There was no shortage of local teams at the Robin’s Donuts Minor Hockey Classic in Thunder Bay last weekend as nine tested themselves against Northwestern Ontario’s best at the 108-team extravaganza.
While the Fort Frances K of C PeeWee Knights were the only team to bring home gold, some others showed well in the high-profile event.
The Fort Frances PeeWee ‘A’ Colonels had the second-best record of local squads with a 3-0-1 mark. They marched to victory over the NorWest Stars from Thunder Bay (5-3) and the Nakina Knights (12-2), followed by a 4-2 win over the Westfort Maroons (Thunder Bay).
They ended their weekend with a 5-5 tie against the West End Bruins (Thunder Bay).
Fort Frances IBEW also had a solid weekend in the PeeWee ‘A’ group, going 3-2 with wins over Geraldton Blue (4-2), the Neebing Penguins (6-1), and the KC Red Wings from Thunder Bay (5-2).
They lost 5-2 to the Volunteer Pool Bearcats (Thunder Bay) and 9-2 at the hands of Geraldton “White.”
The other local entry in that division was the Fort Frances Lions, who had a 1-2 mark based on reported scores.
The Lions beat Elks’ Zellers (Thunder Bay) by a 6-1 count in their opener, then dropped two-straight to the Current River Comets (Thunder Bay) and the Northwood Knights (Thunder Bay) by scores of 7-0 and 5-3, respectively.
In the IP2 division, Fort Frances Taggs was the best of a trio of local teams, going 3-1 in the tourney against a quartet of Thunder Bay squads.
Taggs beat the Elks’ A & K 8-5 in their first game before falling to the Volunteer Pool Bearcats 12-1. They rebounded with a narrow 5-4 victory over the KC Capitals, then finished with a 3-2 defeat of Elks’ Pierce.
Fort Frances Skates and Blades managed a 1-3 record, with their only win coming against the Elks’ Zellers (Thunder Bay) by a 6-2 count.
Their losses came against three other Thunder Bay-area teams, including the Fort William Hurricanes (9-0), the KC Sabres (4-2), and the Neebing Wild (7-1).
Fort Frances Foodtown Fury were kept out of the win column for the weekend, losing all four of their contests—falling 13-0 to the Westfort Maroons (Thunder Bay), 2-0 to Marathon, 6-1 to Elks’ Canadian Tire (Thunder Bay), and 5-2 to the Neebing Hawks (Thunder Bay).
And in the Atom ‘A’ group, Fort Frances Esso went 0-3-1 for the tournament, with their only bright spot being a 2-2 tie against the Neebing Whalers.
Geraldton beat Fort Frances 7-2, before the Esso squad absorbed 9-1 and 11-0 losses against the Neebing Blue Jackets and the Current River Comets, respectively.
Fort Frances Causeway had an even rougher ride at the tournament, going 0-4 with their closest outing being a 4-2 loss to the Atikokan Penguins.
The Longlac Timberwolves bested the locals 9-4 while the North End Stars (Thunder Bay) cruised to a 12-2 win. Causeway wrapped up play with a 4-0 loss to the KC Leafs (Thunder Bay).
Fort Frances Times
Local News from Across the Rainy River District
