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Whitehorse Daily Star

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Photo by Marissa Tiel

OUTPLAYED 鈥 Kainai Braves goalie Tyler Cutknife covers the puck as Huskies' Rob Stuckey (10) and Rob Warner (17) look on during second period action Saturday. The Nuway Crushing Whitehorse Huskies beat the Kainai Braves 2-1 in the first exhibition game and 16-1 in game two.

Image title

Photo by Marissa Tiel

HAT TRICK SMILE 鈥 Kane Dawe celebrates a Huskies goal with Andrew Pettitt (left) during game two of their series with the Kainai Braves. Dawe was one of three Huskies players to score a hat trick or more during Sunday鈥檚 win.

Huskies outlast Braves to win series 2-0

Neither team knew quite what to expect, but by 7 p.m., Sunday, it was clear that the Huskies came out on top.

By Marissa Tiel on January 9, 2017

Neither team knew quite what to expect, but by 7 p.m., Sunday, it was clear that the Huskies came out on top.

In their first games facing each other, the Nuway Crushing Whitehorse Huskies dispatched the visiting Kainai Braves 2-1, 16-1 in a pair of exhibition games at Takhini Arena over the weekend.

With their fifth and sixth games this season in the bag, the Huskies have cemented their place at the Coy Cup, B.C. Hockey鈥檚 Senior AA trophy tournament, which they host at the end of March.

Saturday鈥檚 game one was a tight matchup, going scoreless for two periods. Kevin Petovello scored first for the Huskies, 4:41 into the third frame.

For the last minute, the Braves pulled goalie Tyler Cutknife for an extra attacker.

The move paid off as Ian Creighton got one past the Huskies鈥 Jon Olthuis to tie up the game and force overtime with eight seconds to go.

But the Huskies didn鈥檛 need much time to win as Rob Warner scored the game-winner 1:03 into overtime.

鈥淚 think we were just a little too gassed out there at the end,鈥 said Braves assistant manager and player Jeremy Weasel Moccasin after the first game. 鈥淭hey surprised a lot of us. A lot of the boys out there after the first period were like, 鈥榦h man, we gotta get going.鈥欌

Any ambitions of keeping up with the Huskies during game 2 were quickly erased as Kevin Petovello got the Huskies on the board early and unassisted in the first period.

The flow of goals couldn鈥檛 be turned off. Petovello had four, while Kane Dawe and Derek Klassen each registered a hat trick, Rob Stuckey had two, and Simon Nugent,鈥圓ndrew Pettitt,鈥圱yrell Hope and Ted Stephens all scored one apiece to lift the Huskies 16-1 over the Braves.

The Braves only goal game from Creighton 5:48 into the second period.

The Huskies鈥 16 goals is the most the team has scored in a game during their three seasons in the B.C. Senior AA league.

Braves goalie Tyler Cutknife, who didn鈥檛 start Sunday after being too sore from Saturday鈥檚 game said that he saw a different team playing Sunday.

鈥淭here was just two different teams I thought from last night to tonight,鈥 he said following the team鈥檚 loss Sunday. 鈥淚t just wasn鈥檛 there at all today. I don鈥檛 know if it was from being tired or what, it was just totally different tonight than it was from last night.鈥

Cutknife went in for Dalen Mistaken Chief after the first frame鈥檚 five goals, but said he was too sore to stay in net for the remainder of the game.

鈥淲e knew those guys weren鈥檛 quite as ready today as they were yesterday,鈥 said Huskies captain Derek Klassen, who scored a hat trick in game two. 鈥淚 think just getting a few early helped and then it kind of went off from there.

鈥淭heir goalie played pretty hot yesterday. I think we had a lot of great chances yesterday.鈥圵e probably could have had six or seven but their goalie stood on his head and that was kind of the difference there.鈥

Both games were marred by penalties. Each team had 20 penalties over 121 minutes of play.

In Saturday鈥檚 game, the Huskies鈥 Burt Stephens had a five-minute major for fighting and a two-minute minor for roughing, while the Braves鈥 Curly Twigg received the same.

The fight happened in the second half of the third period and neither returned to the ice in game one.

Game two opened with a fight that saw Charles Dagostin and Ferguson Calf Robe ejected just one minute and seven seconds into the game.

鈥淭hat鈥檚 not the kind of hockey we want to promote. That鈥檚 not the kind of hockey we want to play,鈥 said coach Michael Tuton following Sunday鈥檚 blowout win. 鈥淚 was really proud of my boys of the class that they showed and just their composure.鈥

Tuton said the team is happy to have their six games before Jan. 10 as required by B.C. Hockey to play at the Coy Cup.

鈥淭hey weren鈥檛 ready to play today. Our guys were. For them it鈥檚 an exhibition game, it鈥檚 a free trip to Whitehorse,鈥 said Tuton. 鈥淔or the Huskies, we鈥檝e got bigger plans in mind. This squad has one goal and that鈥檚 the Coy Cup in March.

鈥淲e鈥檝e only got one thing in mind and that鈥檚 the Coy Cup and that鈥檚 to win the Coy Cup. These games don鈥檛 really help us, but it got us our games to qualify so that鈥檚 what we were after.鈥

The Huskies will have a rematch against the Kelowna Sparta sometime in February.

The Sparta dealt the Huskies their only loss this season during their November games.

NOTES: Goalie Jon Olthuis started in net for the Huskies and played through Saturday鈥檚 game as well as the first two periods Sunday, before Power filled in for the final period. The Huskies鈥 two goals against is the fewest scored against the team in its Senior AA seasons.

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