Sharks win ‘A’ division at Emo tourney

Two Fort Frances teams claimed the ‘A’ and ‘B’ titles at the 14-team Atom hockey tournament in Emo last weekend.
The Gillons’ Sharks captured the championship with a 5-0 whitewash over the Zellers Hounds in the ‘A’ final Sunday afternoon.
After a scoreless first period, Lucas McMahon (Curtis Logue) and Boyd Badiuk gave the Sharks a 2-0 lead.
Then in the third, Badiuk scored twice more and McMahon (Badiuk) netted another to ice the game and the title.
Playing in Pool ‘A,’ the Sharks opened the tourney with a 3-1 win over Westfort. George Halverson scored all three goals, including one in the first and two more in the third.
Matt Hebert assisted on the last goal. Westfort netted their lone goal in the second.
In their second game, the Sharks cruised to a 6-0 win over the Emo Selects. Hebert led the way with a hat trick while McMahon netted a pair of goals.
Badiuk scored the other one. Assists went to Halverson (two), Badiuk, Jacob McMahon, Halverson, and Steve Williams.
Then the Sharks blazed past the Firemen’s Association 6-2 on goals by Badiuk (two), Williams, Logue, Jared Sandelovich, and Jacob McMahon. Halverson was credited with the lone assist.
But the Sharks then needed overtime to squeak past the South End Junior Stars 2-1 in their final round-robin game. Halverson scored unassisted in the extra frame to pull out the victory.
Badiuk (McMahon) had given the Sharks a 1-0 first-period lead but the Stars tied it in the second. Neither team could score in the third, setting up the overtime.
Meanwhile, the MEC Bulldogs also had a strong weekend in Emo, bringing home the ‘B’ side crown after blanking the Firemen’s Association 2-0 in the final Sunday.
Logan Allen (Josh Scott) had given the Bulldogs a 1-0 lead in the first. Then after a scoreless second, Darren Foster (Mitchell Cain) sealed the win in the third.
Playing in Pool ‘C,’ the Bulldogs downed the Emo Hawks 5-2 in their first game Friday.
Cain led the way with a hat trick while Robert Leimenstoll and Allen added singles. Assists went to Cain, Kevin Gruttner, and Foster.
The Hawks got goals from Terry Carmody (Michael Badiuk/Tyler Huntley) and Badiuk.
Then in their second game, Josh Scott tallied the lone goal as the Bulldogs battled Neebing to a 1-1 tie.
They also tied the Zellers Hounds 1-1 in their third game of pool play. After falling behind 1-0 in the first, Julia Martin (Shane Loyie) netted the equalizer.
Then in the ‘B’ semi-final, they faced-off against Neebing for the second time and blanked them 4-0 on goals by Allen (Foster), Scott (Cain/Garrett Howels), Foster (Allen), and Cain (Scott).
“[Goalie] Nick Kellar only allowed in four goals the entire tournament,” noted Lori Cain. “And there was strong defence by Shane Loyie, Jeremy Gruttner, Josh Scott, and Kevin Gruttner.”
The Bulldogs also had the fewest penalty minutes, playing three games without having a penalty called against them.