Beavers take broom to Birds

Staring adversity straight in the chops, Blind River Beavers pulled out a stunning 5-4 victory over the Soo Thunderbirds today to complete a weekend sweep of their Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League cohort rivals.

Playing with only three defensemen, the Beavers nonetheless overcame 3-1 and 4-3 deficits to score at 18:52 and 19:03 of the third period to take home the improbable victory from the visitors.

Today’s win followed a 4-1 triumph on Saturday to complete a weekend sweep by Blind River of the Soo.

The Beavers now have a record of 7-6-1 through 14 games while the Thunderbirds have a mark of 8-5-1 in the same number of outings.

Forward Thomas Michaud, a recent acquisition by Blind River from the Leamington Flyers of the Greater Ontario Jr. Hockey League, scored both the tie goal and the winning marker to lift the Beavers past the Birds in today’s tilt. The 20-year old Michaud now has four goals, three assists, seven points in four games for the Beavers.

Forward Nick Jameus chipped in with two assists for the Beavers and fellow Sault Ste. Marie product Gavin Disano improved his record to 5-1-1 on the season to record the net win between the pipes for Blind River.

Low on defensemen, Beavers coach Kyle Brick moved forwards Jacob Kelly and Justin Mauro to the blue line.

“It was a great team effort, a remarkable comeback … and I want to mention Kelly and Mauro for putting the team first and playing defense for us,” Brick told Hockey News North.

“I love the way we came through as a team,” added Brick.

Cooper Smyl had a pair of goals to spark the Soo. The hard skating forward now has 12 goals in 14 games for the Thunderbirds.