HOCKEY NOTES: Thunderbirds destroy Rayside

The Soo Thunderbirds scored at will on Friday night and cruised to a lopsided victory over the Rayside Balfour Sabrecats.

Backed by Aaron Anderson's four goal performance, the Thunderbirds fired 57 shots on goal and scored five goals in each of the last two periods to gain a punishing 13-1 win over the Sabrecats in Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League action at the John Rhodes Community Centre.

Alex Butkus added three goals and an assist for the Thunderbirds while Tom Vernelli scored twice and setup two others. Kelly Thomson, Mike MacMillan, Bryan Pearse and Nick Tombari added singles. D.J. Jelitto chipped in with four assists while Tombari added three and Thomson added two.

Thunderbirds goaltender Mike Downer stopped 18 of 19 shots directed his way.

With the win, the Thunderbirds improve to 16-4-3-1 for 36 points and an eight point lead over second place Northern Michigan in the West Division.

The Thunderbirds return to action on Saturday night as they host the Manitoulin Wild at the Rhodes beginning at 7:30 p.m.

*** NORTH STARS WIN TWICE:

The Soo North Stars jumped out to a good start at the Waterloo Gold Puck Tournament with a pair on victories on Friday to open the tournament.

The local AAA midget representatives scored a 5-2 win over the Ottawa Sting in their opening game before blanking the Halton Hurricanes 5-0.

Adam Kauppi, with one assist, Paul Dupont, Matt Dias, Matt Caria and Tyler Gendron scored for the North Stars in the victory over Ottawa. Michael D'Agostini chipped in with three assists while Lucas Goodall added two.

Against Halton, the Stars received goals from Kauppi, Michael D'Agostini, Michael Sharp with two assists, Gendron and Matt D'Agostini.

The North Stars return to action on Saturday at 8 a.m. against the Toronto Jr. Canadiens.

*** SILVER STICK TOURNAMENT:

The Cambrian Nissan/Green Belt Bingo AA Bantam Minor squad opened the Silver Stick Regional Qualifying Tournament in Sudbury on Friday with a 2-0 win over Kanata.

Michael Martens recorded the shutout while goals were scored by Garrett Nystedt and Curtis Travaglini.

Should the locals win the tournament, they will advance to the next round in Newmarket in January with the winner from there advancing to the Silver Stick Championship in Sarnia in March.