‘IFK’ ready for Lakers’ home-opener

After playing their home pre-season games in the ’52 Canadians Arena, the Fort Frances Lakers will hold their regular-season home-opener back in the friendly confines of the Ice For Kids Arena.
With a new ice plant “chiller” being installed last week, it was expected that today’s 7:30 p.m. clash between the Lakers and Minnesota Wilderness would be held in the ’52 Canadians Arena as the Ice For Kids surface was not expected to be ready until Sunday.

But the process went much quicker than initially anticipated.
“We put in a lot of 16-hour shifts to make sure that we were on schedule with the ice surface,” noted Community Services manager Jason Kabel.
“Everything came together nicely, and we have enough ice in there to have a game of junior hockey,” he enthused.
In other news, the Lakers and Sunset Country Ford will team up on Monday in a fundraising event in support of the local squad.
Billed as “Drive One for the Community,” one person from each household in the district over the age of 18 will be able to test drive a vehicle from 8 a.m.-6 p.m., with Ford Canada and Sunset Country Ford donating $20 for each test driver.
“If we have something in the neighbourhood of 300 drivers during the day, then the maximum amount of money that will be raised will come in at $6,000,” noted Lakers’ head coach and general manager Wayne Strachan.
“I had heard of this event through Dryden minor hockey, and I approached [Sunset Country Ford owner] Nick Beyak about having it here, so we are pretty exciting about doing it,” Strachan added.
Sunset Country Ford also is looking forward to taking part as it will mark the first time the local dealership has hosted a “Drive One for the Community” event.
“There will be a little bit of a learning curve for us, but hopefully we can help to raise a bunch of money for the hockey club,” said operations manager Terry Mueller.