Dan Falloon
Talk about the narrowest of margins.
The Muskie boys’ hockey team won all three of its games at the annual Hilltopper Holiday Classic in Duluth, Mn. this week, including twice in a shootout.
As of press time, though, coach Shawn Jourdain hadn’t heard if his team had captured the title since there still were games left to be played in the round-robin showdown.
Jourdain was especially pleased with his team’s effort in their third game yesterday against Appleton, Wis., which the black-and-gold won 3-2 in a shootout.
“We played a team today [Wednesday] that was a little bit better than us, but we ended up winning,” he noted.
“It was a good effort by the team. Great effort.
“We just played solidly all around,” Jourdain added. “We did a lot of things; a lot of little things went really well the last couple days.”
After opening play Monday with a 5-0 drubbing of Proctor, Mn., Fort High then edged Edgewood (Madison, Wis.) 3-2 in a shootout Tuesday.
“We were up in both games and the teams just came back, fought their way back,” Jourdain recalled.
“We held on and managed to win in a shootout in both games.”
Jourdain pointed to his defenders, especially Jamie Kaun, Nathan Calder, and Dustin Brown, as players who performed especially well over the course of the tournament.
“Our whole defence unit played really well [Wednesday] afternoon,” said Jourdain. “Nathan Calder had a heck of a game last night [Tuesday].”
Meanwhile, the Muskie girls were in action at a tournament in Roseau, Mn., where they finished tied for second after sporting a 1-2 record.
Coach Mel Langtry was satisfied with his squad’s play in two of the three games. The one hiccup was in yesterday’s 8-1 trouncing at the hands of Fergus Falls, Mn.
“We just kind of forgot to go, to show up,” he noted. “It was our worst [game] of the year.”
Fort High kicked off the tournament with a spirited effort in a 6-4 loss to host Roseau.
“Roseau is a very good squad, and our goalie [Melissa Payne] held us in it for the first period-and-a-half,” noted Langtry.
“We just about tied it,” he added. “We pulled our goalie and made it 5-4, and then they put an empty-netter in with about five seconds left.”
But the Muskies also suffered a major loss in the game as captain Erika Anderson suffered a broken collarbone.
The injury is expected to take 12 weeks to heal, which Langtry noted is past the end of the season.
“That could be season-ending, which is a very big loss for us,” he stressed.
The black-and-gold already are missing another defender in assistant captain Anikka McTavish.
Nicole Beadle tallied a pair against Roseau while Taylor Dixon and Carlee Bosma added singles.
The Muskies then doubled the Lake of the Woods Rams 4-2 to even their record at 1-1.
Jillian Langtry and Jessie Baker each tallied twice in that one.
But Mel Langtry was concerned about the number of penalties his team his been taking, which resulted in good scoring chances for the Rams.
“We were in the penalty box so much, they actually had two 5-on-3s against us,” he said. “They ended up scoring right at the end, to make it 4-2, on a 5-on-3.
“We have to be more disciplined, especially in a tournament, because you have to try to win every game,” he stressed.
Against Fergus Falls, the Muskies came out of the first period with a 1-1 tie but imploded from there.
“They came out and had just a beautiful power play and scored a couple power-play goals,” said Langtry.
“They just kept going and we just kept letting them go.”
The Muskie boys are back in action Saturday (Jan. 2) against Greenway at 7:15 p.m. at the Ice For Kids Arena.
The girls have a bit of a break before hosting the Kenora Broncos in NorWOSSA play on Friday, Jan. 8 at 7:30 p.m.
