Fort St. John Huskies’ win streak over after loss to Lumber Barons

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Fort St. John Huskies captain Grayden Alexander (left) dropped the gloves and fought Grande Prairie’s Wyatt Lefley during Fort St. John’s 10-2 win over the Wheat Kings on January 23rd. (Street Legal Photography, Facebook)

FORT ST. JOHN, B.C. — The Fort St. John Huskies may have defeated the La Crete Lumber Barons in last year’s playoffs, but the Lumber Barons got the better of the Huskies – including this weekend – throughout the season.

Carried by the strength of a four-goal first period, the Lumber Barons held on to beat the Huskies by a score of 5-2 on Saturday, January 24th in Strike Group North West Junior Hockey League (NWJHL) action.

The win secured a rare season sweep for La Crete – who went a perfect 16-0 against all teams in the Caliber Energy East/West Division – and snapped a 10-game win streak by the Huskies.

Despite the loss, Huskies head coach Todd Alexander is looking ahead to the season’s final week, as games remain to close out January.

“We [have] got two games left here, and we just want to continue to button up our defensive game and make sure that it’s consistent night in and night out as we approach the playoffs,” said Alexander.

“We played 14 games in 28 days. It’s taken a toll on us. Some guys are a little nicked up so we will be able to probably give them a bit of a break [this week].”

There were better times just one night earlier, as the Huskies pushed their win streak to 10 with a 10-2 thrashing of the County of Grande Prairie Wheat Kings.

Defenceman Adam Bourgeois had a hat trick, as Fort St. John’s four goals on their first 10 shots of the matchup chased Wheat Kings starting goaltender Vaughn Kaliel from the net.

Backup Colin McCreight didn’t fare much better, as seven Huskies scored in the contest.

Huskies forward Ryan Ungstad had two goals, with additional offence coming from Jordan LaGreca, Jonny Timmons, Kalen Flodell, Brogan Wood and Brody Mickey.

“The boys defensively were really on it that game,” said Alexander. “We got a lot of opportunities from turnovers, from being in a good spot and defending well. We were able to capitalize a lot on that game.”

Fort St. John will begin the final week of the NWJHL season on Friday, January 30th against the Sexsmith Vipers at the North Peace Arena, before heading on the road to finish the schedule against the North Peace Navigators on Saturday, January 31st at the Baytex Energy Centre.

Game time is scheduled for both contests at 8 p.m. Visit the Huskies’ Instagram and Facebook pages or website.