Skates and Blades tops again

In an all-Fort Frances final, Skates and Blades blanked Tagg’s 3-0 on Sunday afternoon to capture top honours at a 10-team novice tournament in Emo.
Blake Wepruk put the victors up 1-0 in the first with an unassisted goal. Then after a scoreless second, Zach McCool and Cody McCool tallied unassisted in the third to ice the victory.
Skates and Blades opened the tournament Friday night with a 2-0 win over the Volunteer Pool Blues (Thunder Bay). Zach McCool netted both goals, with assists by Max Madill and Chris Legg.
Zach McCool (Wepruk) then netted the lone goal against the Times Tigers but it was enough to secure a 1-0 win in their second game.
Skates and Blades then wrapped up pool play Saturday afternoon with a 3-0 shutout over West End Motors. Legg led the attack with a pair of goals while Cody McCool netted the other.
That put them in the ‘A’ semi-finals, where they hung on for a narrow 2-1 win over the Emo OPP. Cody McCool (unassisted) and Cole Calder (Cody McCool) scored in that one.
Although Tagg’s lost in the ‘A’ final, they also had a strong weekend after finishing round-robin play undefeated, dumping Tim Hortons 9-0, downing the Foodtown Fury 4-1, and blanking the Emo Rockets 5-0.
They advanced to the final with a tight 3-2 win over the Times Tigers in the semi-finals.
Meanwhile, the Volunteer Pool Blues won the ‘B’ final Sunday afternoon with an exciting 4-3 win over the Foodtown Fury.
Colin Barton netted all three goals for the Fury in a losing cause.
After opening play with a 2-0 loss to Skates and Blades, the Blues edged the Emo Rockets 3-2 and then dumped the Emo Wings 6-0.
The Blues and Wings then met again in the ‘B’ semi-finals, with the Blues prevailing 3-0.
The Fury doubled West End Motors 4-2 to advance to the ‘B’ final. They had opened action with a 1-0 win over the Emo OPP, followed by a 4-1 defeat at the hands of Tagg’s.
Then they earned a 2-2 tie with the Emo Wings.
Finally, the Emo Rockets captured the ‘C’ final with a convincing 8-0 win over Tim Hortons.