Birds, Eagles in home nests
Soo Thunderbirds of the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League and Soo Eagles of the North American Hockey League both have home games tonight.
THUNDERBIRDS
The T-Birds, who lead the nine-team NOJHL with 78 points from a record of 36-6-6, are poised to clinch first place with four games to go in the regular season.
Sudbury Nickel Barons will provide the opposition for the T-Birds tonight in a game that is slated to begin at 7:30 at John Rhodes Community Centre.
Nic Tassone leads the T-Birds in scoring with 30 goals, 35 assists, 65 points. Fellow forward Jaren Bellini is next with 31 goals, 26 assists, 57 points.
EAGLES
A point from a 3-2 shootout loss to the visiting Springfield Jr. Blues on Friday has kept the Eagles in sole possession of second place in the NAHL’s North Division.
With a record of 27-21-2, the Eagles have 56 points, one more than the third-place Keystone Ice Miners.
Trevor Cope and Leo Lumm scored for the Eagles in front of a Friday night crowd of 699 at Pullar Stadium.
And goalie Chad Catt had another strong outing for the Eagles with 33 saves. Catt has a record of 5-0-1 with a 1.62 goals against average and .946 save percentage since being acquired by the Eagles from the Aberdeen Wings at the February 6 NAHL trade deadline.
The Eagles are home to Springfield again tonight in a slated 7 p.m. start at the Pullar.
Spunky forward Mitch Vanderburg will return to the Eagles lineup tonight after serving a two-game league suspension for spearing.
Vanderburg is third on the Eagles in scoring with 19 goals, 20 assists, 39 points.