Lakers were 8-22-4 at the time of the deal and finished the season 14-33-5.
•Border Skate Club won a trio of group trophies at a meet in Keewatin. The team won awards for highest point total, highest average point total and most team spirit trophies. In addition, 18 skaters won the top prize in at least one division.
•Snowmobile racer Curtis Boivin won a pair of gold medals at the 2010 World Championship Snowmobile Derby in Eagle River, Wis. from Jan. 15-17.
•The Rolling Lake Lightning downed host Hibbing (Mn.) 2-1 to capture gold at a tournament on Jan. 31.
February
•Swimmers Donovan Taylor and Krista Emond notched 180 and 177 points, respectively, to lead the Aquanauts at their home meet. Both Taylor and Emond won their respective 15-and-over title on Feb. 6.
•Rainy River’s Tim Nordin finished with a 2-9 record at the provincial men’s playdowns in Sudbury from Feb. 9-14, dropping a number of tight games.
•The Muskie senior boys’ basketball team won NorWOSSA with a 66-36 victory over Kenora on Feb. 19, but missed out on the all-Ontarios by the narrowest of margins. Fort High lost the best-of-three NWOSSAA championship series 2-1 to Sir Winston Churchill, including a 50-49 loss in Game 3 on Feb. 27.
•The Muskie junior boys’ basketball team won NorWOSSA with a 71-34 victory over host Dryden on Feb. 19.
•Team Canada defenceman Duncan Keith, who played minor hockey here, was on top of the world when Canada won Olympic gold with a 3-2 overtime win over Team USA in Vancouver on Feb. 28.
•The Muskie girls’ hockey team is swept from the playoffs with a 6-5 loss to the Kenora Broncos in the NorWOSSA semi-final Feb. 28.
•Judy LaBelle’s rink just missed out on a trip to the senior nationals, losing 9-2 to Sudbury’s Vicky Barrett at the provincial final Feb. 28.
•The Lakewood Tire Eagles PeeWee girls’ team won its home tournament with a 3-1 victory over the Dryden PT Cruisers on Feb. 28.
March
•The Taggs Bantam ‘AA’ team capped its season by winning the “Stars of Tomorrow” hockey tournament with a 3-2 win over the North End Flames on March 7.
•The Muskie boys’ hockey team swept its way through the playoffs, earning a trip to NorWOSSA with a 3-0 win over Dryden on March 7.
•Figure skaters Sophie Potvin-Begin and Michael Nelson won the gold medal in juvenile pairs free skate at the Ontario Winter Games in Huntsville from March 4-7.
•Local bowlers captured the annual aggregate bowling banner for the first time since 1992-93 in Atikokan from March 4-6, trouncing the competition by notching 52 points, more than double second-place Dryden.
•Sunset Country bowlers won the provincial banners at the Pins Over Average, Classic, Executive, and High-Low Doubles tournament in North Bay.
•The Muskie girls’ curling rink, skipped by Tirzah Keffer, advanced to the all-Ontarios from March 24-27 for the first time in school history. Once in Toronto, the rink advanced to the quarter-finals before bowing out 7-2 to Timiskaming.
•The Muskie boys’ hockey team recorded a 2-1-1 record at OFSAA in St. Catharines from March 23-26, but didn’t advance to the playoff round because of goal differential.
•Boston Pizza beat La Place Rendez-Vous 66-59 in overtime to deny the “Vous” a third-consecutive title in the men’s basketball league on March 29.
•After a thrilling 4-3 series win over the K&A Wolverines, the Fort Frances Lakers bowed out 3-1 in Game 6 of the SIJHL semi-final to the Dryden Ice Dogs on March 26.
April
•Raymond Roy’s rink advanced to The Dominion Club Curling Championship with a 5-2 win over Coniston’s Denis Prevost at the provincials in Thunder Bay on April 11. On the women’s side, Kim Beaudry’s rink fell 7-3 to Coniston’s Melanie Patry in the final.
•Local driver Steve Arpin takes consecutive checkered flags on the ARCA circuit—first winning the Kentuckiana Ford Dealers 200 in Salem, Ind. on April 11 and then the Rattlesnake 150 in Fort Worth, Tex. on April 16.
•Aquanaut swimmers Adam Stromberg, Anika Beaudry, and Mitchell Riordon all win gold medals at the Northwestern Ontario Open from April 9-11.
•Badminton player Anika Alexander won the under-13 girls’ title at the Manitoba Junior Open in Winnipeg.
•Squash player Angel McCormack recorded the highest-ever showing at nationals for a local, losing the under-13 girls’
consolation final on April 25.
May
•Defenceman Jon Carlson was drafted 156th overall by the OHL’s Ottawa 67’s on May 1. This fall, Carlson was one of the team’s final cuts as a 16-year-old and returned to the Thunder Bay Kings ‘AAA’ team this season.
•Muskie badminton players Rory Bagacki (playing singles) and Chelsea Carlson and Kimika Alexander (playing doubles) bowed out in the ‘B’ flight at the all-Ontarios in Stratford from May 4-7. Meanwhile, Rainy River’s Courtney Hansen won the ‘C’ flight final, defeating Monica Jordan 21-13 and 21-11.
•Goalie Ryan Faragher helps lead the NAHL’s Bismarck Bobcats to the Robertson Cup, blanking the Fairbanks Ice Dogs 3-0 on May 9.
•Anglers Troy Norman and Andrew Carlson won the Sturgeon Bay Open bass tournament in Wisconsin on May 16 with a two-day total of 55.98 pounds, including a 7.01-pound lunker—the largest fish in tournament history.
•The Muskie girls’ soccer team upset Dryden 1-0 to qualify for the NorWOSSA final on May 26, but lost 4-1 to Kenora once there.
•The Muskie boys’ soccer team was upset 3-2 on penalty kicks by host Dryden in the NorWOSSA final on May 26.
•Devlin duo Bill Godin and Ralph Galusha won the Emo Walleye Classic on May 29 with a two-day haul of 11.32 pounds.
•Diver Molly Carlson, who was born here but moved to Thunder Bay at a young age, broke a pair of provincial records at the provincials in Ottawa from May 28-30. Carlson scored 299.90 in the platform competition and 347.85 in the three-metre event.
June
•Figure athlete Shannon Jackson won the figure (medium) novice division at the Northern Cup Challenge in Sault Ste. Marie on June 5. At the provincials in London on June 19, Jackson missed out on the top five.
•Muskie track-and-field athletes Josh Strain and Garnet Paxson compete at OFSAA in London from June 3-5. In his best event, Strain set a new personal best in the long jump (1.83m), but finished 16th because of faults. Paxson, meanwhile, was 20th in the shot put (11.53m), his only event.
•Duncan Keith and the Chicago Blackhawks won the Stanley Cup on June 9, defeating the Philadelphia Flyers in six games. Two weeks later, Keith captured the Norris Trophy as the NHL’s top defenceman at the league awards ceremony in Las Vegas.
•Strain was named Fort High’s top male athlete at the school’s award banquet June 10. Sara Roach earned top female athlete honours.
•Joe Basaraba was drafted in 69th overall by the Florida Panthers at the NHL entry draft June 26 in L.A.
•Bowlers Jim Fowler, Bruce Henry, and Ken Dick won the Club 55+ Triple Team National Five-Pin Championships in Winnipeg on June 23-24, winning nine out of their 10 games.
•Steve Arpin made the most of his promotion to the Nationwide Series, cracking the top 10 with a 10th-place finish at the Subway Jalapeno 250 at the Daytona International Speedway on July 2.
•Molly Carlson earned three medals (two silvers and a bronze) at the 2010 Speedo Junior National Diving Championships in Winnipeg from July 8-11.
•Jon Evans and Gus McFaddin won the 10th-annual “Castin’ for Cash” tournament on Lake Despair on July 9-10 with a two-day record weight of 29.35 pounds.
•Donovan Taylor becomes the first Aquanaut to reach a national final at the Canadian Age Group Championships in Winnipeg from July 21-26. He placed seventh in the 200m I.M. with a time of 2:17.26.
•Angler Dorian Lindholm became the first local angler to win the Fort Frances Canadian Bass Championship since Kent and Steve Ballan in 2001. Lindholm and partner, Bill Wilcox of Burleson, Tex., won the 16th-annual tournament July 24 with a three-day total of 56.45 pounds.
•Al’s Racquet Stringing won the Borderland Soccer Association’s women’s championship with a 2-1 win over the La Place Rendez-Vous Voyageurs on Aug. 12. On the men’s side, Pharmasave earned a 3-2 win over Manitou Forest Products.
•The Sight & Sound Wolves won their second-straight Rainy River District Fastball League title with a 4-3 win over Barwick on Aug. 26.
September
•Steve Arpin earned his third ARCA win of the year at the Southern Illinois 100 in DuQuoin, Ill. on Sept. 6.
•The inaugural roller derby “bout” was held Sept. 11 at the ’52 Canadians Arena. A crowd of more than 300 saw the locals drop a 178-82 decision to a squad from Winnipeg.
•The Muskie football team recorded its first win in two years, edging the St. John’s Tigers 9-7 in Winnipeg on Sept. 17. The win was the team’s only victory of the season as they finished at 1-6.
•Brian and Jim Ney won the Rainy River Walleye Tournament on Sept. 25 with a two-day haul of 24.05 pounds.
•Nestor Falls won $5,000 as the runner-up in the World Fishing Network’s “Ultimate Fishing Town” contest which wrapped in late September. Port Alberni, B.C. won the $25,000 first prize.
October
•Local strongman Luke Skaarup wrapped up the 2010 season with a win at the Oktoberfest Bavarian Strongman Contest in Kitchener, Ont. on Oct. 9. It was Skaarup’s third win of the year.
•The Muskie golf team finished 17th out of 20 teams (74 over par) at its first-ever trip to OFSAA, held Oct. 13-14 at the Barrie Golf Club. Kevin Jackson led the team with a two-day score of 18-over 162.
•The Fort Frances Lakers cracked the CJHL’s top 20, entering the list at No. 17 for the week of Oct. 25. The Lakers shuffled in and out of the rankings much of the two months that followed.
•The Muskie boys’ hockey team earned gold at the Dryden Eagles’ tournament from Oct. 28-30, beating Kenora 4-1 in the final. The Muskies later won a tournament in Morden, Man. with a 7-1 over Mountain on Nov. 20.
November
•Donovan Taylor earned bronze medals in the 100m free (54.01) and 200m I.M. (2:10.20) at the Swim International 2010 meet in Brantford, Ont. from Nov. 12-14.
•The Muskie junior boys’ volleyball team won its first NorWOSSA title since 2001-02 with a 3-1 (20-25, 25-23, 25-19 and 25-18) win over Dryden in the final.
•The Muskie junior girls’ basketball team won its second-straight NorWOSSA championship with a 36-29 win over Dryden in the final.
•The Kaemingh Esso Atom girls’ hockey team won the “November Chill” tournament, held in mid-November in Thunder Bay, downing the McDonald’s Hurricanes 4-2 in the final. Meanwhile, the BDO Stars earned the Bantam girls’ title, blanking fellow locals Skates & Blades 3-0 in the final.
•Golfer Alex McDonald finished tied for sixth in the boys’ 17-19 division at the Maple Leaf Junior Golf Tour’s national championship held in Phoenix, Ariz. from Nov. 19-21.
•Raymond Roy’s rink narrowly missed out on the playoff round at The Dominion Club Curling Championship in Charlottetown, P.E.I. from Nov. 23-28. The team lost a tie-breaker to Alberta 8-4 after the teams finished tied with a 4-2 record in group play.
•The Sunset Country boys’ bowling squad, with three locals (Jordan Sokoliuk, Daniel Murray, and Lyle Dolph) won gold at the Northern Ontario Youth Challenge in North Bay.
December
•Swimmer Adam Stromberg won gold in the 50m free (28.74) at the Prairie Winter Invitational in Winnipeg from Dec. 2-5.
•The Boston Pizza Royals PeeWee ‘AA’ hockey team won a tournament in International Falls on Dec. 5, topping the hosts 7-4 in the final. The Royals followed up by winning the DTS Challenge Cup in Kenora with a 3-2 shootout win over the Portage Terriers on Dec. 12.
•The Muskie boys’ senior basketball team won its home tournament on Dec. 11, finishing the weekend with a 4-0 record.