Lucas Punkari
The Fort Frances Thunderhawks could not have picked a better time to nab their first victory at the 2011 Allan Cup tournament.
The squad notched a pair of late goals to oust the host Kenora Thistles 5-3 in quarter-final action last night at the Kenora Recreation Centre, and now advance to a semi-final showdown tonight against the Bentley Generals (Alberta).
“It was a very emotional game for both teams,” said Thunderhawks’ assistant coach Randy White.
“The guys all went in there saying that ‘we can win this game,’ since we have had some success against Kenora in the past, and the fellas did just that,” he added.
Fort Frances led 3-0 early in the second period but the Thistles steadily clawed at the deficit before Jon Johnson tied the game with a shorthanded goal at the 9:03 mark of the third.
But the home crowd was denied seeing their team complete the dramatic comeback as Myles Kuharski and Derek Hansberry both scored in the final minutes to seal the win for the T’hawks.
“After Kenora tied it up, we all still felt pretty good on the bench,” White noted.
“[Head coach] Larry [Beck] and I, along with the rest of the coaching staff and the players, were just telling everyone to settle down, and they responded well,” he remarked.
“Then when Myles got that fourth goal, that pretty much lifted our entire bench.”
Kuharski led the way with a hat trick while Tyler Barker and Troy Ilijow both added a pair of assists.
“Myles had been kind of snake-bit so far in the tournament, but boy did he find the twine last night,” White lauded.
“Everything he shot went in, and they weren’t ugly goals,” he stressed. “They were three beauties.”
Kevin Webb netted the other goal.
With the win, the Thunderhawks now will face the General, who have been to the Allan Cup final the last three years.
The puck drops at 8 p.m.
“Bentley’s a very strong team and they kind of come at you in waves, so tonight will be a tough one,” White admitted.
“We have a couple guys out of the lineup again as Josh Meyers is doubtful with an upper body injury, Marty Hanson suffered a concussion in the first period last night, and Ian Lockman was kicked out of the game on the first shift, as well,” he noted.
“But we do have some more bodies coming in today, and we have Malcolm MacMillan coming up from Thunder Bay, so that should help us,” White added.
In the other quarter-final yesterday, former Ohio State Buckeyes goalie Jeff Maund turned aside 55 shots to help lead the Dundas Real McCoys (Ontario) to a 3-0 shutout over the South East Prairie Thunder (Manitoba).
Cam Watson and Mark Jooris both had a goal and an assist for the Real McCoys, who now face the Clarenville Caribous (Newfoundland) this afternoon in the other semi-final.
The Allan Cup final goes tomorrow at 3 p.m., and will be shown on tape delay starting at 5 p.m. on TSN2.
