Season comes to an end for Huskies

FORT ST. JOHN, B.C. – The Fort St. John Huskies had their chances in game six against the Fairview Flyers but in the end couldn’t get the job done. The speed and experience of the Flyers as well as their power play efficiency were the difference in a 6-2 loss.

The Huskies came out of the gate strong and had an early five on three power play but were unable to cash in. Despite having a 12-5 advantage in the shots Fort St. John was down one after the first period.

Brandon Howard would tie the game in the second but the Huskies couldn’t capitalize on the momentum. Fairview potted three unanswered tallies to lead 4-1 heading to the third.

As the final stanza began the Flyers put the game on ice as they put up a fifth goal just over a minute into the period. Both teams exchanged a goal each the rest of the way to round out the scoring.

“We’ve got if not the youngest, one of the youngest teams in the league this year,” said assistant coach Todd Alexander reflecting on the season. “I’m really proud of the boys in there. They gave a lot of fight all the way to the end and they never gave up and that’s what we ask. We never did anything stupid at the end of the game. It’s good discipline by us as well. You never want to go out looking like that and I think we went out a good, hard, honest way.”

Given the youth on the Huskies roster Alexander added the post season run was a good learning experience which should only help the club come the 2016-2017 season.

“It’s huge. A lot of these guys it was their first taste of anything like that. Those are good memories. We can pull nothing but positives out of this series and this playoff run that we had this year. Sometimes you’ve got to lose to learn how to win. It stings and you don’t want that memory. I think that a lot of guys learned a lot of lessons and we’ll see what we have next year,” he said.

Outgoing for the team as 21 year olds are Kody Disher, Cayle Bell, Jordan Harder, and Austin Braid. The group were counted on as leaders throughout the year leaving Alexander to tip his cap to their futures, and recognizing their contributions to the Huskies.

“Those guys helped turn this program around and I’m really proud of those four gentleman. They’ve been nothing but good for this program and they’ve got nothing but bright futures going forward. Our culture is a lot better here now. It’s things like that, that you can build a good team off of and I think next year it will show,” he said.

Scoring the other goal for the Huskies was Ryan McDonald.

The Flyers will advance to take on the North Peace Navigators in the NWJHL final. The two teams met in last year’s league final with Peace River winning in four games.