It was teddy bear toss night at the Fort Frances High School Muskie boys exhibition game and the bears were certainly tossed.
The Muskies toppled the rebuilding Lake of the Woods Bears 9-0.
Drake Bodnar was credited with the Muskies first goal after the puck took a bounce in the Muskies favour off one of the Bears’ sticks in front of their net, sending the stuffed animals flying.
Andrew Booth would score the Muskies second on a feed from Aiden Loerzel who passed the puck to Booth for a tap-in past Bears goalie Jonah McDougall.
Trent Friesen would round out a three-goal first period when he put home a rebound from an Asher Faragher shot.
As the game continued it got a little chippy as both teams were throwing hard bodychecks.
Gage McKinnon got the Muskie Boys first goal of the second frame when he potted a rebound off a Tarran Enge shot.
The Muskies special teams also got in on the scoring action.
Ashton Armstrong went down to one knee to score a one timer off a pass from Drake Bodnar for a powerplay goal.
Veldhuisen combined with Gavin Hill and Ziigwan Smith for a shorthanded goal with five minutes remaining in the middle frame.
Friesen once again ended the period’s scoring with assists from Loerzel and Landon Medwechuk.
Veldhuisen and Bodnar would each score one more in the third to bring the tally to 9-0. Keaton Cooper took the shutout in net for the Muskies, stopping 15 shots.
Head Coach Chris Sinclair said after the game that he though despite a slow start, he liked how they played.
“I thought we had a good game, I thought we started a bit sloppy but were able to settle down and take control of the game after potting our first goal,” he said.
“I really liked how we were moving the puck especially in the offensive zone on the cycle and were able to create a lot of chances. I like how we are getting pucks through to the net, but we need to do a better job getting traffic in front and baring down on rebounds and puck battles on lose pucks. All in all I thought it was a good effort.”
The Muskies headed to Red Lake for a NORWOSSA league game this afternoon against the Rams.
Sinclair says it’s important for the players to get a good rest and recovery before an early morning bus ride.
“Going into Red Lake it’s going to be important to hydrate and a good night’s sleep,” he said.
“It’s a quick turn around from our game last night to getting on the bus for 7 a.m. for a 1 p.m. game in Red Lake, so the boys need to take care of themselves off the ice and be ready for the day.”
The Muskies went into today’s game 2-0 in NORWOSSA play with a road win against the St. Thomas Aquinas Saints 7-3 on Nov. 26 and a home win against the Beaver Brae Broncos 7-2 on Dec. 2.
Red Lake is 2-1with wins over the Beaver Brae Broncos, last Sunday 6-2 and and 10-0 over Sioux North. Their loss came 15-2 against Dryden. Sinclair says the game against Red Lake won’t be an easy one.
“Red Lake is always a hard working team that won’t quit. I think they’ve had a kind of up and down start to the year, but have a lot of potential,” She said.
“We need to continue how we’ve been offensively and just tighten up defensively. The biggest thing that I stress to the team is that the best offense is a good defence. Need to be in a good defensive position up and down the ice. I think the importance of today’s game in Red Lake is get on them early. Need to come prepared and play at our level from the start. I think a team like Red Lake gets better throughout the game, so the earlier we can take control the better chance of success we’re going to have.”
The Muskies will play their next home game against the Dryden Eagles on Dec. 16.
