Joey Payeur
Technically, one could call this weekend’s season-opening exhibition games for the Muskie boys’ hockey team a warm-up.
But considering the intensity that accompanied last year’s pre-season series with the Thunder Bay Major Midget Kings, warm could turn hot very quickly.
The two teams went through a three-game war last year that ended with the Kings sweeping the locals, and with plenty of bad blood after some hits from both sides that straddled the line between devastating and dirty.
This year’s series begins tomorrow night in Atikokan before moving to the Ice For Kids Arena for games Saturday at 7:15 p.m. and then Sunday at 1:30 p.m.
The match-up also will feature the return of two-thirds of the Muskies’ “Kid Line” from last season ago, with forwards Cole Tymkin and Brett Hahkala having moved on to play for the Kings this season.
“I’m happy for them,” Muskie head coach Jamie Davis said.
“But as far as the reunion goes, I’m concerned about our own game this weekend,” he stressed.
Tymkin and Hahkala were just two members of last year’s Fort High crew, which captured the NorWOSSA crown and advanced to the quarter-finals of the OFSAA ‘AA’ tournament, who were eligible to return this season but ended up not doing so for various reasons.
That list includes both the team’s goalies from last season, Derek Kaemingh and Jonah Johnson, as well as forwards Chase Ferguson and Malcolm King.
Davis only has three veteran forwards in the fold in Graeme Kitt, Tyler VanUden, and Sam Tibbs, to go along with newcomers Kendyn Faragher, Brent Jourdain, Chase McGuire, Wade Johnson, and Hunter Koles.
That means the Muskies only will be running three lines this season compared to four a year ago—ironically, the exact opposite from the Muskie girls’ team, which upgraded from three to four lines this season.
But Davis, who said an unnamed ninth forward will be added to the roster in time for the weekend series, sees the smaller lineup as a positive.
“It opens up some opportunities for guys to play that much more,” he reasoned.
“With the schedule the way that it is, we’re OK with nine forwards,” Davis added.
“Twelve is always nice in case there’s injuries but we can play with nine.”
On defence, the Muskies sport four members of last season’s blueline corps, led by captain Carter Brown.
He will be joined by fellow veterans Spencer Shortreed, Max Williams, and Matt Cheetham, along with Grade 10 rookie Mikey Drouin and Grade 11 newcomer Connor Tibbs.
Meanwhile, it will be a brand-new look between the pipes for Fort High, with a pair of goalies who plied their trade in Thunder Bay last season now sporting the black-and-gold colours.
Grade 12 netminder Jordan Carlson played for the Major Midget Kings a season ago while 11th-grader Dylan Ossachuk suited up for the Minor Midget Kings.
“They’re both structurally very sound and both really good goalies,” lauded Davis.
“It’s a bonus for us.
“Going into the season, we’re not thinking so much as having a starter and a back-up as we are having two guys that we can rely on every day,” he added.
“That’s huge, especially for a young team.”
The Muskies begin NorWOSSA play here next Thursday (Nov. 13) at 7:15 p.m. against the Dryden Eagles.
