Lucas Punkari
After going winless at the OFSAA ‘AAA/AAAA’ championships last year in Toronto, the Muskie boys’ hockey team was looking for redemption at the 2012 ‘A/AA’ all-Ontarios last week in Peterborough.
But while their effort was much stronger, the black-and-gold again fell short of making it to the playoffs, finishing fourth in Pool ‘E’ with a 1-1-2 record.
Only the top two teams from each pool advanced to the quarter-finals.
“Getting a win right off the start in our first game was really good for us as we were able to get that under our belts,” noted Grade 11 goalie Scott Parsons.
“But unfortunately we couldn’t the wins that we needed to get in our last two games against Glendale and Kincardine,” he sighed.
The NorWOSSA champs, ranked seventh, opened round-robin play last Wednesday morning with a 4-1 win over the 20th-ranked St. Martin Mustangs (Mississauga).
“We didn’t know what to expect going into that game,” admitted Grade 12 defenceman Braedon Keast.
“Even though they were the 20th-ranked team, they weren’t backing down and they gave us a really good game.
“We had a little bit of a shaky start,” he added. “But then we were able to put some pucks in the net, and we just started to take over the flow of the game from there.”
Chris Bobczynski, Robbie Rea, Tyler Mosbeck, and Hunter Leishman were the goal scorers.
But last Thursday morning’s game against the 12th-ranked Holy Cross Hurricanes (Peterborough) was a much different story for Fort High, who surrendered four goals in a seven-minute span of the second period en route to a 7-2 loss.
“We were with them right through the first period, but halfway through the second things started to slip away,” Keast noted.
“They were able to get those four goals and we didn’t bury our chances, and as a result we fell apart a bit.”
“If we had played our Muskie hockey, we would have been in much better shape in that game,” said Parsons.
Bobczynski and Tarran Romyn scored in the loss.
The Muskies did bounce back that night versus with the top-ranked Glendale Gemini (Tillsonburg) as Nick Jourdain and Braden Webb erased a two-goal deficit to earn a 2-2 tie.
“They [Glendale] didn’t seem to be as nearly as good as we thought they would be with that ranking going into the tournament,” Parsons remarked.
“They got the two goals to take the lead in the first period, but after that they didn’t seem to be nearly as quick out there or as good handling the puck, and we were able to take advantage.”
Heading into their final round-robin game Friday morning against the 13th-ranked Kincardine Knights, the Muskies needed to win by at least two goals in order to nab a quarter-final berth.
But despite a goal late in the first period from Webb, Fort High was unable to net that much-needed second marker.
The Knights tied the game up early in the third period—bringing an end to the Muskies’ medal hopes.
“That game was probably the best game that we played for the entire week, and I think it was probably the best game that we have played all season,” Keast said.
“We took it to them and showed them that we were really wanted to win that game, but we just fell short of the two goals that we needed.
“And that was a pretty hard feeling for us,” he sighed.
The Muskies and Hurricanes both finished one point behind Glendale for the second and final playoff spot in Pool ‘E,’ with Holy Cross awarded third place by virtue of earning two wins over Fort High’s single victory.
Kincardine ended up taking the all-Ontario crown Saturday night with a 4-2 win over the F.J. Brennan Cardinals (Windsor).
Even though the season came to an unsatisfying conclusion, the experience was one the players will never forget, especially for graduating ones like Keast.
“The two years that I played here were unbelievable,” he enthused.
“This was a great team to play on with some great coaching. And while we unfortunately didn’t get an OFSAA medal, it was a lot of fun to play with these guys.
“I absolutely loved it,” Keast added.
