Muskie boys’ team shrugs off injury bug

A long run of injuries has cut the Muskie boys’ hockey team’s roster deeply—but not deep enough to stop their undefeated streak in NorWOSSA play.
The black-and-gold pulled out a tough 4-2 win over the host Kenora Broncos on Friday night, then headed home for yet another exhibition shellacking Saturday afternoon—this one a 10-1 blowout over the Kittson Central Wolfpack.
“I’m quite surprised with the final score,” Muskie head coach Shane Bliss said of the win over Kittson.
When Fort High blanked Kittson 5-0 down there back on Dec. 1, the squad was at full health while the Wolfpack was short several regulars. This time around, it was the Muskies who had a number of players out due to injuries.
“With seven of our guys out and eight of their guys back, I thought, ‘Oh man, we’re gonna be in for a dogfight,” Bliss admitted.
“I know in their minds they’re getting tired,” he added of his team. “I wanted to keep the game very simple and I think they [did] a hell of a job.”
Kevin Bobczynski led all scorers with four goals and a pair of assists against Kittson. He didn’t want to discuss his own performance, but said the blowout was important for the team.
“It builds confidence, and confidence is what we need going into next week,” Bobczynski said.
The team still faces a pair of tough games before their Christmas break, including a NorWOSSA showdown here last night against the Dryden Eagles and then an exhibition tilt this Friday versus the International Falls Broncos.
Defenceman Ryan McDowall, who had a goal and an assist against Kittson on Saturday, is looking forward to the break.
“We’ve been going non-stop in the last week-and-a-half,” he noted. “We got as many people in the stands as on the bench pretty much, but I think we’re making out with it so far.”
“They’re a banged up team right now. We’ve got six guys in the stands, more playing hurt,” Bliss agreed. “You want to have more games, especially at home for the home crowd . . . at the same time, you can’t have a crystal ball and know when you’re gonna want the time off.”
The injury toll on the team was apparent in the game against Kittson—even if the 10-1 score made the Muskies look invincible.
Kittson grabbed a 1-0 lead just a minute into the game and other than two goals in the first by Bobczynski (the first quite a tough, quick shot from a difficult angle, the second largely a fluke), the Wolfpack outplayed Fort High throughout the opening period.
Meanwhile, Friday night’s win in Kenora (1-5) exposed the Muskies (6-0) even further. George Halverson padded the score with an empty-net goal—his second tally of the game—to inflate what essentially was a one-goal battle.
“It was a pretty different game,” Bobczynski said. “[We] came out flat and stayed flat for the game. Got a lucky two points, I guess.”
“I was a little worried [against Kenora],” said Bliss. “[Friday] night we were terrible without the puck, I hate to say. Terrible.”
The team’s offence wasn’t much better. The Muskies managed just five shots in the third period, “and two of those shots were goals,” Bliss noted.
“We were just kind of a little slow and we didn’t have any sense of urgency,” he added.
The black-and-gold will need to be their sharpest Friday night when they host the Falls Broncos—currently ranked fourth in Minnesota high school hockey—at 7:15 p.m. at the Ice for Kids Arena.
The team is looking forward to the game as much as the fans are, but know they’ll need three solid periods of hockey against their cross-river rivals, which is something they couldn’t muster in either game last weekend.
“It’s going to be quite the challenge, but it’ll be fun,” McDowall said. “[It’s] gonna be a tough one, but we can handle it.”
Bliss knows family and fans will be out in force—and is hoping a big crowd will set the stage for better attendance in the new year than the hundred or so people he figured were in the stands for the Kittson game.
“I feel a little disappointed with the community for the lack of support, really,” he remarked.