Injuries hamper Legion in Dryden

Injuries are an inevitable part of tournament hockey.
More often than not, the team that manages to avoid being bitten by the injury bug also is the one that hoists the trophy as tournament champion late Sunday afternoon.
Despite a gutsy effort, the Fort Frances Legion hockey team could not overcome a series of nagging injuries and lost 3-2 to the Dryden Bruins in the ‘B’ division semi-finals of the Dryden Midget ‘A’ tournament over the weekend.
Ben Klyne and Justin Rose scored in the loss.
“We probably played as well as we could in the semi-finals with a banged up team,” head coach Ron Kellar said. “The kids were hurting.
“They tried to gut it out. It was a good effort by them,” he added. “I couldn’t ask for too much more.”
Three players on the Legion’s 14-man roster—Mike McKay, Jarid Sandelovich, and Klyne—suffered injuries during the quarter-finals against the Dryden Senators.
And while all three showed their mettle and suited up for the semi-final showdown, none were at their best.
“They all came out and played,” Kellar said. “They were hurting but they were trying.”
The Legion got off to a slow start at the 16-team tournament, dropping all three of their round-robin games.
They fell 3-0 in their opening game to the Dryden Canadians, then suffered a pair of 6-1 defeats at the hands of the Nor-West Stars and Westfort Rangers (both from Thunder Bay).
Legion captain Curtis Logue scored his team’s lone goal in both those games.
The team’s 0-3 record in the round-robin relegated them to the ‘B’ division playoffs, where they faced the Dryden Senators in the quarter-finals.
The Legion stepped up their play and earned a 3-0 victory on goals by Nathan Calder, Jason Mathews, and Jacob McMahon.
Nicholas Kellar earned the shutout in goal.
“Once we got into where everything counted, we picked it up a bit, played hockey, and did well at it,” Ron Kellar said.