Crunch time for Thunderbirds
It’s a sure sign of spring.
Soo Thunderbirds are off to the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League championship series for the fourth successive season.
Playing at home on Saturday, the Thunderbirds blanked the Elliot Lake Wildcats 6-0 to take the best-of-seven, semi-final playoff series in five games.
Rookie forwards Matt Caruso and Nic Sicoly, along with Joey Miller, Anthony Miller, Matt Busby and future Lake Superior State University Lakers defenceman Owen Headrick all found range for the Thunderbirds in support of the 19-save shutout by Brian Kment.
With the win, the Jordan Smith-coached, Kevin Cain-managed Thunderbirds will take on the Cochrane Crunch in a best-of-seven series for the NOJHL championship.
The Thunderbirds won the NOJHL title in 2011-2012 before losing in the finals to the erstwhile North Bay Trappers in 2012-2013 and the Kirkland Lake Gold Miners in 2013-2014.
Hey Randy home come you did not put Ryan Leonards name as Coach/GM of the Crunch. ???
Captain Crunch,
You just did. Thanks.
I hope that the Soo shut Cochrane Coach’s big mouth . . . . So obnoxious .
hey NBT you can chirp all u want to but Leonard has got the Crunch to the Final Series.
TBirds will take this in 6 Games Imho.
Cochrane is no where near as good as EL and they took them in 5 with 2 shut outs.
If Cochrane wins a game, I’d be surprised but ya never know with the officiating up there.
I agree that be surprised if croches win a game. Cochrane has one real good line, a good second one, everything else is average.
Soo have maybe an average goalie. They impress me much more than croch when I see them play.
Soo in four straight. Coach Smith far too sharp not to notice neither Gratton nor Cordeiro have any interest on defence, and will exploit their cherry-picking weakness all series long. In fact, nobody in the east plays defence, all too concerned with their stats. Soo are a fantastic TEAM, front to back. They will represent NOJHL very well at Dudley-Hewitt.
Just wanted to congratulate the elliot lake wildcats , their coaching staff, and their fans for a great season. GM and coach did a wonderful job. I think they have something special to build on for years to come. It was great to see so many fans from elliot lake making the trip to the soo to watch their beloved wildcats. You all should take a bow. kudos
It wasn’t over until the fat lady sang…..
And the EL fan in red with the foul mouth…..she sang plenty.