Wisconsin team wins RR tournament

Ken Johnston

The annual Rainy River Recreation Board Men’s Hockey Tournament ended with both players and fans on edge as it came right down to the wire Sunday.
Mark Petkau’s Morson team faced Scott Aikenhead’s team who was mostly from Wisconsin.
In the first period it looked like Aikenhead and co. were going to run away with the championship. They scored five unanswered goals and outshot Petkau 19-7.
But in the second period Petkau’s team returned fire to score three unanswered goals and outshot their opponents 14-8.
In the third period Petkau’s team was on fire in the first five minutes. They scored three more goals to take the lead 6-5. With 6:42 left Aikenhead’s team tied it up. Thirty seconds later Aikenhead’s team recaptured the lead. The rest of the game was a battle to hold each other off as furious attempts to score were stopped at both ends of the ice. However Aikenhead’s team held on to win and outshot Petkau 15-10. They won $1,100 for first place and Petkau and co. won $700.
In the B event tragedy from the night before loomed over The Buds hockey team. One of their teammates, Alex Matthew, was in a serious car accident and had to be airlifted to Winnipeg. However that gave them the drive and determination to defeat the always tough Rainy River Spartans.
The Spartans applied pressure early scoring just 40 seconds into the game. The Buds answered back with a goal a 1:20 into the game. At 4:25 the Spartans took the lead back. With 3:35 left in the period The Buds tied it up again. The Spartans outshot The Buds 11-8.
In the second the Spartans really poured it on outshooting The Buds 16-6 and scoring their third goal at 2:40. Joel Ashworth then picked up a poor clearing shot by Spartan goal tender Don Gall and tied the game with 3:10 left in the period.
In the third The Buds came out determined to win the game, scoring two goals in the first seven minutes to lead 5-3. The Spartans came within one with 4:30 left in the game. Then with 1:01 left John Kirkrude got an insurance goal to clinch the win for The Buds. The Spartans outshot The Buds 16-7.
Bud player, Mitch Gouliquer, said, “We did this for Alex. We hope he gets well soon.”
They won $200 for their efforts.