‘Telling stories weaves net of solidarity’

September 28, 2023

After a hastily-organized Take Back the Night event in Minden Sept. 21, organizers are planning to be back bigger next year in what they hope to make an annual event.

With Rails End Gallery drummers in attendance, the YWCA Peterborough Haliburton gathered people on the grass outside Canadian Tire before leading them on a march on the river walk.

Director of philanthropy, Tina Thornton, thanked Haliburton County-based organizers and attendees.

“Thank you so much all of you. This started off as just an idea about a week ago and we managed to pull together, and I couldn’t be more excited. I am looking forward to hopefully having Minden as an annual event.”

She read an address from executive director, Kim Dolan, who was at another event on the night.

“We gather in solidarity knowing that our collective presence honours the experiences of women-identified people and girl children who’ve experienced gender-based violence in our streets, workplaces, institutions, and homes for too long,” Dolan said.

“Despite our efforts, since the 1970s, gender-based violence is affecting more women, happening more often, and becoming more violent. This means that more women are afraid, more women are being harmed, and more harm is happening. The threat of violence silences us, but not tonight.”

Dolan added that gender-based violence does not discriminate, for perpetrators or women, no matter their gender identity, sexual orientation, race, ethnicity, health, abilities, social and geographical location.

“The power of women telling one another their stories of violence and sexual assault weaves a net of resilience, defiance, outrage and hope. The telling of our stories speaks truth to power. The telling of our stories shines a light on misogyny, colonialism, racism, transphobia and societal and institutional systems that perpetrate violence. Telling our stories weaves a powerful net of solidarity.”

Respiratory season around corner: HKPR

Lisa Gervais

September 28, 2023

The health unit is readying itself for respiratory season, medical officer of health, Dr. Natalie Bocking, told a Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge (HKPR) board of health meeting Sept. 21.

She said the fall is an “incredibly” busy time for the health unit, and the media is now focusing on the fall respiratory season. She added the community wants to know what to expect and what the recommendations are.

“We’re preparing folks for what’s considered to be another atypical respiratory season,” Dr. Bocking said.

She said that means they are anticipating flu season to hit early, COVID-19, and other respiratory viruses to be somewhat higher than pre-pandemic levels.

As for readiness, Dr. Bocking said it’s about the health unit, long-term care homes, public education, vaccination, testing and treatment.

“We had a fairly intense influenza season last year, that happened earlier and peaked earlier, that had a number of implications for our health sector partners, emergency departments, hospitals as well as patients from the health unit,” Dr. Bocking said.

She added they take their cue from the southern hemisphere, which has already experienced a fall and winter 2023.

Australia and New Zealand saw “not quite as high” cases of influenza compared to last year, fewer deaths, but quite high hospital admissions, particularly among children up to the age of nine. She said the most at-risk are people 65 years old and older, and the very young.

As for COVID-19 locally, she said they’d had a long stretch of fewer hospital admissions. She is anticipating that will increase. She added the virus continues to mutate and evolve, with a couple of different variants that have mutated together. However, she said there are no new variants that have set them back. She said the variants remain contagious but do not cause more severe illness.

She suggested people keep an eye on things through reputable sources, such as the local health unit, Kingston public health unit and Public Health Ontario.

Dr. Bocking said in the past couple of weeks, they have been doing tabletop exercises with health sector partners, including in Haliburton County. They’re working with LTC homes. “Preparation for worse case scenarios should they arrive.”

They’re ramping up public education, reminding people to stay home if sick, and wear masks.

The health unit is also encouraging people to get both a flu and COVID vaccine (which can be given at the same time) and LTC and those over 65, an RSV (respiratory syncytial virus) shot.

Dr. Bocking said people in LTC homes and hospitals will be immunized first, followed by at-risk groups, and then the general public, likely in late October. Vaccines will be available in pharmacies. The health unit will have vaccine clinics and primary care professionals will also give jabs.

As for testing and treatment, the region’s top doc said PCR test kits are still available and there is a test locater on the provincial website. Rapid antigen tests are still available.

She also encouraged people to go to their new website at hkpr.on.ca.

Rallies demonstrate divide

September 28, 2023

A 1 Million March 4 Children event in Head Lake Park Sept. 20 quickly led to Minden Pride organizing a counter rally, as hundreds demonstrated their ideological differences in the Highlands.

The 1 Million March 4 Children was a series of protests in cities and towns across Canada.

Local spokeswoman, Valerie Jarvis, said they were uniting diverse backgrounds and faiths who, “share a resolute purpose: advocating for the elimination of the sexual orientation and gender identity curriculum, pronouns, gender ideology and mixed bathrooms in schools.”

She said as a symbol of their commitment, students were encouraged to participate in a nationwide school walkout on the day, although few did locally.

“Together, we stand united to safeguard the well-being and innocence of our children,” Jarvis said. She added their mission is to, “free children from the bondage of indoctrination. Breaking the system designed to sexualize our children.”

While the approximately 50, 1 Million March participants started at the welcome centre in the park, they eventually marched on the path towards Haliburton Highlands Secondary School.

The walkway was lined by LGBTQ+ supporters, who outnumbered them approximately three to one. One of the 1 Million March 4 Children brigade called out “God bless you.” The Pride-organized supporters answered with “educate, don’t discriminate.”

Pride chair Alan Guinan said, “I think the idea of removing queer ideology from the curriculum in high schools is a very dangerous proposition because it’s been proven that people who are within the queer spectrum have to have some sense of belonging. If you remove it from the education system, I don’t know where else they’re supposed to get it from.

“There’s this idea that there’s this sexualization of children, which is not what education is about, so from our perspective, we’re just here to say that there is a different viewpoint around education of children.”

Guinan added the opposition march seemed to be part of a growing anti-LGBTQ+ movement.

“We’re starting to feel as though there’s other people who have maybe a different agenda, an anti-LGBTQ+ agenda. We really want to ensure that our voices are heard.”

The Trillium Lakelands District School Board’s Carolynne Bull said TLDSB believes in safe and caring school communities.

“It is important that all students, including our youngest students, learn to respect each other’s individuality. Students and staff need to see themselves reflected in the language used in classrooms and in the school,” she said.

“At TLDSB, Positive Space is only one component of the equity and inclusive education strategy. Since 2009, TLDSB has been working on a number of inclusive education initiatives, including religious accommodation, Indigenous rights, sexual orientation, and socio-economic status, to promote a safe and caring school climate for all.”

She shared two pages from the TLDSB website relating the board’s “commitment to equity, inclusion, and well-being for all.”

Communal services key to housing crisis

Mike Baker

September 28, 2023

Haliburton County CAO Mike Rutter believes communal water and sewer systems may be the missing piece to help leaders address the Highlands’ housing woes.

Representatives from Frontenac County explained the potential solution to County council Sept. 13. Staffers Joe Gallivan and Kelly Pender said the plan, which took around seven years to develop, has helped the municipality progress three housing projects they say will bring more than 200 units over the next few years.

Communal services are made up of shared drinking water and wastewater systems, servicing groups of residences and businesses clustered together. Currently, in Haliburton County, most new developments utilize municipal services, in Haliburton and Minden villages, or are on private systems.

“We will never have municipal water and sewer in Frontenac – it’s fiscally impossible for our four small municipalities to afford that kind of project. Just like in Haliburton, our settlement areas are small villages on relatively small lots,” Gallivan said. “Planners have to think 25, 50, 100 years ahead. It’s important we keep our villages sustainable long-term, and to do that we need to significantly add to our housing supply.

“We already knew we couldn’t keep doing what we were doing. We’ve been struggling to attract [investors] to Frontenac County,” he added.

Gallivan said the Ontario government updated its provincial policy statement in 2020, identifying communal servicing as the second most preferred system behind typical municipal services, and ahead of private wells and septics, for new developments.

How it works

Through the program, Frontenac staffers work with developers to identify buildable land. Because single communal systems can be installed at a fraction of the cost of individual units, and don’t take up nearly as much underground real estate, new subdivisions can be created quickly.

“One of the major benefits of this kind of a system in a rural setting is they are very scalable. The developer doesn’t have to build expensive infrastructure for 50 lots at the start of the process anymore – these new systems are almost like Lego blocks.

You can start with a system that can handle five, 10, or 15 lots, and expand on that over time,” he said.

There are environmental benefits too – rather than establishing multiple connections to an underground aquifer, communal systems require a single hook up. In terms of planning, Gallivan said communal services allow municipalities to fit more units on an individual lot – whether within high population areas, such as the villages, or more rural.

“We have situations in Frontenac where we have developments [proposed] in our formal settlement area boundaries around villages, and further away. They stand alone with no integration with existing subdivisions, but with the potential for more units, creating much-needed living spaces for people,” he said.

“There is no rental housing available in Frontenac, so this has been huge for us in helping to build our inventory,” he added, noting he saw no reason why Haliburton County couldn’t replicate the model.

“That’s the best thing about it – it’s very easily transferrable to any other jurisdiction in Ontario,” Gallivan added.

Once systems are installed, developers enter into an agreement with the municipality, stipulating the township will take care of any maintenance. In Frontenac, they are in the process of developing their own utility corporation to take care of any issues. He noted the failure rate of units is around three per cent, and that replacement parts are cheap and can usually be fitted by township staff.

Haliburton ‘fits’ model

Pender, Frontenac’s CAO, said the regional municipality hopes to have 10 new subdivisions, each with communal services, finished by 2033. He believes the benefits will be wide reaching. “This is the answer we’ve been looking for. Kingston is growing… we’re seeing pressures all over our community. We can’t continue developing on two acre lots. All our good lots are gone, the bad lots are difficult to build on, service, and maintain, so this opens up a lot of doors,” Pender said.

Echoing Gallivan, he said if communal systems can work in Frontenac County, they can work in the Highlands.

There probably aren’t two counties in eastern Ontario that are any more similar than Haliburton and Frontenac,” Pender said.

“So, if it fits well with us, I think it can fit well with you, too.”

Homeowners on the new lots in Frontenac will be charged monthly fees, expected to be around $125 a month, for water and wastewater services. “You’re in the same ballpark you’d be in if you needed to pay for new systems and amortize that over 20, 25 years,” Pender added.

Rutter said the most important facet of communal systems is how attractive they make potential build sites to developers.

“Lack of municipal water and wastewater really limits the intensity of development and increases the operating costs for developers… if implemented, this will make development in Haliburton County much more attractive,” he said.

“This could be one way we reduce the barriers that exist when developing housing. Municipalities are generally not developers. We can, however, stimulate the development of housing by allowing cost-effective servicing opportunities like this, reviewing land use approval processes to make it easier to do business in Haliburton County, and ensuring we use servicing systems that effectively protect the natural environment that we treasure. This model seems to check all those boxes.”

Warden Liz Danielsen said she found the presentation “really exciting.

“This offers some food for thought on how we can meet the challenges of housing here, particularly in places like Highlands East and Algonquin Highlands where we don’t have any servicing at all,” she said.

Rutter said he would be circling back to County council before the end of the year to see if there is any desire to pursue the concept.

AH to consider waste options for Hawk Lake

Mike Baker

September 28, 2023

Algonquin Highlands council has committed to taking a deep dive into waste management options for Hawk Lake, two years after shuttering a landfill in the area.

The Hawk Lake waste disposal site was closed at the end of its life in 2021. No new landfill options were announced at the time, with the township opting instead to streamline services at other sites in Dorset, Oxtongue Lake, Maple Lake, and Pine Springs.

That proved a controversial decision. Many residents protested the closure, with council reconsidering its position last winter. During 2023 budget deliberations, council directed staff to investigate options to bring waste management services back to the Hawk Lake community.

At a Sept. 21 meeting, Melissa Murray, the township’s environmental manager, tabled five possibilities for council to consider. She said Peterborough-based consulting firm Cambium Inc. had assisted with the project.

“We’ve gone through a two-stage evaluation process and are looking at all options,” Murray said, noting the estimated start-up costs to establish a new service range from $100,000 to $515,000, with annual operating costs between $40,000 and $110,000. She said all five options could be brought online in the next two to four years.

To determine the appropriate scale of service delivery options, Murray and Heather Dzurko, representing Cambium, looked at past trends at the old Hawk Lake landfill, noting that, in 2019, the last year of statistics before the COVID-19 pandemic, 18 per cent of total waste site traffic township-wide was recorded at Hawk Lake. The pair said, based on previous numbers, around 600 residences would benefit from a renewed service during the summer, with around 230 residences utilizing it during the off-season.

From 2015 to 2021, an average of 11,235 vehicles accessed the Hawk Lake waste disposal site annually. In 2019, almost 16,000 bags of garbage were collected at the site.

The first option, Murray noted, is to open a transfer station at the old Hawk Lake dump location. Bins would be placed to store garbage and recycling until it could be transferred off-site. This proved to be the most expensive option, with design and construction estimated at $500,000, and annual running costs of $60,000.

A second possibility is to develop a stationary collection program. This would see the township purchase a waste collection truck, or contract out the work, to pick up garbage and recycling at specific locations on designated days and times. Costs would vary depending on what council wanted, estimated between $100,000 and $200,000.

Other options included contracting a local business to host containers for the collection of materials, estimated to cost between $50,000 and $100,000 to set up, and $50,000 annually; look for possible community-based sites where bins could be placed in central areas and managed by a cottage association or other like-minded entity, at an estimated running cost of $100,000 to $200,000 per year; or stick with the status quo and make no enhancements to service.

Mayor Liz Danielsen said she felt uneasy designating authority to a community group to collect materials, seemingly ruling out Option 4. Coun. Julia Shortreed said she would be worried about the longevity of a community-led effort.

“Let’s say everything goes gung-ho at the start – great. Then after a couple of years nobody wants to do it, then what?” she asked. Murray admitted there were “several challenges” with that model.

Council spent the most time discussing Option 2, involving stationary vehicles. Danielsen wondered how solid the numbers outlined in the report were, with Dzurko saying they should be treated as estimates only, with an RFP required should council wish to proceed.

Murray noted the District of Muskoka had some success launching a lakeside collection model recently, which offers seasonal and year-round locations for residents to dispose of waste. Danielsen said she’d like to see a breakdown of costs between seasonal and year-round options in Algonquin Highlands.

“We’re not going to make a decision on this today – this is something that would go to projects and priorities [later this year] and be balanced against the other things we have to do,” Danielsen said.

She asked if staff could reach out to Muskoka to see if a representative would be willing to share details about its new program, while also encouraging residents to reach out and state their preferred option.

“This is going to continue on for some time until we land on a solution that, hopefully, will work for everyone,” she added.

New park ‘reflects spirit of Haliburton’

Lisa Gervais

September 28, 2023

Long before the ribbon was cut, the kids christened the new Head Lake Park playground Sept. 23.

As Jereck Stephens took a turn on the zipline, his mom, Valerie, said the new park was “great. I’m excited.”

She said the town was in need of a good children’s playground as the old one was “lackluster. This one’s a lot better.”

The old park was deemed structurally unsound and taken down in June 2022.

The former Dysart et al council saw the need for a new playground, said manager of parks and events, Andrea Mueller, and committed $300,000. The new council continued the project, with the help of a Head Lake Park committee and its robust fundraising, an Ontario Trillium Foundation grant, financial help from Rotary, and in-kind support from Total Site Services.

Coun. Pat Casey said after COVID, it took a bit of time to get the momentum going, but the committee got things rolling again. “Everybody dug in and progressively we made it work.” He said it was a great reflection of the spirit of Haliburton, thinking of an idea and getting it to where it is today.

MPP Laurie Scott commented, “this is a hub of activity. It’s beautiful… Haliburton is a wonderful community and we see the fruits of that today.”

Mueller added, “there were lots of kids who emptied the change out of their pockets, or who had lemonade stands, or who took money out of their piggy banks. We appreciate every single penny that was given towards this project.”

The 9,000 sq. ft. accessible park was a Park N Play Design project, valued at approximately $600,000. The committee raised $150,000; the OTF grant was $150,000, Dysart gave $300,000 and Rotary $50,000.

Urgent care clinic to be full-time

Lisa Gervais

September 28, 2023

The urgent care clinic, at the site of the former emergency department in Minden, is going full-time effective Oct. 3.

Kawartha North Family Health Team (KNFHT) executive director Marina Hodson said the clinic will be open as usual this Saturday, Sept. 30, will close for staff orientation this Sunday, Oct. 1, but reopen next Tuesday, Oct. 3 with the plan for now to be operational 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. seven days a week.

“That’s the plan for now,” Hodson said. “I think we’ll have to play it by ear to see if there’s actually demand seven days a week, especially in the winter.

“We’ll give it a month, maybe two, and see whether the demand is there in the middle of the week. It might not be busy enough and it might make more sense to have extra staff on the weekend and condense the week,” she added.

Hodson said they are able to make the leap from weekends after hiring a full time registered practical nurse (RPN) and a full-time nurse practitioner (NP). They are also currently recruiting for a fulltime administration person. They are also looking for parttime and casual staff for the two days the full-time RPN and NP will be off.

Clinic seeing 25 patients daily

“It’s just people that reached out when they saw the advertising about the openings,” Hodson said. “We had lots of interest, which is really good.”

She noted one of the new staff has had a seasonal residence in the County and is now looking to move to the Highlands full-time.

Since opening June 30, the clinic has only had to close one day due to staff shortages. Hodson advised people to consult their website (knfht.ca) however, before travelling to the clinic, to always ensure it is open.

Hodson said they had been averaging about 25 patients a day, and had seen 650 in total as of last Friday.

“People have seemed to have gotten a pretty good idea of what is appropriate to present with. Two to three people needed to be sent to emerge because it wasn’t appropriate but generally, I think people are understanding,” she said.

She noted the busiest day saw 30 patients, while the Mondays of long weekends have been quieter.

Urgent care clinics are between a walk-in clinic and an emergency department, dealing with things such as minor sprains, bruises, and people needing stitches.

Hodson added the urgent care clinic has to be having a positive impact on volumes at the Haliburton Hospital.

If they didn’t come here, they would have gone there, so it would have had an impact.”

Hodson added she, and her KNFHT, are pleased with the progress they have made to date. She said they actually hired staff quite a while ago but had to wait for them to finish up at other jobs.

“I think we were quite pleased with the quick turnaround. We’re just hiring the admin staff full-time now. That will be the last piece for now.

“At this point what we have is one full-time RPN, one fulltime NP, and then a full-time admin, and then casual staff to offset the two days a week that they’re off.”

Highlands Cinema documentary hits the big screen

Kimberly Strong-Knight

September 28, 2023

Hundreds of Highlanders had the opportunity Sept. 23 to finally see a documentary about Keith Stata and the iconic Highlands Cinema he built in the woods of Kinmount.

Filmmaker Matt Finlin and his crew presented a private screening of The Movie Man this past Saturday.

The documentary chronicles the creation of the movie house, dubbed, “the greatest theatre in the world,” by Ed Robertson of the Barenaked Ladies, who was an executive producer for the project.

Stata said, “I was impressed with how many people came, and how many people I recognized that have been coming over the years.”

As for the film, he joked, “I saw the rough cuts of it, and I like it much better now.”

Stata said since news of the documentary came out, he had a number of people tell him how much the theatre has meant to them.

A short Q and A after the screening introduced the audience to executive producer Finlin, partner at Door Knocker Media, Karen Barzilay, Robertson, and Stata.

A boisterous, and appreciative round of applause welcomed the filmmakers, and the star. Barzilay also announced The Movie Man has been picked up by Mongrel Media film distributors for release across Canada.

Finlin thanked those involved in making the film, and the audience, and said Stata was his inspiration.

“Keith has dedicated his life to providing a special experience to people for generations. In the film, we speak about how time is so important and what we do with it, so thank you, Keith, for giving your time to all of us for all these years.”

Musician: ‘Stata has made our lives richer’

The film goes through the many transformations and additions. It is much more than just a multiplex cinema, but a testament to the passion of the man who built it. All the artifacts, projectors, displays, and memorabilia are memories, Stata said.

The film also explores the uneasiness of COVID and the possibility of not being able to re-open. “I sometimes think, where did all the time go? The struggles to build the theatre, the nights I didn’t have two dimes to rub together, but I was just going to do it and see if hell would freeze over or not, or what would happen next. The theatre is important, I mean I put so much time and so much effort into this place, somehow it has to continue,” said Stata

The audience also got a chance to thank Stata for what he has done for them personally and for the community at large.

Ed Sharp, from CanoeFM, said it was a real pleasure knowing Stata, and the great things he does for the community. “Thank you for being the great person that you are.”

Another said coming to Highlands Cinema from a very young age inspired her to go to film school. She is now in the middle of shooting her first feature-length film. “My love of films and filmmaking comes from this cathedral that you have built.”

Stata spoke about being successful and Robertson summed it up by saying, “what you are talking about is wealth, but you have been enormously successful. You have made the lives of everyone who has ever been here richer. You have created something unique, you created something beautiful. You celebrated the thing you love, and we are all so grateful.”

Learn how to act at Ctrl-ART-Del workshop

Mike Baker

September 21, 2023

Local production company Ctrl-ART-Del is offering the public the chance to peer behind the curtain and learn how to become comfortable performing on stage through a new beginners acting course launching later this week.

The workshop will run for two weekends beginning Sept. 23 and will cover the basics of acting, says Amy Leis, who co-founded the troupe with artistic director Tim Nicholson last winter.

While the original mandate of Ctrl-ART-Del was to bring local talent together to showcase their skills in a variety of works, they have adapted recently to introduce an educational component. That was borne out of Leis’ work with a group of drama students at Haliburton Highlands Secondary School.

“I met many very talented kids that are hungry for more theatre than they can get at school alone. They kept asking me if they could get involved – who am I to say no?” Leis said. “This workshop is part of our effort to make sure people have some level of training before we throw them on stage. I think anybody can act – they just have to figure out the basics. That’s where we come in.”

Leis is an experienced performer, featuring heavily in Highlands Summer Festival productions and K-W Musical Productions performances in Kitchener in recent years. She is a graduate of the George Brown Theatre School in Toronto. Nicholson has years in the industry too, performing professionally in North Bay and Toronto before returning to Haliburton County, where he has become a staple at the Highlands Summer Festival.

Nicholson said he’s excited to run the workshops, which he says will teach people skills they can build on for the rest of their lives.

“What a lot of people don’t realize is that acting is a skilled trade,” he said. “Raw talent exists, but there are technical skills that can and should be taught. Once you have those in your mental toolbox, you can apply them to any role you take on.”

Leis said the workshops will focus heavily on presentation and delivery, with participants challenged to write and perform their own monologue. There will also be “table work”, where everyone will sit and read through an entire play as a group and perform select scenes.

“That’s all about showing people what the start of a rehearsal process is like, what sort of questions they should be asking for character development, and how they go about building a character from the ground up,” Leis said.

The workshop will end with participants helping to craft a series of unique scenes, which will be performed for a live audience at the Haliburton Legion Oct. 15 at 4 p.m.

The end goal is to have a new pool of actors to select from when Ctrl-ART-Del launches its second performing season next spring. In its inaugural year, the group performed one play, Cherubs by British playwright Toby McShane, at the Northern Lights Performing Arts Pavilion last March.

“Our big focus this season is on getting fresh blood onto the stage. If you’ve always wanted to be on stage in Haliburton, we want to meet you,” said Leis, noting the group is planning to run two plays and a cabaret next year. A full schedule will be announced Oct. 15.

Leis said the workshops are a “low stakes, fun, supportive environment” for people looking to pursue acting, whether as a hobby or a career.

The course will run Sept. 23, 24, 30 and Oct. 1 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Minden Lions Hall. Rehearsals will begin Oct. 14 and run through to the live show.

To learn more and register, visit ctrlartdel. ca.

Huskies oust dominant Canadiens in OT

Mike Baker

September 21, 2023

The Haliburton County Huskies laid down a marker to the rest of the OJHL this past weekend, recording dominant wins over the Toronto Junior Canadiens and North York Rangers to move into fourth place in the East Conference standings.

There was a big game feel inside S.G. Nesbitt Memorial Arena Saturday as 514 fans came out to watch the hometown team do battle with the undefeated Canadiens. After a back-and-forth duel in regulation time, Declan Bowmaster potted an overtime winner to hand the visiting side their first loss of the season.

New additions Antonio Cerqua and Izayah Luddington were in the home lineup, taking on their former team following a midweek deal that saw former Husky Will Gourgouvelis move to the Canadiens.

The Huskies made a strong start, with Rhyse Brown, Lucas Vacca, and Lucas Marshall each testing Sergei Litvinov in the visiting goal with some early pot shots. The pressure paid off when, three minutes in, Vacca sniped the puck high over Litvinov’s shoulder with a shot from the boards, assisted by Luddington.

The home fans were still celebrating when, 25 seconds later, Lucas Stevenson made it a two-goal game, pouncing on a loose puck in front of the goal after Litvinov had denied Ian Phillips and then Jack Staniland.

It was one-way traffic for much of the rest of the period, as the Huskies chased a third goal. Winger Johnathan Mead had a great chance to extend the lead after eight minutes but could only find Litvinov’s glove after barreling down on goal. Phillips, Luddington, and captain Patrick Saini also went close.

The momentum shifted after Cerqua was sent to the box for slashing a Canadiens forward. The visiting team scored on the powerplay, Brenden Anderson beating Vlad Visan on a rebound after the young goaltender had done well to stop a Boris Kofman shot.

The Huskies ended the period with 16 shots, to the Canadiens’ eight.

It was a different story to start the second, with the visiting team taking control. Chris Soares tied the game two minutes in, assisted by Luka Graziano, and Evan Malkhassian completed a remarkable turnaround 90 seconds later, firing high over a prone Visan, who had done well to save earlier efforts from Evan’s twin, Luc, and John McKinney.

Stevenson hit the outside of the post after skating into the crease midway through the period, with Cerqua denied after a net-front scramble minutes later. A nice give-andgo between Saini and Ty Petrou with the seconds ticking away presented an excellent chance for the Huskies captain to send the teams in tied at the end of the second, but he was robbed by an outstretched glove from Litvinov.

The crowd came alive to start the third, cheering the Huskies on. They got an instant response, with the home side retaking control of the game. Litvinov made a series of spectacular saves before Phillips bested him at 16:29, assisted by Saini and Petrou.

There looked to be only one winner in the extra frame, with the home side tilting the ice. Bowmaster was the eventual hero, scoring unassisted after almost three minutes of play.

Win on the road

The Huskies roared to a huge 5-1 win away against the North York Rangers Sept. 17

Bowmaster was on the scoresheet again, tallying the game’s first goal with 14:21 played, assisted by Saini. Marshall added a shorthanded goal a couple of minutes later, set up by Gavin McGahey-Smith. Cian Noble responded for the home team, firing past Logan Kennedy at 17:24 of the opening period to get the Rangers on the board.

Phillips added a powerplay goal three minutes into the second, with Marshall doubling his personal tally five minutes later. Saini completed the scoring 14:53 into the third, assisted by Hunter Martell and Mead.

The Huskies are back in action tonight (Sept. 21) on the road against the Stouffville Spirit and will host the Aurora Tigers Saturday (Sept. 23). Puck drop in Minden is set for 4 p.m.

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