Staff
Willem Kirk-Bertens left his home province to ride the Lightning.
The Fort Frances resident was part of the Manitoba Atom ‘AAA’ Lightning, which finished fourth last weekend at the Regina ‘AAA’ Hockey Classic.
It was a less than glorious start for the Lightning, who were trounced 14-2 by the 2009 Huskie Prospects.
But Manitoba turned the tables in its second outing by hammering the Medicine Hat National 12-4.
Kirk-Bertens got his first two points of the tourney with a goal and an assist.
That made the Lightning the fifth seed in the nine-team tournament entering the playoffs.
The Lightning put up another dozen by crushing the MNH Jr. Titans 12-5 in the quarter-finals, with Kirk-Bertens notching an assist.
Unfortunately for Manitoba, that put them in a semi-final rematch against the Huskie Prospects, who cruised to an 11-2 victory.
Kirk-Bertens had an assist in the loss.
The bronze-medal game against the Saskatoon Jr. Blues featured an offensive outburst, with the Blues finally prevailing 9-8.
Kirk-Bertens added one more assist to finish the tournament with five points.
