Staff
The Fort Frances Canadians Midget ‘AA’ hockey team finished second at its home tournament—the fourth-annual Gus Lindberg Memorial—over the weekend.
The Canadians recorded a solid 2-0-1 record in round-robin play, outscoring their opponents 17-8, before falling 8-1 in Sunday’s final against the Wayzata Junior Gold.
Fort Frances opened play with a 5-2 victory over the St. Thomas Aquinas Saints (Kenora) on Friday.
Ryder Woolsey and Tyler Fontana each tallied twice while Dylan Curtis netted the other goal.
Brennan Carroll earned the win between the pipes.
The Canadians then met Wayzata for the first time Saturday morning, battling the Minnesota crew to a 5-5 stalemate.
Fontana notched another two goals in that one while Brett Bodnarchuk, Brandon McGinnis, and Curtis pitched added singles.
Avery Adrian, meanwhile, stood tall in goal for the Canadians.
Fort Frances completed the round-robin portion with a rough-and-tumble affair against the Current River Comets (Thunder Bay), running away with a 7-1 victory.
Brad McDonald led the way with a pair of goal , with Brandon Patterson, Jacob Hawley, Wes Anderson, Curtis, and McGinnis also bulging the twine.
Carroll earned the win in net.
The Canadians were shorthanded in the final against Wayzata thanks to sustaining injuries and being handed suspensions in the game against the Comets.
Dylan Grinsell netted the squad’s lone goal, with Carroll and Adrian splitting time in goal.
In other local ‘AA’ hockey news, the Fort Frances Snipers Atom team earned silver at the Kenora Thistles Challenge Cup Tournament.
The Snipers went 2-1-1 in round-robin play, edging the host Kenora Thistles 3-2 and then blanking the Sioux Lookout Jr. Flyers 2-0.
The team then battled the Dryden Paper Kings to a 4-4 tie on a late goal by Kendyn Faragher before falling 3-1 to Manitoba’s Springfield Icehawks.
In the final, the Snipers had a rematch with Springfield, which they lost 5-1.
Jon Busch scored the lone Fort Frances goal in that one.
