The Muskie boys’ hockey team ended 2007 with a bronze-medal finish at the annual Hilltopper Holiday Classic in Duluth, Mn. after facing some stiff American competition and being held to some of their most humbling outings this season.
“Those are the teams we need to play against,” head coach Shane Bliss
stressed. “If we make a mistake, they make you pay.”
“In Duluth or in OFSAA or whatever the case may be, you need to make sure
you’re not making the mistakes we were making,” he remarked.
The Muskies opened the tournament on a winning note on Boxing Day, topping Superior High School 6-4 score before losing 4-3 to eventual champion Edgewood Crusaders from Madison, Wis., who beat host Duluth Marshall 4-3 in overtime in the final.
Fort Frances wrapped up play Friday by winning the consolation final by an
8-5 score over Hudson High School.
Bliss expressed some frustration with how the Muskies reacted to the three Wisconsin teams, falling behind in all three and needing to post sizable third-period comebacks in both their wins.
Still, he credited the boys for persevering against some “quality” opposition.
The Muskies got the first goal against the Superior Spartans, but “in the
blink of an eye we’re down 4-1,” noted Bliss.
The boys the trailed Edgewood 1-0 from the first to the third, when late scoring again was the story.
When it came time to play the Hudson Raiders, “again we put ourselves in the hole . . . we ended up back and forth, back and forth,” said Bliss.
It was only thanks to the sheer force of the Muskie scoring, led by Matt
Hebert’s hat trick, that Fort High placed in the top three.
Even if it wasn’t pretty, Bliss said the outcome was “pretty successful.
“[The players] went out and got the job done. . . . Probably even more exciting games for people to watch. A little hard on the coaching staff,” he chuckled.
Still, the coach said the number of goals scored on the black-and-gold was the key issue of the tournament and didn’t hesitate when asked about the team’s goaltending, specifically starter David Moen, who played all three games.
“We didn’t have the best goaltending,” Bliss admitted. “David Moen’s been very good for us this year and he’s won a lot of hockey games for us, but he did struggle down there [Duluth].
“You can’t expect him to be perfect every game. He’s been pretty darn
good,” he added, and said he knew Moen was unhappy with his performances.
“I don’t want to put any blame on him . . . we didn’t give him a lot of help,”
Bliss continued. “After David’s shaky starts, he had good games, too.”
The coach also chided the team’s penalty kill, calling it “soft” and complaining of the number of power-play goals scored by opposing teams even as the Muskies played some disciplined hockey.
He did say he was pleased with the “solid” job the defence turned in, and
noted an even scoring force from the Muskies that saw a half-dozen players post four or five points even with a few sitting out and several others playing while still on the mend.
The Muskies return to NorWOSSA play next Tuesday (Jan. 8) when they
host the Kenora Broncos.
Fort High remains the cream of the NorWOSSA crop, leading the league with a 7-0-0-0 record and 44 goals scored to eight against—well ahead of last place Kenora (1-5-0-0).
Fort Frances Times
Local News from Across the Rainy River District
