There is joy in Iroquois Falls
David beat Goliath on Wednesday in the initial showdown of a steamy northeastern Ontario rivalry.
Showing true David spirit by overcoming two-goal deficits on four occasions, the small-town Iroquois Falls Eskis upended the visiting, big-town Timmins Rock 8-6 before more than 600 fans.
It was the first win of the young Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League season for Iroquois Falls, which was cuffed 7-1 and 11-2 by the Cochrane Crunch in two previous outings.
Timmins, which also has a record of 1-2, now faces the daunting task of having to scoot off to play three road games in as many days — Friday against the Soo Thunderbirds, Saturday versus the Soo Eagles and Sunday against the Espanola Express.
Back to Wednesday’s game, forward Brett Ouderkirk was the man of the hour for Iroquois Falls in the triumph over Timmins. Ouderkirk capped the frantic Eskis comeback with three goals and three assists.
It was also a night to remember for homegrown Iroquois Falls players Kezmin Madden and Joshua Dejulio, who were acquired by the Eskis in an off-season trade with the Rock.
Madden, a second-year forward, scored a goal while his childhood buddy Dejulio potted a pair of assists from his blueline post.
Eskis coach Corey Bricknell had happy words for the Timmins Daily Press in a post-game interview.
“For the community, this means a lot,” said the first-year NOJHL bench boss.
“It also means a lot for me that we finally got a win. We have been working hard. Our coaching staff has been working hard. Our players have been working hard.
“The scores of our first two games didn’t really reflect what our team is, so it is nice to see we finally got some bounces and stuff like that,” offered Bricknell.
Timmins coach-general manager Paul Gagne — an Iroquois Falls native and long-time former coach of his hometown team — gave kudos to the victorious Eskis.
“You know what, good for them,” said Gagne. “They took a beating the last two games and in this one they showed a lot of character. They came back. They were down three or four times by two goals, so kudos to them. They did a great job.”
PHOTO: Local product Kezmin Madden scored a goal for the Iroquois Falls in its 8-6 win over Timmins on Wednesday. (Photo by Timmins Daily Press.)
Igloo was ROCKING last night ………. !!!!!!!!!!
way to go Boys !!!!!!!!!!
Good to see. Good job RR.
One Win dose NOT give the Eskimos the Stanley Cup for crying out loud!
No but it was a SWEET WIN
There is more to come Timmins Rock … Go Eskis Go
Puh-leeeeeeeese !!! you hay-seeds !!! LOL just wait til the Rock crush the Eskies when we get you at the Mac in a week!!!
5 for 7 on the PP…….anyone comprehending the PK in Rockland these days?
Seriusly Brenda get a friggin life.
i think both teams need to work on defence considering the shot on goal were around 106!
Both teams will struggle all year. It will be interesting to see which fans bale on their team first. That is the true testament to hockey fans , will they come and watch if their team is consistently losing. Good luck to both franchises as i think they will need it.
hockey critic: which fans will bale first you ask? Look at the history! We never “lost” our team because of poor fan support like timmins has in the past!!!!! Iroquois falls fans are TRUE fans and are there through thick and thin.
hockey critic,
You might want to check a few facts when it comes to Iroquois Falls, which led the NOJHL in attendance in 2014-2015.
Can you imagine someone from Timmins calling anyone else a “hayseed”?
If there was a game to win this season , it was that one !!
The shot clock is a total joke & it shouldn`t be , it might reflect on the team performance defensively & offensively but it`s also an inaccurate goaltender stat.
I don`t know how it is in other rinks but here at the Igloo someone is trigger happy.
It would be a Black Mark on the Timmins Rock organization if they did not win it all being one of the only if not the only team to not charge their players to play and at the same time looking after the players Room & Board.
Eskis volunteers can stand up and take a Bow for what they attain with very little to work with, so Brenda N before you call them Hay-seeds look at yourself in the Mirror.
“Hayseed”! What a degrading thing to call anyone! Is this what people from Timmins have resorted to since gaining your own team? It is one thing to have a healthy competition between teams but fan bashing is uncalled for. People from IF are dedicated fans and we appreciate the hard work that was done to ensure we have a team here! It certainly wasn’t “hayseeders” who accomplished such thing in the short time given them to do it. Again, we didn’t loose our team due to poor fan support, it was whipped out from under our feet by the former eski organization who now operate the rock!
While searching through old newspapers in the Timmins Museum to find out more about my dad’s hockey days in the 30’s and 40’s in the Northland it became evident to me that hockey was a big deal. Whole trainloads of fans would descend upon communities to cheer on their teams, crowded arenas filled with smoke and fans focussed on that sacred half acre of ice.
When I see the chatter here it tells me that it is about time that kind of talk started again, any line drawn in the sand with respect to a sport is music to my ears.
How many Pee Wee aged players are going to see good hockey with all the pomp and ceremony of the “Big Time” game? Many more now I’d say and some of them will be homeboys that make the fans just a bit more adoring. This Hwy 11 Corridor is a hockey factory, we make hockey players that pop up everywhere there is a rink with lines. It makes sense that all these teams are popping up to play and give our Junior aged players some choices after Midget Hockey For guys like me that consider this game “Nighttime Drama” it is the best choice on a Saturday Night or any Night. Personally I love the chirping I am seeing, the words wouldn’t be said if they didn’t care.
Any relation with Peachy ….. Brenda.N ?????????