LA CRETE, AB – The Fairview Flyers travelled to La Crete Sunday to take on the La Crete Lumber Barons in a David-vs-Goliath-type matchup between two teams with contrasting success in the NWJHL this season.
The Flyers came into the game with a lowly 2-33-1 record and destined for a last place finish in league standings, while the Lumber Barons boasted a 31-5-3 record and only recently slid out of first place for the first time all season. Even with the La Crete squad on the second half of a back-to-back that saw them come from behind in an intense matchup against the third-place Wheat Kings only 16 hours prior, the odds seemed heavily stacked in favour of the Lumber Barons.
What the game lacked in storylines going into the match was made up for in terms of goals and physicality, with both teams opting to throw their weight around and peppering the goaltenders with rubber. The final shot tally would show 67-31 in favor of the home team and as predicted, La Crete turned it on early (scoring 2 goals in the opening 1:05 of the game on goals by Carter Fehr and Landon Driedger) and then continued pouring it on throughout the remaining 59 minutes as they would go on to win by a score of 13-2. Four players from the Barons side managed to score their first career NWJHL goals, highlighted by an end-to-end beauty by u18 affiliate player Cole Penner. Fellow u18 teammates Canaan Doerksen and Nathan Boehlig picked up their first career goals in the victory.
The game also saw Drew Friesen bury a dazzling Peter Forsberg-esque one-handed tuck on the breakaway while collecting 2 assists to add to his league-leading 70 points in 38 games, while rookie Jonah Cardinal buried his third hat trick of the season as he raised his point total to 63 in 39 games.
Check out this photo gallery from Inside the Rink‘s Kevin Neufeld for further highlights of the game.
