Staff
It doesn’t get any bigger—at least in Manitoba.
A pair of Fort Frances teams threw their helmet into the ring at the Stars Cup in Winnipeg this past weekend, the largest girls’ minor hockey tournament in the province.
The Fort Frances Bantam ‘AA’ Leafs posted a 2-2 record at the event, with coach Ron McKinnon giving props to his entire roster.
“It was a complete team effort by all the girls this weekend,” declared McKinnon.
The Leafs opened play with a nailbiting 1-0 shutout of Dryden, thanks to shutout goaltending from Sydney Beck and a great sense of timing by Kelsey Langtry.
The Fort forward showed a phenomenal flair for the dramatic when she potted the game’s only goal with just one second remaining in the third period.
Fort Frances then fell 5-0 to the Carman (Man.) Cougars, although McKinnon claimed his team carried a majority of the play and ran into a hot Cougars goaltender.
Ziggy Skead took the loss in between the pipes.
The same theme remained in place against the Thunder Bay Fury, who held off the Leafs’ barrage for a 3-1 victory.
Maddy Morrison had the lone goal for Fort Frances, with Beck getting tagged with the loss in goal.
The Leafs concluded their stay in the Manitoba capital with a 2-1 victory over the Winnipeg East Stars.
Siobhan Mackintosh potted both goals for the local side, while Skead was dynamite in goal to pick up the victory.
Meanwhile, the Fort Frances Novice ‘AA’ Blizzard were competitive in most of their games, although they came away with an 0-4 mark at the tourney.
The Blizzard’s biggest problem came in their first game, a 6-2 loss to the Corydon Comets.
Hayden Allam and Piper Miller scored for Fort Frances, while goalie Madison Bliss was selected as her team’s most valuable player for the game.
Miller supplied the only Fort goal in a 3-1 defeat against the Brandon Wheat Kings, with Isabelle Tanguay picking up team MVP honours.
The St. Boniface Stars then doubled up the Blizzard 4-2.
Miller and Julia Guertin tallied for the Fort, while Kiera Fairnington was chosen the Blizzard’s game MVP.
In a rematch against Brandon in their last game, Fort Frances played their closest contest of all, but dropped a 1-0 decision to the Wheat Kings.
Kassidy Gurniak was picked as the Fort’s game MVP in the finale.
