Eagles “looking forward” to series
Soo Eagles finished 49 points behind the Soo Thunderbirds and lost 10 of 12 games to the regular-season champs but the two teams start even as their best-of-seven Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League playoff series begins tonight at 7:30 at the Essar Centre.
And even though the Michigan Soo is the decided underdog, Eagles co-coach/general manager Bruno Bragagnolo said his team is “looking forward” to playing a Thunderbirds club that topped the NOJHL standings with 95 points.
“The boys are pumped to play the Thunderbirds,” Bragagnolo said evenly. “It’s been that way all season…we look forward to the challenge of playing a team that was ranked no. 1 in Canada during the season.
“We may not have had a lot of success against them in terms of winning games but we played some of our best hockey during the regular season against the Thunderbirds,” Bragagnolo said of his Eagles, who finished in fourth place in the West Division and eighth overall in the 12-team NOJHL with 46 points in 54 games.
It’ll be a great series. However, the numbers aren’t with the Soo Eagles on this one.
I believe the teams played 12 times. The Eagles were outscored 45-20 and had a season record of 2 wins – 10 losses versus the Thunderbirds. On the bright side of those 2 wins, they did come in the later stages of the season. Perhaps the Eagles “hit their stride” at the right time and can steal a few games off of the T-Birds. It’ll be tough, but it can be done.
Should be a great series to follow!