Knights masterful in Morden

The local K of C Knights PeeWee ‘AA’ hockey team continued its dazzling run this season by claiming the Morden Hawks tournament in Morden, Man. over the weekend.
The Knights, who have won all three tournaments they’ve entered this season, have not lost to a Canadian PeeWee team yet. Fort Frances went 4-0 in Morden to claim the title, outscoring their opponents 26-8.
The Winkler Flyers nearly ruined the Knights’ weekend right out of the gate, but Matt DePiero scored his second goal of the game with 50 seconds left in regulation time to give Fort Frances a 4-3 win in their opener.
The Knights dominated the first two periods, but were held to only a 2-0 lead heading into the third, with Zach McCool and DePiero getting the goals.
Josh Ginter and Nathan Suderman then struck quickly early in the third to tie the game, before Winkler’s Matt Hildebrand beat Knights’ goalie T.J. Pocock with six minutes to go to give the Flyers a 3-2 lead.
But Mitch Cain responded with a blistering shot from just inside the Flyers’ blueline to square the contest, then DePiero completed the comeback by cashing in the rebound of Luke Judson’s original shot.
Life became much easier for the Knights after that initial scare, bombarding the Brandon Flyers 9-2 in their next game.
McCool and Brandon’s Skyler Mihalicz traded first-period goals before Fort Frances erupted for six tallies in the second. Cain had a hat trick in the period, with Judson, McCool, and Blake Wepruk adding singles for a 7-1 lead.
Nathan Calder and Wepruk pumped the lead up to 9-1 with third-period markers, before Brandon’s Chad Yanchycki made the score slightly more respectable with his late goal.
Josh Scott pitched in with three assists for the Knights while teammate Jamie Kaun had a pair of helpers. As in the first game, Pocock and Brady Caul shared goaltending duties.
A scrappy Kenora Thistles crew held the Knights to a 4-2 lead midway through the third before a pair of goals by Cain and another by Patrick Bobczynski paved the way to a 7-2 triumph.
Cain finished the game with a hat trick while Cody McCool, Zach McCool, and Evan McCabe added singles. Pocock got the win between the pipes.
Ben Edie and Carson Dubchak replied for the Thistles.
The final featured Fort Frances hooking up against the Stonewall Blues, whom Knights officials said were partaking in some significant amounts of “trash talking” at their team’s expense.
Saving their talking for the ice, Fort Frances jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first 10 minutes and coasted to a 6-1 win to clinch the tournament title.
McCabe led the way with a pair of goals while Cain, DePiero, Judson, and Joe Basaraba did the rest of the damage with one each. Ryan Elliott spoiled the shutout bid with his third-period tally.
The Knights will shoot for their fourth crown in a row in what will be their stiffest challenge to date—the annual Robin’s Donuts minor hockey tournament Jan. 9-11 in Thunder Bay.