Lucas Punkari
Friday afternoon’s contest between the Muskie girls’ hockey team and the Kenora Broncos not only will mark the kick-off of the home tournament and the season for the black-and-gold, it also will mark the first game that first-year head coach Scott Clendenning will be behind the bench.
And even though Clendenning feels there will be a few pre-game jitters prior to the opening face-off, he’s anxious to get the season underway.
“The nerves will be there, I’m sure, and we’ll have to keep those under control,” he stressed.
“But sometimes being nervous can be pushed over into having a real positive energy,” he reasoned.
“I think it will be a very competitive tournament here with three teams from Winnipeg and three other teams from NorWOSSA joining us, so it should be a good kick-off for the season,” Clendenning added.
After opening the tournament with the 2:15 p.m. clash against Kenora at the Ice For Kids Arena (where all tournament games will take place), the Muskies then will square off against the PCI Portage Saints at 6:30 p.m. following the opening ceremonies.
“There will be a ceremony before the game on Friday night with it being breast cancer awareness week,” noted Clendenning.
“And lot of girls, I’m sure, will be having the pink stick tape on for that game, along with the pink ribbons on their helmets.”
The black-and-gold will complete their round-robin schedule with a pair of games Saturday, first meeting the Red Lake Rams at 11:45 a.m. before matching up against St. John’s Ravenscourt at 6:45 p.m.
The top four teams from the round-robin portion will advance to Sunday’s playoffs, with the gold-medal game slated for 12:45 p.m.
“It’s really an open book right now as to how the tournament is going to go,” Clendenning admitted.
“We’ll just be going into the games with a positive attitude and a lot of energy, and hopefully all of the systems that we’ve been working on in practices will show during the games.”
Since the Muskies’ roster was finalized at the beginning of September, Clendenning is pleased with how the squad has progressed over the last few weeks, especially with how they played in a friendly scrimmage against the Rainy River Community College Voyageurs on Friday afternoon at the ’52 Canadians Arena here.
“I was quite impressed with how the girls performed out there against the Voyageurs,” Clendenning lauded.
“There’s a lot of energy on the team and the girls are coming together nicely,” he enthused.
“They are very committed and they are working hard ever day, especially in the dryland training, and it’s really showing out there at the moment.”
Going into the tournament, the main thing Clendenning would like to see from his team is to simply put the puck into the net.
“We all need to work together this year if we want to score goals,” he remarked.
“All three lines need to be rolling and the defenders will need to be moving the pucks up to the forwards, and that is one thing that I would really like to see, along with lots of positive talk both on the bench and in the dressing room.
“I think this is going to be an exciting year for our team, and I think this tournament is going to be a great starting point,” Clendenning added.
