Lucas Punkari
After a pair of setbacks on the road two weekends earlier, the Fort Frances Thunderhawks were looking to extract revenge on the Kenora Thistles here Saturday when the two squads squared off in exhibition play at the Ice For Kids Arena.
Although the home side played much closer to their northern rivals than the 5-1 and 6-1 losses they suffered up in Kenora, the T’hawks still came out on the short end of the stick once again as the Thistles skated away with a 4-3 victory in a shootout.
“I thought it was a good game with two pretty evenly-matched teams,” said Thunderhawks’ head coach Larry Beck said.
“We missed a couple of key chances to go ahead by a couple of goals in the third, then they got one back to tie it up,” he recalled.
“And once you go into a shootout, pretty much anything can happen.”
Curt Bowen, a former member of the Ottawa 67’s in the early ’90s who was making his first appearance for the Thistles this season, ended up netting the game-winning goal in the shootout—beating Thunderhawks’ goalie Chris Medicine five-hole.
“That’s a heck of a way to make a debut,” Thistles’ coach Ryan Reynard remarked.
“He [Curt] is a great player who brings a ton of experience, which is something that will be a nice added aspect to our team moving forward,” Reynard added.
It was the T’hawks who jumped out to an early lead thanks to a top-shelf snipe by A.J. Tucker and a breakaway goal from Tom Biondich.
But momentum soon swung in Kenora’s favour once the second period began as Jeff Bowen and Mike Greaves both hit the twine to square the score at 2-2.
“We made a few turnovers in the first period that really set us back,” Reynard noted.
“Once we came back out for the second, we had a lot more poise, got the puck in deep, and started to have a lot more hustle out there,” he added.
The T’hawks regained the lead near the game’s halfway mark during a five-on-three power-play, when Dennis Morrison redirected a point shot by Cody Mosbeck past Thistles’ goalie Ryan Person.
After both sides traded blows throughout the third period, the Thistles tied things up again with 8:10 to go when Matt Johnson slid the puck underneath Medicine after he was unable to put cover up the loose puck in his crease.
It looked as if Kenora took the win in the dying moments when a point shot by Greaves found the back of the net. But the goal was waved off due to goaltender interference, which kept the game tied up and eventually force the shootout.
While both coaches may not have had their full lineups at their disposal Saturday night, both Beck and Reynard felt their teams are moving in the right direction as they prepare for the Allan Cup in Kenora next month.
“We still have about half-a-dozen players who couldn’t make it tonight, but we’re expecting them to play here next week in our last tune-up before taking off,” Beck explained.
“The biggest thing for us is now with our practice schedule changing due to minor hockey finishing up here, we’ll be able to practice earlier on Tuesdays and possibly have a few more practices, as well, before we go, which we’ll use to polish up some things that need fixing,” he stressed.
“It’s always tough with senior hockey when you have road games because you have guys that can’t come down [due] to work or family commitments,” added Reynard.
“However, the guys that were able to come down put forward a great effort, and we were fortunate enough to walk away with the win,” he said.
The two teams are set to face each other again on Saturday, March 26 at 7:30 p.m. at the Ice For Kids Arena.
Game time may be moved to the afternoon, however, to accommodate a possible Game 5 in the SIJHL semi-final series between the Fort Frances Lakers and Dryden Ice Dogs.
