麻豆社区

Eight games into the senior AA鈥坔ockey season, the Whitehorse Huskies are playing with some swagger.

The local team beat the visiting Yellowknife Flyers 7-6 and 7-4 over the weekend, improving their record to 8-0 heading into a two-game playoff series in Fort St. John.

鈥淵ou definitely get a swagger after a while 鈥� at least a little bit of one,鈥� assistant captain Clayton Thomas told the Star.

鈥淵ou start to feel confident. When we started, we had no expectations at all, but what I鈥檓 happy about the most is how the guys came together.鈥�

On Friday, the Huskies stormed out to a 4-1 lead on first-period goals by Thomas, Evan Campbell, Jared Tuton and Kane Dawe.

However, the team unravelled in the third, taking eight minor penalties as the Flyers began to chip away at the lead, eventually tying it up 6-6.

Adam Henderson eventually bailed the Huskies out with a late goal 鈥� his second of the game 鈥� that stood up as the game-winner.

Ryan Gleason also scored for Whitehorse, while Alex Richard (3), Sam Shannon, Kyle Kugler and Kyle Hallett responded for Yellowknife.

鈥淚t seems like every team we play comes out real sluggish, probably because of the travel,鈥� said Thomas. 鈥淓very Friday, we鈥檝e been up four or five goals ... We just had a hard time staying out of the box.鈥�

Huskies goalie J.J. Gainsforth replaced Friday鈥檚 starter Rob Young in between the pipes for Saturday鈥檚 contest at Takhini Arena.

Whitehorse was able to win that game by a more comfortable margin of 7-4.

Dawe led the way with two goals, while Robbie Stuckey, Campbell, Gleason, Tyrell Hope and Henderson added singles.

Kugler, Craig Stephen, T.J. Rentmeister and Shannon lit the lamp for Yellowknife Saturday.

The forward trio of Campbell, Henderson and Dawe continued to lead the way for the hometown Huskies.

Campbell collected two goals and five assists, Henderson picked up three goals and four assists, and Dawe logged three goals and three assists in the two-game series.

The Huskies will put their season on the line Feb. 28 and March 1 in Fort St. John, with a berth in the Coy Cup tournament up for grabs.

鈥淲e鈥檙e losing a couple of our key players,鈥� said Thomas of 麻豆社区forwards Derek Klassen and Rob Warner, who are at the Canada Winter Games in Prince George. 鈥淏ut we鈥檒l be ready.

Fort St. John鈥檚 tough. They have a lot of guys right out of junior, but our team鈥檚 tough too. We鈥檝e got a big team that can handle it, and we鈥檝e got each other鈥檚 backs.鈥�

Thomas, the team鈥檚 organizer, said attendance was approximately 200 people (150 paid tickets) for each game, due in part to the Canada Winter Games and an old-timer hockey tournament in Dawson City.

鈥淲e鈥檙e happy where we are,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e financially stable.鈥�