Huskies win pre-season game against Dawson Creek Kodiaks

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Pictured here in a game from the 2024-25 regular season, the Fort St. John Huskies and Dawson Creek Kodiaks renewed their rivalry in a pre-season contest on September 3rd, 2025. (Street Legal Photography, Facebook)

FORT ST. JOHN, B.C. — The Fort St. John Huskies hit the ice against their rival Dawson Creek Kodiaks after a summer to bask in the glow of their Strike Group North West Junior Hockey League title.

Continuing their dominance from last season, the champs got timely goal scoring en route to a 6-3 victory at the Pomeroy Sport Centre on Wednesday, September 3rd in a pre-season contest.

Goals came from forwards Grayden Alexander, Mason McGinnis, Jonny Timmons and Xavier Burgher, who had a hat trick.

Playing their last game at home for a month due to maintenance issues at the North Peace Arena, head coach Todd Alexander was satisfied with the team’s overall performance.

“I thought the things that we’ve been working on with our neutral zone transition and our offensive zone shift are starting to show up a little bit,” said Alexander. “There are a few different things that we’ve implied this year that we didn’t do last year.

“The players are just getting used to those predictable patterns, and then once we get used to that, then we will be able to build off of that.”

While the Huskies won their fifth title in six seasons last season, big contributors to the championship left over the summer, as Ashton Underhill, Connor Cozens and Tanner McCracken all graduated from the program to attend college.

Alexander was pleased with some of the newcomers, particularly defenceman Parker Gamble and forward Cortt Callison, who he feels “did a good job,” especially considering the team was short on defencemen.

“I think [Gamble’s] defence settled in nicely as the game went along,” said Alexander. “[Callison] filled in on defence last night. We’re missing a handful of our guys, so for him to be able to move back and forth was beneficial, not only to the player, but to the team as well.”

The Huskies start defending their title on Friday, September 12th on the road against the North Peace Navigators.

Game time is scheduled for 8 p.m. at the Baytex Energy Centre. More details about the Huskies are available on the team’s Facebook and Instagram pages or website.