麻豆社区

Moments after being shellacked for the second straight night, Fort Nelson Yeti captain Ryan Carter had a message for the Whitehorse Huskies.

Beware the Fort St. John Flyers.

鈥淭hey鈥檝e got a lot of good players but they鈥檙e going to have a really big challenge when they play Fort St. John,鈥� the 37-year-old centreman told the Star Saturday night.

鈥淔ort St. John is in a league and their team has played together a very long time. They鈥檙e going to be battle-tested coming right out of playoffs to play these guys.

鈥淚t鈥檚 going to be a really good series. They (Huskies) do have a lot of talent on paper. It鈥檚 just tough when you don鈥檛 get a lot of games.鈥�

Hoping to take a run at the Coy Cup 鈥� B.C.鈥檚 senior AA鈥坔ockey championship 鈥� the Huskies will need to beat the Flyers in a two-game series in early March.

The winner of that series will represent B.C. North at the four-team Coy Cup tournament, scheduled for March 24 to 28 in Fort Nelson.

Before that though, the Huskies are required to play six sanctioned games in order to be accredited by BC鈥圚ockey, and they will meet that standard when they host the Powell River Regals Jan. 30 and 31.

In their first home series in five years last weekend, the Yukon squad hammered the visiting Yeti 9-5 and 14-7 in back-to-back games.

The results pushed their season record to 4-0, with all four wins coming over their Fort Nelson rivals.

鈥淔or a lot of the guys, now it sinks in that we鈥檙e doing this,鈥� said head coach Mike Tuton.

鈥淲e鈥檙e committed. We鈥檙e all in now.

鈥淲e鈥檙e happy with this, but we鈥檙e going to put it away and step it up and get ready. We have no idea what Powell鈥圧iver looks like.鈥�

Despite the high-flying start, Huskies captain Jared Tuton says his team isn鈥檛 taking anything for granted.

鈥淲e knew the potential the guys had and we knew we were going to be offensively strong and that we had to work on our defensive game,鈥� the 29-year-old blueliner said after Saturday鈥檚 14-7 win at Takhini Arena.

鈥淲e鈥檙e going to have a real challenge the next weekend that we play. We know that we got two wins this weekend, but we got a lot of stuff to work on.鈥�

One sign pointing to continued success is three terrific forward trios, that on Saturday saw Adam Henderson centring Evan Campbell and Kane Dawe, Derek Klassen between Robbie Stuckey and Rob Warner, and Clayton Thomas paired with Ryan Gleason and Mike Arnold 鈥� the team鈥檚 youngest player at 19.

鈥淭he chemistry with every line was good,鈥� said Jared Tuton. 鈥淭he fact that we can roll three lines and have no worries?鈥�

鈥淚鈥檓 telling you: I鈥檝e played hockey a long time and it鈥檚 really rare. You never feel uncomfortable with any of those guys out there.鈥�