The last time the Concordia Thunder played in Lac La Biche, there was blood on the ice. Last Friday hockey fans were treated to a milder version of the game, with the Voyageurs taking the win, with no blood spilled in the Centennial Arena.
From the first puck drop to the last buzzer, the hometown team played hard, and earned a nod of approval from their coach for the 4-1 victory.
“This game had the Voyageurs play the full sixty minutes and was their best outing of the season so far,” said head coach Terry Ewasiuk, adding some line-up changes seemed to be working.
“In an effort to shake up the team that had only won once in it's last seven games I revamped all the forward lines.” He said. “After it was all said and done everyone was playing with different teammates on different forward lines. It seemed to work, as this weekend saw the men's hockey team play some of its best hockey this season.”
Both teams started the game strong with end-to-end rushes, and some excellent scoring opportunities, although the first goal didn’t come until late in the first period, when Cody Mapes dumped one in the net.
Rookie Voyageur goaltender Justin Borsa kept 11 shots out of his net over the first period, and would go on to block another 22 shots throughout the game.
The second period saw a slower start, with rookie defenseman Shawn Shackleton getting his third goal of the season at just over nine minutes into the period on a power play, with Ewasiuk calling it a great individual rush.
“Shackleton continues to be one of the big surprises on defense and is one of the best skaters in the ACAC league and leads the Voyageurs defense in scoring with 3 goals and 8 assists,” said the head coach.
Concordia answered with a short-handed hard shot that found the net. Although it was the only goal the Thunder had, it still bothered the coach.
“The team has given up four shorthanded goals this year and it’s a major concern of the coaching staff,” said Ewasiuk.
The Voyageurs would reply with their third goal of the game when at 16:30 Matt Foster scored his own goal, his tenth goal of the season and 17th point. Assists went to third year left winger Gerald Desjarlais (#21) and Cody Mapes.
Late in the third period, the Thunder pulled their goalie in an effort to close the 3-1 gap with an extra attacker on the ice. But Voyageurs centre Blair Hawes had a different plan, and dumped one into the empty net at 19:48 for his second goal of the season.
The next night the Voyageurs met the Thunder at Clareview arena, where they were unable to find the net as they lost to Concordia.
“This game was all Voyageurs but in the end the team gave up untimely goals losing 3-2,” said Ewasiuk. “The Voyageurs out-shot Concordia 35-18 but just couldn't score the goals they needed to win.”
Despite the loss, Ewasiuk said the coaching staff was still pleased with the team’s play, although he noted they are often unable to capitalize on scoring opportunities.
“In the last six games, the Voyageurs have out-shot their opponents 233 – 177 and have only two wins to show for that,” said the coach. “We also have to remember that we have twelve rookies in the line-up any given game which is always more than any other team.”
