Joey Payeur
Instead of worrying about the one that got away, the Muskie boys’ hockey team went trolling for whatever treasure they could find.
They ended up reeling in the ‘B’-side title of the Royal Oak division at the Victoria Inn tournament in Brandon, Man. after a 5-2 win over the Vincent Massey Trojans (Winnipeg) on Sunday.
The victory served as a small form of antacid to reduce the heartburn the black-and-gold suffered in a 3-2 loss to the Kelvin Clippers (Winnipeg) in the divisional semi-finals.
In that game, the Muskies tied the contest 2-2 on a goal by Jarred Taylor in the last 30 seconds with Derek Kaemingh pulled for an extra attacker.
But with Kaemingh back between the pipes, the Clippers pulled out the win in what literally was the last possible moment.
The Muskie netminder thought he had the puck covered during a goalmouth scramble.
But with no whistle from the referee forthcoming, the Clippers kept stabbing for the puck and eventually pushed it behind Kaemingh with one second on the clock.
“It’s pretty unfortunate,” said Muskie head coach Jamie Davis.
“You could clearly see the puck was covered,” he added. “I don’t know what the delay was by the referee to whistle it down.
“To come back and tie it on a nice face-off play that the guys executed perfectly, and then to have that happen, it’s pretty disheartening,” Davis admitted.
“But I was happy with the way the guys rebounded from it on Sunday.”
Sam Tibbs had the other marker for Fort High, who showed fortitude in regrouping in time to take down the Trojans.
Defenceman Carter Brown provided a big boost from the blueline with a pair of goals against Vincent Massey while Cole Tymkin, Chase Ferguson, and Josh Gouin added singles.
Jonah Johnson earned the victory in goal.
The Muskies opened the tournament with a 5-3 loss to the Neepawa (Man.) Tigers on Thursday night (goal scorers unavailable by press time).
It was better news in their second game as Fort High downed the Sturgeon Creek Huskies (Winnipeg) 5-2 on Friday.
Taylor notched a pair in that one, with Graeme Kitt, Ferguson, and Brown getting one apiece.
With a 1-1 record in Pool #3, Fort High was relegated to the second-tier Royal Oak division of the 27-team event and promptly blanked the Virden (Man.) Bears 6-0 on Saturday.
David Pryde, Jack Hamilton, Brown, Tibbs, Tyler Mosbeck, and Taylor all tallied while Johnson recorded the shutout.
After hosting the St. Thomas Aquinas Saints (Kenora) last night, the Muskies next will take on the Kittson Central Bearcats from Hallock, Mn. in exhibition action this Saturday at 7:15 p.m. at the Ice For Kids Arena.
