Lucas Punkari
In a game that was a lot closer than the final score indicated, the Fort Frances Thunderhawks came out on the losing end of a 6-3 score to the South East Prairie Thunder (Manitoba) yesterday afternoon in Kenora in the opening game of the 2011 Allan Cup tournament.
“The score was in no way indicative of how the game went,” team manager Dean Bruyere remarked.
“The shots were pretty much dead even during the whole game and [goalie] Chris Medicine was just outstanding for us,” he noted.
“But in the end, it was just a couple of breakdowns that proved costly.”
The T’hawks led 2-1 at the halfway point, but the Prairie Thunder exploded for four goals over the last part of the second period and opening stages of the third to put the game out of reach.
“I think it was a just a matter of us not having that many games together with our full roster, along with the fact that they’ve been working together all year,” Bruyere reasoned.
“You can tell that they had been playing together for a while, and had a real good structure to their game, as opposed to us who have just been together for a 10-5 victory over Kenora earlier this year and in our scrimmages over the past weekend.
“But it was still a real even game,” he stressed.
Former University of North Dakota player Tim Skarperud led the way for the Prairie Thunder with two goals and an assist.
Dale Butland and Tyler Palmiscno both added a trio of assists to the cause.
Kevin Webb netted two goals in a losing cause while Derek Hansberry had a goal and an assist.
The T’hawks won’t have long to dwell over their opening setback as they conclude their Division I round-robin schedule this afternoon against the Clarenville Caribous (Newfoundland).
Game time was 2 p.m. at the Kenora Recreation Centre.
“Personally, I think we’re going to give them a pretty good run, and I think we may come away with the victory,” Bruyere predicted.
“The guys are feeling pretty confident and I think that if we play the way that we did for two periods yesterday, we should be okay,” he added.
Meanwhile, in last night’s Division II round-robin opener, the host Kenora Thistles skated to a dominating 6-1 win over the Dundas Real McCoys (southern Ontario).
Jeff Richards and Sean Hughes both had three-point outings while Tyler Gordon turned aside 33 shots for the Thistles.
The Allan Cup wraps up Saturday, with the final taking place at 3 p.m.
