THUNDER BAY – Keighan Gerrie recently got a taste of what university hockey life was like.
The Thunder Bay North Stars forward missed his team’s most recent game, instead traveling to Ohio for a recruiting visit to Bowling Green University, the 11th-ranked Division 1 team in the NCAA this season.
He made up for his absence, inspired by the close-up view he got to the college game, scoring a hat trick on Wednesday night to spark a listless North Stars squad past the visiting Fort Frances Lakers 6-3.
The second-time all-star leads the Superior International Junior Hockey League in points with 38, is third in goals with 18 and showed why several NCAA teams – not just Bowling Green – are lining up to court the Thunder Bay native.
He didn’t disappoint in his return to the lineup at Fort William Gardens.
Gerrie absolutely undressed Fort Frances goaltender Jacob Gnidziejo on his first goal of the night, parting a sea of Lakers defenders before making a nasty head fake in one direction, sliding his stick in the other, leaving him a wide-open net, tying the game 2-2.
He went five-hole on Gnidziejo five minutes into the third to up the Thunder Bay lead to 4-2, then fired a simple wrist shot past the beleaguered netminder to complete the hat trick just past the midway point of the final stanza.
His confidence is at an all-time high after the recruiting trip, Gerrie said.
“For sure, it was a really fun experience, seeing everything, being around the guys and watching that live hockey,” he said. “That’s where you want to be, so you’ve got to push yourself. It made me realize we haven’t really been in our groove, but today I think we picked it up a bit and we’ve got our mojo back a little bit.”
Thunder Bay coach Rob DeGagne has long said Gerrie is a special player.
He needed him to step up against the Lakers, who slipped below .500 to 9-10-0 with the loss, but are a team that has consistently been in all four games they’ve played against the North Stars (17-1-1), the third-ranked team in the Canadian Junior Hockey League.
The interest can only serve to spur Gerrie to get better, DeGagne said.
“I think it opens his eyes to what’s out there for him moving forward,” DeGagne said of the opportunity presented to his top forward, the SIJHL rookie of the year last season and a 12th-round draft pick of the London Knights in 2017.
“I think it gives him a boost because he’s here to get to where he wants to get to, eventually. He knows he can get there. There are lots of teams that are looking for him and there are other suitors for him. He’s the kind of kid that the sky is the limit for him.”
While the North Stars were waiting for Gerrie’s offensive touch to get rolling, it was Brock Aiken who was stealing the show between the pipes.
Aiken, splitting duties with Dougie Newhouse, made 40 stops on the night, frustrating the Fort Frances attack at nearly every stride.
The Lakers Jaedin Ness struck first, beating Aiken at 4:22 of the first. Ryan Mignault, who leads the Stars with 19 goals, tied things up two minutes later and the teams were tied 1-1 after one. Noah Loveday gave the visitors the lead again on the power play, five minutes into the second, but Gerrie knotted the game 97 seconds later. The Stars took the lead for good on Alex Erwin’s first of two on the night, a give-and-go play with linemate Jacob Anttonen that Gnidziejo had no chance to stop.
Gerrie would add two more in the third, Erwin picking up his second of the night to put the game away. Colton Bodnar scored for Fort Frances.
Star gazing: The game marked the return of Thunder Bay forward Avery Siau to the lineup after serving a 25-game suspension for punching Dryden coach Kurt Walsten last season. He did not factor on the score sheet.
FIRST PERIOD
Scoring: 1. Fort Frances, Ness 6 (Lucas) 4:25. 2. Thunder Bay, Mignault 19 (Auger) 6:32. Penalties: B. Hahkala FF (interference) 8:28, Anttonen TB (interference) 11:42, B. Hahkala FF (tripping) 12:40, B. Erwin TB (high sticking) 15:58, Halushak TB (tripping) 17:25,
SECOND PERIOD
Scoring: 3. Fort Frances, Loveday 3 (Flett, Coppock) 4:59 pp. 4. Thunder Bay, Gerrie 16 (Mignault) 6:36. 5. Thunder Bay, A. Erwin 8 (Anttonen, B. Erwin) 18:16. Penalties: Brassard TB (hooking) 3:08, Robideau FF (tripping) 8:34, Brassard TB (slashing) 15:13.
THIRD PERIOD.
Scoring: 6. Thunder Bay, Gerrie 17 (Halushak, Willan) 5:06. 7. Fort Frances, Bodnar 4 (B. Hahkala, Ness) 8:10 pp. 8. Thunder Bay, Gerrie 18 (Willan, Mignault) 11:58. 9. Thunder Bay, A. Erwin 9 (B. Erwin, Brassard) 12:56. Penalties: Bobyk FF (roughing), Anttonen TB (holding) 5:31, Nicholas TB (interference) 8:00, Gerrie TB (goaltender interference) 15:46, McCollum TB (roughing) 18:54.
GAME DATA – SOG – Fort Frances 14-15-14-43, Thunder Bay 11-10-13-34; Power plays (goals-chances) – Fort Frances (2-8), Thunder Bay (0-3), Goaltenders – Fort Frances: Jacob Gnidziejo, Thunder Bay: Brock Aiken; A: N/A.
