Hearst overcomes Soo
Back-to-back home ice victories have given the no. 2 seed Hearst Lumberjacks a three games to one lead on the no. 1 seed Soo Thunderbirds in the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League championship series.
The Lumberjacks overcame 2-0 and 3-1 deficits to upend the Thunderbirds 5-3 tonight before 972 fans at Claude Larose Arena.
The night before, Hearst had taken Game 3 by a 3-2 score.
The Soo won the opener of the best-of-seven championship set with a 3-2 home-ice victory before Hearst rebounded to tie the series with a 7-3 road triumph.
Game 5 in the series is slated for the Soo on Saturday night.
PHOTO: Hearst forward Dawson Waddell and Soo Thunderbirds defenseman Steven Bellini in NOJHL championship series action.
Please do not crop or alter the pictures.
If you’re gonna cut out the watermark, please
give the credit to the photographer.
With all due respect, photos are taken from NOJHL.com. Having said that, provide me with the photo credit moniker and I will gladly apply it to the cutline.
It is for this reason I think the Eastern side should play the Western side more. Travel is certainly an issue, the NOJHL covers a huge area. I watched one game the T-Birds played in K.L. and watch their progress through the regular season. Is it me or do the T-Birds just not play Eastern teams that well? This year especially the East had a “to the last game” log jam for first place. Meanwhile the T-Birds sailed off easily in front winning so many games that the 2nd place team in the West tied the 5th place team in the East. It would appear the T-Birds could stand to challenge better competition than their group. I welcome their appearances and put getting a ticket to a T-Bird game high on my list. Them getting a bit more exposure to the Hwy 11 game might benefit the league at the gate, and them for playing more challenging teams.
I called for Hearst to win it , I had hoped to see it in four. Hearst is genetically predisposed to having good Hockey. Losing the Eskimos to my neighbors in Hearst was like sending them to a “better place” and not without some regret. Since they started generating excitement in Hearst it is obvious the Lumberjacks aren’t going anywhere now. It is a thing of beauty to see a whole section full of fans at a playoff game in Timmins . The next game not to be outdone there was a busload of Timmins fans going to the game in Hearst. Who loses there? The bigger picture is this industry has spread into communities and lit up arenas that were dark or didn’t exist. Hearst is another jewel in the Hwy 11 crown of small towns that support great Hockey.
T-birds dominate at home which is surprising having the lowest attendance in the league. Only two teams in the past two seasons have beat them more than once at the Rhodes. I have never figured that out.