When he came back , we just fit together . The chemistry was great and it gets better every time we play
MANITOBA KEYSTONE MAJOR JR . B HOCKEY JUNIOR LEAGUE HOCKEY LEAGUE
part of the Warriors first line . Magne and Hunter play on a line with rightwinger Elmar Tabler while their former linemate Dustin Wiebe has moved onto a line with Jessi Freund and Jared
Hunter . Five of those six players are in the Top 25 of KJHL scoring . “ Yeah , we have a new line this year ,” said Hunter . “ We weren ’ t producing as much so you have to shake things up . But our second line is really good .
It ’ s like we have two first lines and our third line is like a second line . We have lots of skill and plenty of speed .” And because they have lots of skill , Hunter is convinced this team has a chance to win it all .
“ Oh yeah , if we just come out and play hard , we can beat any team in this league ,” said Hunter . “ This team is good because most of us are close friends . We ’ ve played a few years together and we hang out together . There is a lot of chemistry on this team . I really love playing with these guys because we know each other and we all know where we going to be on the ice .” The line of Hunter , Magne and Tabler could be the fastest trio in the league . As far as head coach Ralph Collette is concerned , this year ’ s Warriors are all about speed .
“ You know they say speed skills and our speed has certainly hurt our opponents ,” said Collette . “ Hunter and Magne are just amazingly fast . Last year , we might , at times , have been a one-line team , but we are definitely not a one-line team this year . Speed never takes a day off and our Top line and our second and third lines are success- 32 GAME ON 2016 - 17 ROSTER DEADLINE EDITION
ful because they have speed .” Magne loves this year ’ s team for many reasons , but a lot of it has to do with his near-lifelong relationship with Hunter . “ We work well together ,” said Magne , the Warriors captain . “ We have a good friendship . We communicate with each other really well and we have a bit of history . “ Riley and I grew up together in St . Malo . We ’ ve played hockey together for most of our lives . While I played here for a couple of years , Riley went to the Grunthal Red Wings ( Hanover Tache Jr . C Hockey League ). When he came back , we just fit together . The chemistry was great and it gets better every time we play .” The night we spoke to Hunter and Magne , the Warriors blasted the Fisher River Hawks 16-8 . They outshot the Hawks 63-33 and while Magne had three goals and an assist , Hunter had two goals and five assists and Tabler had a goal and four assists .
However , while the Magne-R . Hunter- Tabler line had six goals and 16 points , the No . 2 line , Freund-J . Hunter-Wiebe had four goals and 15 points . When a team gets 31 points in a game from its first two lines , it is a team with balance . “ It ’ s special having players like Riley and Jared because I ’ ve had them for four or five years and they are just committed to our team and to what we ’ re trying to accomplish ,” said Coach Collette . “ Speed is such an asset in junior hockey and they work so well together . “ I think these guys realize it ’ s their last year and we ’ re not here to have a good year , we ’ re here to win . Riley and Jared are both 21 , it ’ s their final year of junior hockey and they ’ re going to be very disappointed if we don ’ t win it all this year . We ’ re good enough , we have skill and speed and the goal is definitely to win it all .” n
When he came back , we just fit together . The chemistry was great and it gets better every time we play