U18 Hounds clip U16 Caps
It was more of the same today as the Soo Under 18 Greyhounds faced off against the visiting Sudbury Under 16 Nickel Capitals in the second game of a Great North Under 18 Hockey League weekend series.
As was the case in the first game of the two game set, the older, more experienced U18 Hounds were the better team — as they should be — than the U16 Nickel Capitals. And as was the case in the weekend opener, the U16 Nickel Capitals again got exceptional goaltending in being outshot, this time from Nick Marson. And once again, the home side U18 Hounds got the benefit of some one-sided refereeing from the home town whistle blowers in skating to a 5-1 victory.
As if it wasn’t enough that Sudbury was assessed eight minor penalties to just two for the Soo, the local referees looked the other way more than once at what appeared to be glaring penalty infractions by the U18 Hounds.
Oh well. The better team, with a little help from the refs, were the worthy winners.
Hustling second-year forward Cole Cond paced the U18 Hounds attack with two goals while solo markers were recorded by Brendan Cooke, Hudson Chitaroni and standout defenseman Candon O’Neill. Anthony Bertrand scored the only goal for the visitors from Sudbury.
The U16 Nickel Capitals had at least three two-on-one breakaways. And not only did they fail to score, they failed to get a shot on net after converting the pass. The lack of luck around the net was not lost on U16 Nickel Capitals head coach Jordan Cheechoo.
“Earlier in the year we were getting the bounces,” Cheechoo relayed to Hockey News North. “Lately the puck hasn’t been bouncing our way. That’s the way it goes, though. We just have to keep working hard. We have a great group of kids.”
The U18 Hounds now have a record of 18-2-0 atop the GNU18HL standings while the U16 Nickel Capitals are at the .500 mark with a 9-9-1 showing.
There was plenty of close-up activity as the Soo Under 18 Greyhounds played host to the Sudbury Under 16 Nickel Capitals at John Rhodes Community Centre. (photos by Bob Davies)