There’s a lot left to learn for the Soo Thunderbirds.
Playing in the second game of a home-and-home weekend series with the Soo (Mich.) Eagles on Sunday night, the Thunderbirds struggled to capitalize offensively and that led to a 3-2 shootout loss in Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League action at the John Rhodes Community Centre.
“We were really good throughout almost the whole game,” said Thunderbirds coach John Parco. “Their goalie (Shane Brancato) played really well and we didn’t bury our chances.
“We still don’t know how to win,” Parco added. “We’re naïve.”
Having gone 1-3-0-1 in their last four games, Parco said, “we have to learn how to play junior hockey, because midget is over. It’s that simple.”
The Thunderbirds opened up a 2-0 lead in the first period thanks to a shorthanded goal by Nick Smith and another in the final minute of the frame by Jakob Kovacs.
The Eagles cut the Thunderbirds lead in half thanks to a goal by Caleb Wood 3:05 into the second period.
Raf Praysner tied the game for the Eagles with 1:46 to go in regulation time and Brancato on the Eagles bench for an extra attacker.
Tommy Buis got the game winner in the shootout for the Eagles as the lone shooter for either club to score.
“For whatever reason, we just can’t get 60 minutes put together,” said Eagles coach Doug Laprade. “We started out ok and then they took it to us (in the first period). They got a softie on Shane on the first goal so it was 2-0 after the first period when it probably should have been 1-0.
“We challenged each other to come out and play with a little more intensity (in the second period),” Laprade added.
Warner Young assisted on both goals for the Thunderbirds while goaltender Colin Ahern made 31 saves.
Brancato made 34 saves for the Eagles before stopping all three Thunderbirds shooters in the shootout.
Though the weekend set with the Eagles saw some improvements for the Thunderbirds, but it wasn’t perfect.
“We’ve got so much to learn, it’s such a young team,” Parco said. “We played a lot better these last two games than we did on the last weekend. It was a huge improvement, but there’s no way we should have lost this game. We gave away a point. You just don’t lose these games. They catch up to you in the end.”
The Thunderbirds record falls to 3-3-0-1 with the loss while the Eagles improve to 2-2-1-1.
The Thunderbirds return to action on Sept. 27 in the opening game of a three-game road trip in Hearst against the Lumberjacks. The game is the first meeting between the two clubs since the Lumberjacks beat the Thunderbirds in the NOJHL final last season.
The trip continues the following night in Cochrane before wrapping up on Sunday afternoon in Timmins against the Rock.
The Thunderbirds are moving forward at this point minus veteran defenceman Kobe Seguin, who is no longer with the team. Parco said Sunday night that Seguin’s decision to leave the team was a personal one.