Lucas Punkari
It may have seemed like the same old, same old in the NorWOSSA boys’ hockey loop this season as the Muskies captured yet another league title with a sweep of the Kenora Broncos in the best-of-three final.
But according to Muskie head coach Shawn Jourdain, it was far from smooth sailing for his squad.
“It was a pretty tough season, especially in a stretch where we had a ton of injuries,” he explained.
“But the boys worked through it, they came to play every night, and they made a great effort all year long so I’m really proud of them,” Jourdain added.
The Muskies captured the NorWOSSA crown with a 4-3 overtime win Sunday night in Kenora, with Tyler Mosbeck netting the series-clinching goal just past the halfway mark of the extra frame.
“I couldn’t have been more happier to see someone like him score the game-winner,” Jourdain said.
“He’s someone that doesn’t see a lot of ice time late in a game, but he’s grown up a lot during the year and he forechecks really hard, which is what led to the game-winner.”
After a power-play goal by Ryan Meadows put the Broncos up 3-2 in the third period, Muskie captain Brendan Cawston redirected a point shot from Tarryn Romyn into the net with just over a minute left in regulation to tie the score and force overtime.
Cawston, who initially was thought to be out for the rest of the post-season after suffering a knee injury in Game 1 of the black-and-gold’s semi-final series against the Red Lake Rams, also was a key contributor in Fort High’s 5-1 victory in the opener of the NorWOSSA final Friday night at the Ice For Kids Arena here with a goal and an assist.
“We were all pretty surprised to see him practising last week as we were getting ready to [face] Kenora,” Jourdain said.
“He’s a big piece of this team and when we lost him to injury, that could have led to some trouble, so we were really happy to have him back in the fold,” Jourdain stressed.
Another top performer Friday night was goalie Devin Stromness, who lost his shutout bid in the waning moments of the third period.
“Devin’s been solid for us all year and we’re going to be relying on him at OFSAA,” Jourdain remarked.
“He’s very quick to the net, he makes himself [seem] big, and he’s a great puck handler, which allows him to be like another defenceman back there for us.
“We’ll definitely miss him when he’s gone next year,” Jourdain added.
While the Muskies are getting ready for another trip to the all-Ontarios, the Broncos are left wondering what might have been after they had beaten their rivals three times during the regular season, including their first victory over Fort High at the Ice For Kids Arena since the 2006 NorWOSSA final.
“It was very disappointing in how it finished up,” said Kenora coach Martin Straight.
“With how that game turned out with us being up a number of times, it added a little bit to the heartbreak,” he admitted.
“The guys knew that they could win it, but they weren’t able to pull it out right at the end when it counted,” Straight lamented.
With a ticket to the OFSAA ‘AAA/AAAA’ championship March 22-25 in Toronto already in their hands, the Muskies will be using the next couple of weeks not only to prepare their game plan for the tournament, but also allow a few players to heal their injuries, with the most notable being a separated shoulder for forward Jeff Davis.
“Brendan, Nick [Jourdain], and Tarryn should all be 100 percent from their issues, but we’re just waiting on Jeff to see how he will be because he’ll be a big boost to our lineup if we can get him back,” Jourdain explained.
“One of the things that usually happens to us at OFSAA is that we fall into that long waiting process before our first actual game, so we’ll probably do a few in-game scrimmages before we get on the road.
“But otherwise, we’ll stick to our usual game plan,” he reasoned.
The seedings and tournament schedule will be determined once the other berths are filled.
