Staff
They didn’t get the results they wanted but it wasn’t from a lack of trying.
The Fort Frances PeeWee ‘AA’ Canadians settled for fourth place at their home tournament this past weekend—losing a pair of games Sunday that saw them get down but never quit trying to get back up.
The Westfort Rangers (Thunder Bay) used three goals in the third period to top the Canadians 5-3 in the bronze-medal game at the Ice For Kids Arena.
Following a scoreless first period, the Rangers jumped in front early in the second when Ben Cordone poked in a loose puck after Canadians’ goalie Jaden Cooper had difficulty corralling a rebound of a blast from the point.
Kendra Fortin then made it 2-0 on a great hustle play from her whole line.
But the Canadians stormed back with a power-play goal just 20 seconds later.
Jace Dittaro directed the puck at the net and Trent Hunter slid it past Rangers’ goalie Ryan Filipovic to cut the lead in half.
The Canadians nearly tied it early in the third but Filipovic made a brilliant stop on Brandon Croswell, who was left alone in the slot.
That proved crucial as Kai Vanska restored the Rangers’ two-goal lead less than two minutes later, taking a centering pass from Emilio Fara and roofing a shot over Cooper’s shoulder from a tough angle on the far side of the right face-off circle.
Cooper held firm a few minutes later—denying Fortin’s rush to the net to send the play in the other direction.
That sequence ended when Ashton Cousineau made a great spin move just inside the Rangers’ blueline to shake defender Bella Carangi and put the puck deftly off the boards to Peyton Avis.
With a clear path to the net, Avis made no mistake in burying a shot past Filipovic to pull the Canadians back within one.
But a determined play by Noah Broughton led to the decisive marker with 3:39 to go.
He held off Canadians’ blueliner Isabelle Taylor and got a shot on goal that Cooper thrust out his skate to stop just near the goal line.
But as he was sliding by the net, Broughton reached back and appeared to get just enough of the puck to coax it over the line with Cooper still down.
The Canadians refused to roll over, though, closing the gap two minutes later when Cooper raced to the bench for an extra attacker.
That happened to be Cael Anderson, who jumped off the bench and into the Rangers’ zone to find the puck sitting for him between the circles, which he blasted at the net.
Filipovic blocked that shot but Canadians’ captain Matt Spence deposited the rebound into the cage to make it 4-3.
But with Cooper still on the bench, the Canadians’ attempt to clear the zone was intercepted by Broughton, who notched an empty-net goal with 1:08 left to ice the victory.
Earlier Sunday at the ’52 Canadians Arena, the Canadians entered their semi-final showdown against the top-ranked Warriors as not only the fourth seed, but a heavy underdog after losing in Warroad 8-3 in their first meeting this season.
And it looked as though it would be another blowout as the Warriors jumped out to an early 3-0 lead on goals by Emmett Marvin, Carson Reed, and Anthony Foster.
Spence tucked home a rebound of a Croswell shot at 2:15 of the second during a power play to put the Canadians on the board.
That was countered at 6:24 when Trent Hunter lost a draw in the Canadians’ zone against Luke Erickson and then lost his footing.
Erickson drew the puck back to Gaabi Boucha, who sailed a shot past Cooper stick side for a 4-1 lead.
Cooper was lifted in favour of Ethan Rose, who kept the Canadians in the fight with five-star saves against Marvin on a one-timer and then Luke Johnson on a breakaway.
That opened the door for a spirited third-period rally by the Canadians.
Avis first sped down the right-wing and wristed a shot that squeezed throught the pads of Warroad goalie Jack Orchard.
Two minutes later on another power play, Avis roofed a centering pass from behind the net to beat Orchard.
Rose then added to the momentum when he made a breakaway save on highly-touted prospect Daimon Gardner from Eagle Lake First Nation.
But only 12 seconds into a power play with a chance for the Canadians to tie the game, Gardner won a face-off in the offensive zone, drew the puck back to himself, and then wired it over Rose’s shoulder for a short-handed goal to put Warroad up 5-3.
Gardner then helped deliver the final nail in the coffin as the rebound of his shot was flipped in by Johnson on a power play with 1:21 left.
The Thunder Bay Elks 82’s wound up taking home the tourney title after doubling the Warroad Warriors 4-2 in the final.
The Canadians had opened play Friday morning with a 5-2 victory over the Dryden Paperkings.
Avis scored twice in that one while Nolan Mann, Koda Radigan, and Taylor added singles.
Rose earned the win in goal.
The Canadians then fell 4-2 to the West End Bruins (Thunder Bay), with Avis and Cousineau getting the goals and Cooper taking the loss in net.
On Saturday, the Canadians got goals from Matt Gerstner and Radigan, along with strong goaltending from Rose, to nip the St. James Canadiens (Winnipeg) 2-1.
Avis had a hat trick, and Cousineau added the other two tallies, as the hosts dumped the Lord Selkirk Steelers (Winnipeg) 5-1 in their final preliminary-round game.
Cooper picked up the win in goal.
