Joey Payeur
Jamie Davis is aware of what’s happened this season.
He also is aware that his team’s season could be over in a matter of days if it pays too much attention to past results.
“You never know,” the head coach of the Muskie boys’ hockey team said about what may be a formidable task in keeping his squad focused during its best-of-three NorWOSSA semi-final against the Kenora Broncos, whom the black-and-gold conquered in the NorWOSSA final last year.
The series opened last night at the Ice For Kids Arena (the outcome was unknown as of press time).
“As long as we play our game, we should be fine,” noted Davis, whose team finished atop the standings with a 14-1 record.
They also manhandled the fourth-place Broncos (7-8) by a combined 27-2 score in a sweep of their three-game season series.
“[The Broncos] are a much different team than last year,” Davis warned.
“They are more disciplined and have added more structure to their game as the season has went on.”
Kenora also seems to be peaking at the right time—having pulled off two comeback wins in its last two outings.
The Broncos fought back from a 2-0 deficit last Tuesday to edge the St. Thomas Aquinas Saints 3-2 to clinch the final playoff berth.
Two nights later, the Muskies got to see first-hand Kenora’s resilience while watching the Broncos take on the second-place Dryden Eagles in advance of Fort High’s 13-0 rout of the St. Thomas Aquinas Saints to close its regular season.
Kenora trailed Dryden 3-0 after the first period, but stormed back with four unanswered goals to claim a 4-3 victory.
Davis believes the Muskies’ head will be in the right place once the post-season begins.
“I don’t expect them to be overconfident,” he remarked.
“They have seen a couple of times this year that when we weren’t quite ready to play, it made for a long night.
“I expect it to be a good series,” Davis added. “The atmosphere that playoff hockey brings means it’s always tighter games with lots of action.
“Guys are fighting for their lives now.”
Davis plans to continue his goalie rotation of Jordan Carlson and Dylan Ossachuk for the foreseeable future.
“It hasn’t been an issue all year,” he noted.
“I don’t plan to go away from [the rotation].”
Davis also hoped to have his only injury list resident back for last night’s game in forward Kendyn Faragher (shoulder).
“We’ll see how he feels,” Davis said about the rookie, who’s been out two weeks with the injury that threatened to keep him out of the lineup for as long as six weeks.
“There’s no need to rush him back.”
Fort High tuned up for the playoffs by feasting on a spiritless Saints’ squad with nothing to play for and at least two regulars out with injuries.
“I didn’t expect 13-0,” admitted Davis, whose squad led 5-0 after the first period and 7-0 through two.
“Right from the start, we seemed to control the puck,” he noted.
“It’s tough for [the Saints] to get ready to play when the game doesn’t mean anything to them seeing that their season is over,” Davis added.
“But they still stayed respectable with how they played the game despite the score, so that was nice to see.”
Graeme Kitt and Jarred Taylor each recorded a hat trick and two assists to lead the Muskies.
Linemates Tyler VanUden and Chase McGuire also mirrored each other with a goal and three assists each.
Matt Cheetham netted a pair of goals, with Carter Brown, Sam Tibbs, and Spencer Shortreed adding singles.
Ossachuk posted the shutout.
Game 2 of the NorWOSSA semi-final is set for tomorrow (Feb. 19) in Kenora.
Game 3 (if necessary) will be back at the ’52 Canadians Arena here on Saturday at 7:15 p.m.
Dryden and Red Lake are clashing in the other semi-final showdown.
