PORTAGE LA PRAIRIE, Man -- The Kam River Fighting Walleye were playing with heavy hearts on Sunday, but managed to stand tall after learning of the death of former teammate Dayton Clarke.
Clarke was killed after being struck by a truck in Eugene, Ore. over the weekend.
It wasn't quite enough to find the win column for the first time at the Centennial Cup, but given the circumstances, a 5-2 defeat at the hands of the Manitoba Junior Hockey League champion Steinbach Pistons felt like a victory nonetheless.
Superior International Junior Hockey League defenceman of the year Jack Cook and forward Ethan Lang had the goals for the Fighting Walleye, who fell to 0-3-0 at the national Junior A championship.
Kirk Mullen, who opened the scoring at the 5:07 mark of the first, Brett Kaiser, Landon Roberts, Ty Paisley and Ian Amsbaugh scored for Steinbach, the Pistons going 2-for-6 on the power play to improve to 1-1-1 at the event.
Kam River, who lost 12-2 to the host Portage Terriers on Saturday night and have been eliminated from title contention, will take on Collingwood on Tuesday in their Centennial Cup finale.
