Keast sparks Bulldogs to ‘A’ title

Unlucky 13? Try telling that to Braedon Keast.
The forward for the Fort Frances MEC Bulldogs scored the only goal of a marathon shootout session to lift his team past the Century Cinema Stars (Kenora) in the ‘A’ final of the 16-team Atom ‘A’ hockey tournament here last weekend.
The game was tied 3-3 after regulation time and stayed that way through four-straight two-minute overtime periods, with each team losing a skater after each one.
When a two-on-two scenario solved nothing, the teams went to the shootout session—with six skaters from each side turned away by the opposing goalies.
With both teams threatening to use up their entire benches in the search for a winner, Keast put the pressure on the Stars by whistling a 20-foot wrist shot through the five-hole on Century Cinema goalie Bryce Edie that brought a raucous hometown crowd to its feet in celebration.
Bulldogs netminder Devin Stromness, who made three key stops in the fourth overtime period to prolong the game, then made a pad save on the Stars’ Jordan Schabler to seal the victory.
Jeff Cridland scored twice in regulation for the Bulldogs, with Ryne Strachan adding a single.
Maxx Madill and Cridland each had tallied to get the Bulldogs off on the right foot Friday with a 2-0 whitewash of the Emo Esso Leafs, one of five other local teams competing in the tournament.
The shutout string continued for MEC with a 3-0 win over the Norcom Lynx (Kenora) as Cridland notched a pair and Thomas Oakes added the other.
The West End Bruins (Thunder Bay) proved the only stumbling block over the weekend for the Bulldogs, pulling out a 2-1 win over the local side with Billy Ash collecting MEC’s only goal.
Then in a clash of in-town rivals, the Bulldogs nipped the Causeway Cougars 2-1 in the ‘A’ semi-finals after not having beaten the Cougars all season.
Cridland and Oakes scored for MEC in that one while Brendan Cawston had the lone goal for the Cougars.
Causeway had opened the tourney with a 6-1 win over the Emo Hawks on goals by Cawston (two), Jamie Buttner, Brandon Patterson, Manny Cawston, and Brett Bodnarchuk.
Matthew Sigurdson replied for the Hawks.
The Cougars then clawed the KFC Colonels (Kenora) by a 3-0 count. Brendan Cawston picked up a pair of goals and Manny Cawston the other while Zack Pocock had two assists.
Then in a tight defensive struggle, Causeway played the Westfort Rangers (Thunder Bay) to a 1-1 draw, with Manny Cawston providing his team’s only offence.
The Emo Esso Leafs tried to rebound from their opening loss to the Bulldogs, but the West End Bruins (Thunder Bay) scored three times in the first period en route to a 5-3 win.
Tyson McLean scored twice for Emo in that one, with Ryder Woolsey adding a single.
It wasn’t as close the next morning as the Norcom Lynx growled their way to a 7-2 win against the Leafs. Joe Kellar and Simon Firth had Emo’s markers.
The Leafs finally snared a spot in the win column in the ‘D’ semi-finals by scoring two goals in five seconds in the first period to take a 2-1 thriller over the Westfort Rangers.
Carlee Bosma put her team on the board before Kellar scored right from the face-off for the eventual game-winner.
Kellar also kept his team alive in the ‘D’ final, connecting with 3:23 left in regulation time to pull his team into a 1-1 tie against the Dryden Ducks.
But in another extra-time nail-biter that went to a shootout, Dryden’s Brock Clink scored on his team’s first chance to give the Ducks the victory.
After losing to the Cougars in their first outing, the Emo Hawks received an unassisted natural hat trick from Matthew Sigurdson in their second game to blank the Westfort Rangers 3-0.
Sigurdson struck again for his team’s only goal in a 1-1 tie with the KFC Colonels. But the Hawks’ tourney came to an end with a 4-1 loss to the West End Bruins in the ‘C’ semi-finals, with Billy Barker scoring Emo’s lone goal.
Gillons’ Sharks (Fort Frances) chomped down on the Dryden Ducks 2-0 in their opener, with Harley Labbe and Brandon Marr tallying for the home side.
Then in a back-and-forth affair later Friday, the Sharks fell by a 4-3 margin to the Century Cinema Stars. Marr netted two for Gillons’ while Marek Willemsen added a single.
The Neebing Blue Jackets (Thunder Bay) stung the Sharks 2-1 on Saturday, with Luke Henry coming through for Gillons’ only goal. That put them into the ‘C’ semi-finals, where the Red Rock Atoms stole a 7-6 victory.
Justin Anderson scored twice for the Sharks in that one, with Darrel Bombay, Henry, Marr, and Lucas Hudson adding the others. Eric Duffy chipped in with two assists.
And Green’s Predators (Fort Frances) were nudged 1-0 by the Dryden Avalanche in their opening game, but bounced back with a vengeance as they torched the Neebing Red Wings (Thunder Bay) for five goals in the second period en route to a 6-0 win.
Chris Bobczynski had two goals for the Predators while Don Brown, Wade Perusse, Jake Smith, and Daniel Brunetta added singles.
Green’s continued its hot streak with a 4-1 defeat of the Red Rock Atoms, with Perusse drilling a pair of goals to accompany singles by Bobczynski and Brunetta.
But with their sights locked on a trip to the ‘A’ final, the Predators were derailed by the Century Cinema Stars 4-3 on a goal by Reese Snow with four seconds left in the fourth overtime period.
Bobczynski scored twice for Green’s in that game, with Cody Vangel adding the other goal.