T-Birds clinch second place

BLIND RIVER -- The Soo Thunderbirds may have ended their three-game road trip here on a sour note but two wins to open the swing secured second spot for the locals in the Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League standings.

Following an 8-4 win against Manitoulin on Friday, the Thunderbirds edged the Abitibi Eskimos 5-4 before taking a 7-1 thumping from the Blind River Beavers on Sunday afternoon.

Saturday's win in Iroquois Falls gave the Thunderbirds second place and a date in the first round of the playoffs against the Manitoulin Islanders.

The Thunderbirds close the regular season on Wednesday night at the John Rhodes Community Centre against the Northern Michigan Black Bears at 7:30 p.m.

Against Abitibi, Chris Towell scored three goals for the Thunderbirds including the game winner after picking up an assist for a four point night. Ryan Maunu scored once and set up two others, Mike McMillan added a goal and an assist and Tyler Gendron recorded two assists.

Local product Adam Combs replied with a goal for the Eskimos while singles went to Julien Cabana, David Proulx and Corey Santamaria.

On Sunday, the Beavers took advantage of a weary Thunderbirds team and cruised to lopsided win.

The Thunderbirds played the game after just a couple hours of sleep as a bus problem stranded the team on the side of Highway 144 between Timmins and Sudbury for about four hours. The team, left with no heat in the middle of the night, were eventually brought to Sudbury early Sunday morning by a school bus.

Grant McGee scored the lone Thunderbird goal while Sam Yearsley paced the Beavers with a pair of goals. Other Blind River goals went to Anthony Libonati, J.P. Perpich, Jason Bird, Kyle Withers and Jake Reid. Nick Jelitto recorded four assists and Andre Gauvin three.

A chippy game turned nastier in the third period with four players receiving misconducts and head coaches Toots Kovacs of the Thunderbirds and Blind River's Jim Capy being ejected. Tempers continued to flare after the final buzzer but the situation amounted to little more than a war of words between players, coaches, trainers, fans and arena personnel.

Blind River outshot the Soo 62-43.

Elsewhere in the NOJHL playoff picture, the Sudbury Junior Wolves have received a first round bye for winning the regular season title while Northern Michigan and North Bay continue to battle for third spot. Blind River will finish fifth, Abitibi sixth and Manitoulin seventh.