When the Fort Frances Lakers take to the ice Friday night against the Kam River Walleye, they will be doing so with extra motivation as one of the cornerstone players of the season will be missing.
Lakers goaltender Nolan Koethler will be absent from the playoff run after an accident while home during the week off between the end of the season and practices for the second round of the playoffs began.
According to Lakers Head Coach and General Manager Luke Judson, Koethler was driving a tractor while working on his family’s farm in Alberta and was in a collision with a dump truck. Koethler was thrown from the tractor fracturing his spine.
Judson says it was a shock but he’s grateful the injuries seem to be minor, all things considered.
“First and foremost, I think that was bigger than hockey, and I think more than anything, we’re just thankful that he’s okay and going to recover, and by all accounts, going to play hockey again a lot sooner than most would have expected after an injury like that,” Judson said.
“So we’re happy he’s okay, he’s in good spirits, he’s going to be cheering on the team. And I think that was our priority first and foremost. But with that said, obviously we know what he means to our team and what our goaltenders together have meant to what we’ve done this year.”
Judson recalled hearing that Koethler’s injury was similar to that of one that football lineman incur and are often able to recover from in about two months.
The Lakers goaltending tandem finished the season both in the top five for many of the statistical categories in the league this year.
Cates will now see starts for all of the playoffs, and Fort Frances High School Muskie Boys starting goaltender Keaton Cooper has been brought on as a backup.
“There’s a lot of limitations through Hockey Canada and our branch and our league on what we can use, and just really the timing of the injury definitely doesn’t make it any easier,” Judson said.
“With that said, Keaton Cooper is skating with us, the Muskie Goalie. He’s going to be with us the rest of the playoff round. It’s an exciting opportunity for him as well to be a part of that, he’s a kid that wants to play Junior and may be with with the Lakers one day. He has fit in well with the group, and he’s happy to support Brady.”
Judson says he discussed some of the team’s options at backup with Cates and Cooper was one of the names that Cates liked.
“I think when I brought up Keaton’s name originally, among other guys, he was one that Brady definitely zeroed in on pretty quick as a guy that he liked and got along with well and would be comfortable having there,” Judson said.
“Brady and Koethler have a really good relationship, on the ice and during games as well. You’ve seen how they kind of joke back and forth, and they’re pretty loose during games. I think it was important for Brady to have someone else that he was comfortable with to kind of maintain how he does things and how he likes to keep things during the game.”
The Lakers come into the semi-finals up against a Kam River Fighting Walleye team that toppled the Sioux Lookout Bombers in five games.
The Lakers won the season series against the defending Bill Salonen Cup Champions six games to two, but four of the games went to overtime or a shootout with the Lakers racking up a pair of shootout wins in a back-to-back home-and-home series in November.
Judson says the Lakers are not taking the Walleye lightly.
“I think any of the four teams left are going to be a tough series for anyone,” Judson said.
“Kam River in particular, I think we’ve seen how they’ve gotten better throughout the season. As [Kam River Coach Larry Wintoneak] has built their structure, they’ve definitely bought into being a working team, and I think very similar to us, as much as they do have some talented guys on that team, that’s not how they’re beating you. They’re beating you with work, with grit, with structure, with systems, and that’s how we need to play, too. So I think it’s going to be an exciting series.”
The Lakers have not had a single standout offensive star, instead the scoring has been pretty spread out, with eight Lakers players having 10 or more goals across the season. Nick Fagnilli and Tie Schumacher were recently named the top forwards on the team with 20 and 19 goals respectively.
Judson says he believes the spread of responsibility can be an asset in their playoff run.
“I think that’s part of our strength, is how we’ve been able to rely on different lines and different nights,” he said.
“I think we’ve seen it with other teams that we played against. We’ve done a good job shutting down some top units and some top players, and sometimes after that, there’s not much else that’s going to contribute for them offensively. Whereas you look at us from the number one to our thirteenth forward that we have now, there are guys that have won games for us top to bottom.”
Over the break the Lakers have worked on many aspects of their game.
“We’ve tried to rehash all of our systems, whether it’s faceoffs, Forecheck, powerplay, penalty kill, breakouts, traps, all that stuff we’ve kind of touched on in the last couple weeks,” Judson said.
“We watch what other teams are trying to do as well. Kind of the theory we went with all year, though, is we don’t need to reinvent how we play every single game. We have a way that we play, we have systems that we’ve used from day one this season, that we’re not changing, but they’re just things that we need to do better and be at our best in playoff time. So yeah, so not so much changing anything or doing anything new, but just making sure the things that we do try to accomplish… I think it’s going to be good, old-school, physical, structured hockey. And whoever wants it more, is going to be the one moving on to the final.”
