Mitch Calvert
That’s more like it.
The Fort Frances Jr. Sabres exacted some revenge Sunday afternoon with a 7-1 thrashing of the Sioux Lookout Flyers, rebounding from a 7-4 loss to that same team here a week ago yesterday.
“Much better effort,” Sabres’ head coach Wayne Strachan said. “One of the best starts and total efforts of the second half. We came out flying.
“We talked about our last game briefly and remembered Thursday’s paper headline about losing, [and] I think the boys didn’t want it to happen again,” he added. “It was a solid effort by all 15 players dressed.”
Dan Usiski notched a hat trick while the Sabres also got two goals from Mitch Cain. Kyle Turgeon and Graham Dyck added the others.
“Usiski could be a huge key for our success in the playoffs,” Strachan said. “When Dan wants to play and give 100 percent, he is a huge asset for us.
“He gets moved around a bit to even line combos out, but no matter who he plays with, he has to work hard, play physical, and shoot the puck,” Strachan stressed.
“He has a dangerous shot [and] the touch to score, but he has to come and skate and play with intensity to be successful.”
Galen Matyjaka netted the lone Flyers’ goal, who fell to 2-33-2 on the season. The Flyers also lost newcomer Jeff Bienvenue to an injury in the first period of Sunday’s game, which would be a huge lost for the offensively-inept squad if he’s out for an extended length of time.
“Bienvenue played a strong game last Tuesday [Jan. 27],” Strachan noted. “He actually almost scored [his] first shift Sunday, but Ryan [Faragher] made a good save to start the game.
“He then left the game in the first with an apparent leg injury, and I didn’t see him out on the ice again.”
Bienvenue had 13 points in his first seven games in Flyers’ colours.
Strachan said the Sabres focused on improving their team defence over the four-day stretch between games after giving up seven goals to Sioux Lookout at the Ice for Kids Arena.
“We were embarrassed from last Tuesday’s game,” he admitted. “Seven goals against is not a good thing against any team, but we worked hard in practice at our positioning and taking our men.”
The Sabres sit comfortably in third place in the SIJHL standings with a 23-13-2 record, but are just 5-4-1 since the Christmas break.
“We talked about our second half not being the greatest so far and the players responded,” Strachan said. “[We] came out flying, moving our feet, forechecking, and moving the puck the way we played in the first half before Christmas.”
The squad once again was undermanned, dressing just eight forwards and five defencemen for Sunday’s game. And that was reduced further to five forwards and three defencemen for the final 6:30 of the game after 10 players in total were ejected for some minor skirmishes.
“The referee saw fit to eject 10 players for pushing each other around,” Strachan noted. “Up front we mixed and matched, and went with short, hard shifts, and the guys played well.”
Jon Sinclair, younger brother of Sabres’ captain Chris Sinclair, suited up for the home game against the Flyers and is expected to fill a roster spot down the stretch and into the playoffs.
“‘Little Sink’ can play seven more games with us and we hope to use him in those seven games before the end of this season, and then he will join us full-time in the playoffs,” Strachan said. “We may have a player coming in for a tryout this week, [and] we are talking to a few other players at this point to see if they would come this way.”
The Sabres next head to Dryden tonight to face the Ice Dogs, then will host the second-place Thunder Bay Bearcats in a big statement game here Saturday night.
“We are looking at Dryden first [as] it is two big points we need to get to keep moving forward,” Strachan stressed. “The game is huge after that against the Bearcats. We need to get some confidence back when we meet them.
“We are anticipating a big crowd and we want to prove to ourselves that we can play with them.
“If we put our mind to it and play intense, we will give ourselves a chance,” he added. “They are a team that has gotten better via trades, it is no secret, [and] we will have to remain disciplined as they are good on the power play.”
The Sabres have 11 games left in the regular season, with nine of those coming on home ice.
If the season ended today, the Bearcats and Fort William North Stars would have first-round byes, meaning the Sabres would meet the Flyers in one quarter-final showdown while the Schreiber Diesels and Dryden Ice Dogs would square off in the other.
