In a one-sided contest to open the 24th Annual Steel City International Hockey Tournament, the Soo Thunder steam rolled the Wawa Travellers 16-0.
Scoring early and often, the Thunder controlled every facet of the game to jump to a 1-0 start in the Bantam AAA Minor division.
At the Rankin Arena, The Thunder opened the scoring one minute into the game as Mickey Sartoretto notched his first of four first period goals and four of seven in total in the opening frame. Richard MacLennan, Dereck Hurley and Brett Thompson also scored in the first period.
Matthew Amadio and Thompson scored second period goals while Drew MacMillan scored three times in the third period with Amadio, Hurley, Tyler Hawdon and Michael Paul scoring once each.
MacMillan added six assists for the nine point game while Sartoretto, who recorded eight points, and Amadio setup four goals each. Paul, Taylor Zalewski and Hawdon assisted on two others.
"It's tough to play in a game like this," said Thunder head coach Ken Hruska. "We just wanted them to move the puck and not get into any bad habits."
The Thunder return to action with a pair of games on Friday beginning with a match against the Marquette American Legion at 11 a.m. at the Rankin Arena followed by 6:30 p.m. contest with the St. Catherines Sabres at the Pee Wee Arena.
In Northern International Hockey League play, the Thunder have struggled to beat Marquette and have managed just a pair of ties in five outings with the Legion.
"A couple of games has been close with them but a couple of times, they beat us fairly handily," said Hruska. "It's going to be a tough game for us but as for St. Catherines, we have no idea what to expect."
Overall, the Thunder sits at 22-14-6 but have only played 11 games thus far in NIHL play and sit in third place. The team has compiled a .500 record in tournaments and has gone undefeated in exhibition play in the Sault Major Hockey Association's Bantam AA league.
Hruska feels that his club's strength is there ability to put the puck in the net. The coach also feels that his defense has been steadily improving.
"Offensively, we're strong and we have a good group of forwards. Defensively, we are sound and steadily improving along with our goaltending. What we didn't have at the beginning of the year was our play as a team. Our zone coverage, back checking and our defensive assignments have gotten a lot better."
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