Muskie boys finish third in Brandon

The usually unstoppable Muskies boys’ hockey team had to settle for a third-place finish at a weekend tournament in Brandon, Man. following a shootout loss in the semi-finals.
Westwood Collegiate joined the ranks of the few teams to manage a win over the black-and-gold so far this season after hammering out a 3-3 tie at the end of regulation time.
A shootout decided the game for Westwood—leaving Fort High to play for the bronze medal.
“[We’re] starting to gain [our] confidence, and move a lot better now,” noted Muskie assistant coach Ken Christiansen. “Even the game we lost, the puck just wouldn’t go in.
“We had lots of chances.”
Christiansen took the helm for the weekend as head coach Shane Bliss was still out with the ’flu.
The Muskies won their first three round-robin games, beating Major Pratt 3-2, Pembina High School 8-4, and Sanford Collegiate 8-2 before running into Westwood in the semi-finals.
Fort High bounced back to win the bronze-medal game, beating the Vincent Massey Trojans 5-2.
Muskie forward Taylor Jorgenson, one of the team’s scoring leaders, was named to tournament all-star team.
“It felt pretty good” to earn the all-star nod, Jorgenson said. “I was more prepared for the games than I feel I have been all year.”
He credited that feeling of preparation to a positive attitude and overall focus throughout the team.
“It’s a big tournament and everyone was just geared up for it, ready to go,” Jorgenson remarked. “The whole team atmosphere was better, and it puts you into a better state of mind for playing.”
David Moen started every game in goal, with the Muskies’ new back-up, Jamison Shortreed, spelling in the late periods in some of the lopsided matches.
But even if Christiansen was happy with the quality of play shown by the team, Jorgenson won’t pretend he’s not upset about the shootout loss to Westwood.
“It sucks, really. I feel we should’ve been able to beat that team,” he stressed. “We took it to them in the third and overtime. I thought we outplayed them all game.”
The Muskies returned to NorWOSSA action last night with a game in Dryden (the outcome wasn’t available before press time), then will visit Kenora on Friday evening.
The black-and-gold then will host Kittson Central in an exhibition match Saturday afternoon.