Joey Payeur
On a memorable weekend, it was the memory that will remain forever ingrained in the minds of those on hand to witness it.
Three days after being in the front row of an emotionally-charged sendoff for his deceased father, it was Jake Clendenning’s breakaway goal that put the exclamation mark on the Fort Frances Bantam ‘AA’ Canadians’ 5-1 win over the Lac Seul Blades in the title game of the Northwestern Ontario Bantam ‘AA’ Championship at the Ice for Kids Arena on Sunday.
James Gushulak headmanned a pass to Clendenning, who took it on the fly and then found the back of the net to the roaring delight of those in attendance who were well aware of the turmoil the young man had gone through since his father, Muskie girls hockey head coach Scott Clendenning, died from a heart attack while vacationing in Mexico on March 16.
The older Clendenning’s funeral was held next door at the ’52 Canadians Arena in front of more than 1,000 people last Thursday.
Tears of sadness that day were likely replaced by tears of joy on several faces on Sunday when Clendenning lit the lamp.
“There was a lot of excitement,” enthused Canadians head coach Brent Tookenay.
“The crowd was going crazy, but I think our bench was even more crazy,” he continued.
“I give Jake a lot of credit for playing this weekend. He had to have had a heavy heart, but he played well.
“It was so great to see his family out to support him and you couldn’t have asked for a better ending.”
Eric Pitkanen and Ethan Carlson-Jourdain staked Fort Frances to a 2-0 lead over the Blades, who had nipped the Canadians 3-2 in their preliminary-round opener on Saturday.
Ian Tookenay then tallied twice in the second to double the advantage.
Quinton Loon-Stewardson went highlight-reel style with 4:30 left in the game, scooping up the puck behind the net and using the lacrosse move made famous in YouTube videos by Sidney Crosby among others to stash the rubber just under the crossbar to break Matt Booth’s shutout bid.
“For the next shift or two, the guys were thinking about that goal, so I called time out to settle them down,” recounted Coach Tookenay.
Not long after, Clendenning provided his one magic moment and in minutes, the ice was littered with gloves and sticks tossed asunder by the celebrating Canadians.
“This is one quality team,” lauded Tookenay about his squad.
“We had three guys who never even played ‘AA’ before . . . It was bittersweet with it being our last day together,” continued the coach.
“But you know that when you win your last game of the season, something good usually happens.”
In the opener against Lac Seul, the Canadians gave up a power-play goal halfway through the third for the game-winner in their first game in three weeks.
“We were rusty and it showed,” admitted Tookenay, who got goals from his son, Ian, and Daymond Morrisseau while Spencer Murphy took the loss in goal.
“We have close games against those guys all the time.”
The second game for the Fort finished in a 3-3 tie with the Kenora Thistles, who scored with 44 seconds left in the third and their goalie on the bench for an extra attacker.
“We had a bad first shift and a bad last shift, but everything in between was a little better than the first game,” analyzed Tookenay, who received goals from Morrisseau, Jon Busch and Sully Shortreed, while Booth was in between the pipes.
Their 0-1-1 mark put the Canadians in third after the preliminary round, paving the way for a rematch with second-place Kenora in one of the semifinals.
It was all Fort from the get-go, as the Canadians shot in front 3-0 after the first on the way to an 8-0 weeding of the Thistles.
“The team showed a lot of determination,” praised Tookenay.
“We played with a lot more purpose out there and jumped all over them early.”
Ian Tookenay scored twice (one shorthanded), while Pitkanen also had a shorthanded marker to go along with singles by Morrisseau, Busch, Cole Allan, Gushulak and Shortreed.
Murphy was rock solid in earning the shutout in goal.
“(Booth) played in and won a lot of the tournament finals this year, but Spencer won a lot of semifinals to get us into those championship games, “ observed Tookenay, who credited his team’s commitment to excellence as the backbone of its success this season.
“The players worked hard this year and came every day and put in a quality effort at practice,” complimented Tookenay.
“It was a great way to end the season.”
