Lucas Punkari
After finishing in first place in the round-robin, and narrowing winning a pair of playoff games, the Muskie boys’ hockey team was hoping to continuing its winning ways in the final of the Victoria Inn high school tournament in Brandon on Sunday.
In the end, however, the black-and-gold were unable to beat Oak Park Raiders’ goalie Tyler Dodd as they fell 1-0 to settle for the silver medal.
“We played really hard and the boys kept working, but we just couldn’t get that goal in the last game,” noted Muskie assistant coach Ken Christiansen.
“They were a very good hockey team that really held us down, and they outshot us by a pretty good margin, but we really starting putting the pressure on them in the last 10 minutes,” he recalled.
“We pulled our goalie and kept up that pressure in the final minutes, but we just couldn’t put it in.”
Dylan Zeke netted the Raiders’ lone goal to end the Muskies’ quest of winning the tournament.
To get to the final, Fort High first edged the John Taylor Collegiate Pipers 3-2 in the quarter-finals, then nipped the Sturgeon Heights Huskies 4-3 in the semis.
Prior to their trip to Brandon, the Muskies improved their NorWOSSA record to 3-0 here last Tuesday night after blanking the St. Thomas Aquinas Saints (Kenora) 2-0.
Captain Nick Kaun led the way offensively with a pair of goals, including a brilliant breakaway marker in the first period.
“I’ve played for the Muskies for four years and that’s probably the nicest goal that I’ve ever scored,” he remarked.
“I just picked it up off of the blueline, made a couple of nice moves to get around one of their guys, and I just deked it around the goalie to put it home.”
Kaun’s second goal came about in a different fashion during the second period, when he tipped home Aaron McDowell’s shot from the point.
“The puck came off of the boards and went to the defence, and Aaron had a nice line to take a shot,” he recalled.
“I love that shot that he took right on the ice, and I got lucky enough to put a stick on the puck.”
At the other end of the ice, Muskie goalie Ryan Ferguson made a number of key saves when called upon to earn his first shutout of the NorWOSSA campaign.
“I thought it was a steady effort, and I was very happy to get the shutout,” he said.
“We played better defensively, which is something that we have been working on here, and that makes you look a lot better as a goalie,” he added.
While the status of the rest of the NorWOSSA season currently is up in the air due to the work-to-rule edict set forth by the Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation (OSSTF), the black-and-gold were preparing to host the Kenora Broncos last night.
Then they’re slated to visit the Dryden Eagles on Thursday and the Red Lake Rams on Sunday.
“Right now we have to work on the little things,” Christiansen admitted. “We’ve got some speed and we’re good on the forecheck, but we have to work in our zone a bit as we are struggling there.
“But the kids are working really hard right now,” he added.
