Back on the hockey beat

By Randy Russon
March 15, 2016
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After spending parts of five days in Ottawa at the Tim Hortons Brier, Canadian men’s curling championships, I am back home on the hockey beat.

Ottawa may be a hockey town as home to the 67s of the Ontario Hockey League and the Senators of the National Hockey League but it did itself proud on the Canadian curling stage as TD Place hosted the nation’s best in resounding fashion at the annual Brier.

But the curling party is over and it’s back to the hockey beat for this beer-drenched, Brier-patched scribe as I peruse a desk full of notes and messages.

BORDER BATTLE LOOMS

They finished 50 points apart during the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League regular season but the first-place Soo Thunderbirds and fourth-place Soo Eagles are all even as they prepare for their best-of-seven, West Division playoff series.

Even the fact that the Thunderbirds took 10 of 12 regular-season games from the Eagles means nothing now as the cross-border foes face off in the playoff set.

But what does mean something is that there is no denying that the Thunderbirds have a more-skilled, more-experienced, all-around deeper team than the Eagles.

Will that be enough to carry the Thunderbirds to a series-win over the Eagles?

It should be.

The Eagles have shown that they can beat the Thunderbirds, though two wins in 12 regular-season tries is hardly cause for any level of bragging and boasting on the part of the Michigan Soo crew.

If there is one advantage the Eagles have over the Thunderbirds it’s the home-ice crowd at Pullar Stadium.

The Eagles led the NOJHL in attendance during the regular season, well ahead of the Thunderbirds.

But the Thunderbirds do play well at the Pullar and besides, a good number of fans from the Canadian side of the International Bridge have been known to head across the St. Mary’s River to watch the games.

The act of predicting is better left to weather forecasters but I can’t resist the temptation to say what I think is going to happen when the blood boils and the harsh words and insults are exchanged and the border battle subsides for another season.

I do think the Eagles are going to beat the Thunderbirds.

Once. Maybe even twice.

But not four times.

The Eagles are a good team with above-average skaters led by the likes of forwards Roman Gaudet, Reed Gregory, Gord Helmuth, Evan Ketner, Chris Murphy and Jake Palmerio and defensemen Alex DiBacco and Zack Parrott.

But the Thunderbirds are a very-good team with 13 skaters who scored 10 goals or more during the regular season and a shutdown system that is methodically manned by older forwards such as Jaren Bellini, Joey Miller, Matt Pinder, Nathan Hebert, Brett Jeffries and Matt Mitchell and been-around-the-block defensemen Michael Caruso, Aiden Salerno and Brandon Grandinetti.

My thinking is that the Thunderbirds win the series in five games.

PHOTO: Derek Schrank of the Soo Eagles and Joey Miller of the Soo Thunderbirds, in NOJHL regular-season action between the two teams. (Photo by Jim Egan.)