Although the Fort Frances High School Muskie Boys hockey and curling teams both failed to advance from their preliminary rounds at the all-Ontario championships at OFSAA, they all gained valuable experience for next year.
The Muskie Boys Hockey team had a 2-1 record over the course of their time in St. Catharines.
Head coach Chris Sinclair says the team was pleased with their performance despite not being able to advance out of pool play.
The team looked strong in their first game and won 5-2. The second game was more difficult against a higher-seeded team and they lost 4-1. The winning team eventually made it to the quarterfinals losing to the team that finished in second place in overtime. The third game which the Muskies needed to win or tie to advance was hard-fought according to Sinclair but a few bad bounces hurt the Muskies and they lost 2-0.
“All in all we were happy with how we played,” Sinclair said. “Every game we played, we were in and the two games we lost could have gone either way. The competition was good every game, but we proved that we deserved to be there and we were in every game.”
Sinclair added that he was excited to see what the returning players can do next year as they build on this year’s experience.
In North Bay the Muskie boys curling team didn’t have much success on the scoreboard either. The Muskies went 1-5 in the preliminary round and didn’t advance.
Coach Ron Silver says the team’s performance should be judged solely on the scoreboard
“The scoreboard didn’t tell the whole story,” Silver said. “They made other teams work for their shots.”
The Muskies ended up being in a tough group which saw both the second and third place finishers come out of their pool.
With their competition over early the Muskies went back to Sudbury to catch their flight back to Thunder Bay and were able to take in some of the Canadian National Mixed Doubles championships and had the opportunity to meet Olympic Mixed Doubles curler John Morris.
With winter sports concluded for the season Muskie athletes now turn their attention to the final spring sports of the year, badminton, track and field and soccer.
