Joey Payeur
Some victories are sweeter than others.
The Muskie boys’ hockey team got the ultimate revenge by defeating the defending champion St. Paul’s Crusaders #1 (Winnipeg) 7-4 in the final of the annual John Taylor Piper Classic tournament there Saturday.
It was the Crusaders, who had won four of the last five Classic titles, who knocked the Muskies out in the quarter-finals last year 3-2 on a controversial disallowed goal that negated what Fort High thought was the equalizer.
“To beat a team like St. Paul’s is pretty cool,” beamed Muskie head coach Jamie Davis, who celebrated what longtime Muskie assistant coach Ken Christiansen claimed was the black-and-gold’s first win over St. Paul’s #1 in team history.
“I thought we dominated the whole game,” he added.
“Maybe there was a five- to eight-minute stretch that they had momentum,” Davis admitted.
“But we outshot them 44-15 for the game.”
Tyler VanUden scored twice, with Graeme Kitt, Matt Cheetham, Max Williams (power play), Chase McGuire, and Jarred Taylor (short-handed) adding singles.
Dylan Ossachuk earned the win between the pipes.
The Muskies also had four players earn post-tournament accolades.
McGuire, a Grade 10 rookie on the team, captured tournament MVP honours by finishing second in scoring with 11 points.
Meanwhile, forward Taylor, defenceman Carter Brown, and goalie Jordan Carlson were selected to the tournament all-star team.
Fort High finished second in Pool ‘A’ with a 2-0-1 round-robin record for five points—making them the only team not to win its pool to make the semi-finals of the championship bracket.
After losing their opener 1-0 to the Sturgeon Heights Huskies (Winnipeg) in a shootout Thursday night, the Muskies bounced back to defeat the host Pipers 2-0 on Friday morning.
McGuire and Brown got the goals while Carlson earned the shutout.
Fort High then mowed over the Garden City Gophers (Winnipeg) by an 8-1 count that night.
Taylor notched four goals in that one while McGuire netted a pair.
Cheetham and Mike Drouin added singles, with Ossachuk garnering the win.
The semi-finals featured a rematch between the Muskies and Huskies, with Fort High cruising to a 5-0 win.
Hunter Koles, McGuire, Kendyn Faragher, Brent Jourdain, and Cheetham all scored while Carlson earned his second shutout of the tournament.
The Muskies resume NorWOSSA play tomorrow at 7:30 p.m. when they host the Kenora Broncos at the ’52 Canadians Arena.
