Carrot River Outback Thunder's Tuffs could be high-end PJHL player

Tobin Lake’s Connor Tuffs is glad he joined the Carrot River Outback Thunder this season.

The son of Sean and Laurie had not been playing hockey with anyone else when he opted to start suiting up for the Outback Thunder in late October. Tuffs started last season with the Regina Pat Canadians midget AAA squad but after dealing with a concussion, played for the North East midget AA team.

“The best part about playing [with the] Thunder is that I’ve played with most of these guys before and I really enjoy doing so,” he said. “It’s a comfortable environment.”

Last week the Carrot River team went 1-2. The Outback Thunder lost 8-1 in Kinistino to the Prairie Junior Hockey League-leading Saskatoon Quakers last Wednesday. The team romped past the Prince Albert Titans, 7-1, on the road on Friday and fell to Fort Knox, 4-2, at home on Saturday.

This week the Outback Thunder wraps up the 2017 portion of its schedule. It plays in the Saskatoon Royals on the road on Friday and hosts the West Central Rage in Carrot River on Saturday. After that, the team, now 10-9-5, on the season is off until Jan. 5. They play at the Quakers on that day and then host the Titans on Jan. 6.

The Outback Thunder are pleased to have Tuffs. The 5-foot-11, 185-pound forward has five goals and nine points in 14 games.

“Connor has the potential to be a really high-end player in this league and he expects to be,” said Trevor Logan, Carrot River’s head coach. “He has definitely shown signs of finding his way as of late and, when he does, expect him to roll.”

Tuffs has helped the Outback Thunder’s on ice play as well as the team’s chemistry.

“I think Connor’s biggest attribute is his ability to merge seamlessly throughout the groups in our room and bring everyone together,” Logan said. “Every room has moments where cliques form. To have a guy that just makes everyone laugh and feel comfortable as one big group that is a skill that can’t be taught and is unmeasurable.”

Tuffs is commuting to play the Outback Thunder. The 18-year-old is studying education at the University of Regina.

Quakers 8, Outback Thunder 1

On Dec. 13, the host Quakers held a 1-0 lead after the first period. They had five goals in the second period to take control of the game.

Nick Peterson had Carrot River’s goal. Kolton Holmen started in net for the Outback Thunder and made 19 saves on 25 shots. Recently acquired Tyson Byman made his on-ice debut and stopped five of the seven shots he saw.

Outback Thunder 7, Titans 1

Newcomer Cody Chasse was huge in his second game with the team on Dec. 15. He scored a hat trick and recorded five points on the night.

“Cody, [Kyle] Njaa, and [Justin] Cay had a really solid game,” Logan said. “I can’t really say it was instant chemistry as they played North East together, but they just seemed to click in P.A.  Cody has always had a knack for scoring goals and it was good to see him step in and get rolling right away.”

The Carrot River team scored multiple goals in the last two periods to earn a 7-1 road victory. The Outback Thunder led 2-1 after the first period. The team scored two goals in the second session and three in the third.

Colton Halvorson and Njaa each scored twice for the Outback Thunder. Njaa and Justin Cay had four points each. Layne Cay recorded three assists.

In his first start for the Outback Thunder, Byman made 16 saves on 17 shots to earn his first PJHL victory. La Ronge’s Alex Bell backed him up as an affiliated player.

Fort Knox 4, Outback Thunder 2

The Outback Thunder attempted a comeback on Dec. 16, but were unable to get past Fort Knox. The visitors, led by former Thunder head coach Randy Cuthill, took a 3-0 lead in the first period. Neither team scored in the second period. Njaa scored with less than a minute gone by in the third period to get Carrot River on the board. A Halvorson goal pulled the team to within one, 3-2, with just over nine minutes remaining, but Fort Knox scored a minute later. Holmen turned  away 43 of the 46 shots he faced.

“On Saturday, we took way too many selfish, undisciplined penalties to expect to win a game,” Logan said. “They came in with a plan to get under a few guys’ skin and we took the bait.”