Joey Payeur
Wayne Strachan won’t be investing in any dynamite to blow up any drawing boards at this point.
The head coach and general manager of the Fort Frances Lakers was taking the big-picture view after a 4-2 loss to the Steinbach Pistons (MJHL) on Friday at the Ice For Kids Arena left his squad 0-2 so far this pre-season.
“It’s early—I’m not panicking,” stressed Strachan, whose two-time defending SIJHL champs get a rematch with the Pistons this Friday in Steinbach to complete the home-and-home series.
“We’re still evaluating players and seeing who else is out there,” he added.
“By the beginning of the [regular] season, we’ll be in better shape.”
Steinbach opened the scoring at 17:47 of the first period when some good forechecking by Dawson Waddell led to him creating a turnover and passing out front to Waylon Petkau, who tapped in the feed past Lakers’ goalie Pierce Dushenko.
Fort Frances had some good chances but were turned aside time and again by Steinbach starter Roman Bengart.
Luke Amsbaugh made it 2-0 when he held onto the puck on a 2-on-1 and whistled it past Dushenko at 18:37 of the second period.
Then, with just less than 15 seconds before intermission, Quinn Wasylak knocked in the rebound of Drew Anderson’s point shot.
“We had a couple of breakdowns,” noted Strachan.
“But after the second, we talked about being positive and for our guys to identify what role they wanted on the team.”
The Lakers responded at 9:19 of the third against back-up goalie Bennett Garber, who had relieved Bengart to start the period.
Colton Spicer’s well-executed screen of Garber allowed Isaiah Olshewske’s blast from the blueline to sail into the net for a power-play marker.
The Lakers got even closer at 14:51 on a puck-handling mistake from Garber, who went behind his net to play a shoot-in and unwittingly sent it around the boards to awaiting Fort forward Kyle Folson.
The first-year Laker wasted no time whipping a shot into the unguarded cage to trim the deficit to 3-2.
All momentum seemed to be going the home team’s way with 3:09 to go after Lakers’ rookie Cole Tymkin bloodied the nose of Pistons’ veteran Brodie Buhler in a fight following Tymkin crushing Buhler into the boards with a clean hit.
But Andrew Willner took an ill-advised tripping penalty while in the Steinbach zone to stem the Lakers’ tide.
Amsbaugh capitalized on the ensuing power play for his second of the game with 26 seconds left.
“Pierce had a heck of a game,” Strachan said in defence of his netminder, who made 28 saves in the loss.
“We left him hanging out to dry on the fourth goal and even the third goal.”
Despite Willner’s rally-killing penalty, Strachan pointed to the play of the 20-year-old forward from New Brighton, Mn., as one of the team’s bright spots.
“We tried to get Andrew here for the better part of the summer and we’re happy he decided to come,” said Strachan, who played Willner at centre between the Lakers’ two returning veteran forwards in Spicer and Dylan Robertson.
“He has a lot of skill,” Strachan added. “We just put Spicer, Robertson, and him together as a line at practice [the day before] and I think for the most part they were pretty effective.”
Strachan also singled out new Lakers’ blueliner Craig Murray for his contributions.
“He’s young and there are things you see he can improve,” admitted Strachan. “But he moves his feet and moves the puck well.
“Once he adjusts to this level, he can be a big part of this team.”
Training camp revealed Murray isn’t the only Lakers’ defenceman with a good grasp on maximizing his offensive capabilities.
“I like what I see for potential,” lauded Strachan of his blueline corps, which played against Steinbach without Gunther Fiddler (upper-body injury).
“We have speed, mobility, and some quickness on our back end.
“In our game, transition is important and I think we have the making of a solid group in this area,” said Strachan.
“In flashes defensively, we played well—we just have to be more consistent in that area coming out of main camp,” he stressed.
“Little things like being in the right position, separating the opponent from the puck, and making sure that we know where are coverage is and that we have them.”
The Lakers didn’t keep many extra bodies around after main camp and Strachan is convinced that will help speed up the team chemistry process.
“We didn’t keep a lot of bodies around for a few different reasons so the opportunity to be with the same guys, and get minutes to get to know one another, will be good in that perspective,” he reasoned.
“We will have our game plan and hopefully the work ethic to play for 60 minutes,” Strachan added.
“We need to play for one another and realize now that we need to come together and have everyone buy into what our plan is this season.”
After Friday’s game in Steinbach, the Lakers will wrap up pre-season play Monday at 7:30 p.m. at the Couchiching Arena when they host the Minnesota Iron Rangers.
It’s a rematch of the teams’ pre-season opener last Wednesday (Sept. 2), which the Iron Rangers won 3-1.
In related news, the Lakers were ranked No. 12 in the CJHL’s top 20 pre-season rankings this past week.
The Penticton Vees (BCHL) sit atop the rankings, followed by the Carleton Place Canadians (CCHL) and then the reigning RBC Cup national champion Portage Terriers (MJHL).
