Joey Payeur
Jordan Sinclair dismissed the seedings before the start of the OFSAA ‘A/AA’ boys’ hockey championship as irrelevant.
His belief was–sadly for the home team–proven to be rife with wisdom.
The defending champion Muskies carried the No. 1 seed into the tournament last week, but were carried out on their shield before the medal round even got going following a 2-0 loss to the seventh-ranked Holy Cross Raiders (St. Catharines) last Wednesday to leave the black-and-gold with a 1-1-1 record and in third place in Pool ‘A.’
Needing a win to assure themselves a top-two spot in the pool and a quarter-final berth, the Muskies couldn’t solve Raiders’ goalie Eric Laflamme.
Meanwhile, the Raiders’ special teams were special, indeed, with both their goals coming on the power play while killing off all six man-advantage opportunities for the Muskies.
“It’s definitely not the ending you want,” admitted Sinclair, whose first year as head coach of the Muskies included the team’s 10th-straight NorWOSSA title.
“The reality is you have to win to get to the tournament and 16 teams all have to do the same thing, but only one is going to reach their goal,” he noted.
“It’s disappointing but to finish in the top 10 in the province, it’s not that bad.
“We had a good year. I don’t think in any sense it was a failure for us,” Sinclair stressed.
“We didn’t get out of the round-robin but I’m definitely a believer that ultimately just because you don’t reach your goal, it doesn’t mean you base your success solely on what the scoreboard says at the end of the night,” he reasoned.
“The difference between success and failure is whether you have been giving your very best and to me, we had success.”
Matthew Mines broke a scoreless tie at 9:43 of the second with Chase McGuire off for tripping.
Mines backhanded the puck in after the Raiders, who went on to capture the bronze medal with a 3-1 victory over fellow Pool ‘A’ team the Immaculata Saints (Ottawa), got a couple of whacks at it following Saul van der Zalm’s drive to the net.
In the third, with Landon Woods whistled for hooking, a quick centering pass from Mines found an awaiting van der Zalm, who beat Muskie goalie Matt Booth to the glove side for the insurance tally.
The Muskies had three power-play chances in the final five minutes, and played 6-on-4 during one of them with Booth pulled for the extra attacker, but to no avail.
“I thought throughout the game we played well,” said downhearted captain Mike Drouin, one of possibly seven Muskies who laced up their skates for the last time in their high school careers barring anyone returning next year for a “victory lap” season.
“The two penalties we got scored on definitely killed us,” he noted.
“There’s tons of disappointment for myself and the other guys who won it last year,” Drouin added.
“It’s upsetting because you fell like you let everyone down.
“But in the end, we really worked hard and did all we could,” he remarked. “It just didn’t go our way.”
The Muskies couldn’t have asked for a much better start to the tournament–dumping the 14th-ranked O’Gorman Knights (Timmins) by a 6-1 margin in their first game last Tuesday morning.
Cam Gushulak’s two goals in a span of 16 seconds during the opening minute of the second period turned a 2-0 lead into a healthy 4-0 cushion.
McGuire, Woods, Kendyn Faragher, and Drouin had the other Muskie goals while Booth earned the win in goal.
The pivotal game that decided the Muskies’ fate came that evening in a 3-3 tie with 12th-seeded Immaculata.
Kyle Fleming notched a natural hat trick in just 3:51 midway through the second period to put the Muskies in a 3-0 hole.
“We knew 88 [Fleming] was their guy and I thought we did a pretty decent job with him for the most part,” said Sinclair.
“But if he got into scoring position that period, he didn’t miss.”
The Muskies righted the ship with goals by Gushulak and Eric Pitkanen just 1:48 apart in the last three minutes of the frame to put a charge into the sold-out crowd.
McGuire assisted on both, then made it three helpers as he started the play that led to James Gushulak finishing off his cousin’s feed at 8:50 of the third for the tying goal.
“It was quite an achievement by our guys to stick with it, dig in their heels, and find a way,” lauded Sinclair.
“At 3-zip, it would have been pretty easy to turn on the autopilot.”
Sinclair, meanwhile, expressed no regrets about the half-dozen players from last year’s squad, who were eligible to return this season, instead chose to play for either for the Kenora Thistles or the Thunder Bay Minor Midget ‘AAA’ Kings.
“It happens every year that you lose players that could come back, but this was a unique year,” he noted.
“It’s not often you lose six players like that.
“Could they have helped us? Yeah,” Sinclair conceded. “But at the end of the day, we as a coaching staff wish all the kids well, whether they choose to come back or not.
“Do I wish we had them?” mused Sinclair. “I don’t mean this in a negative way but no.
“You want guys that want to be there and maybe it ends up that those guys were better off elsewhere if their heads and their hearts weren’t here,” he reasoned.
“I can’t be happier with the group of guys I had.”
Drouin joins fellow defencemen Connor Tibbs and Brandon Kocuiba, along with McGuire, Woods, Cam Gushulak, and fellow forward Brent Jourdain, as the likely Grade 12 contingent that won’t be back, although there is talk Jourdain may return for a “victory lap.”
“There’s no replacement for veteran leadership,” admitted Sinclair. “Those kind of guys are crucially important to any successful program to lead the way and help the young guy along.
“Drouin, Tibbs, Jourdain, and McGuire have all been there for the past three years and it was up for debate that they could have went elsewhere and played, so I credit them for sticking around.”
The departing Muskie captain always will treasure his time representing Fort High.
“It’s a great group of guys I got to spend my last year with,” said Drouin.
“Being a Muskie taught me a lot not only hockey-wise, but gave me lessons to carry with me in life both on and off the ice,” he noted.
“It’s been a ride-and-a-half,” added Drouin. “I’ll have memories for the rest of my life and a lot of friendships that I’ll carry on, as well.
“Being part of three-straight NorWOSSA champions was special and I hope the guys next year can keep the streak going.”
The Muskies will hold their year-end awards banquet April 7 beginning at 6 p.m. at the Copper River Inn.
