Thunderbirds swarm Skyhawks to open series (6 photos)

Fans arrived at the John Rhodes Community Centre on Friday night expecting to see a tight battle between two quality hockey clubs. What they got was a quality performance for two periods before the Soo Thunderbirds took over.

The Thunderbirds opened up a 1-0 series lead over the North Bay Skyhawks in the best-of-seven Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League semi-final after a 7-3 victory in Sault Ste. Marie. The victory came thanks to a four-goal outburst in the third period by the Thunderbirds.

With the Thunderbirds and Skyhawks tied at three heading into the third period, Chris Towell scored a pair of goals while Adam Kauppi and Grant McGee also scored to break the game open. Towell's second marker and Kauppi's goal came just 20 seconds apart midway through the period.

The four-goal frame came after the two teams traded leads through the first two periods. The Skyhawks opened up a 2-0 lead with goals by Dustin McCrank and Ian Carlson in the first period before Towell scored in the final minute of the period.

The Thunderbirds managed to take the lead in the middle frame when Mike McMillan and Aaron Assinewai scored just under six minutes apart, giving the Thunderbirds a 3-2 lead. Frank Desbiens tied the game for the Skyhawks midway through the period, setting the stage for the Thunderbirds rally in the third period.

"I thought we had a strong second period," said Thunderbirds coach Toots Kovacs. "We played hard down low, moved the puck well and played well defensively. We're happy to get the first win but we've got to keep it all in perspective. We're happy with the win and looking forward to going to North Bay on Sunday night.

"Obviously we jumped out to that 2-0 lead and I thought we played well early," said Skyhawks coach Kevin Kerr. "We've played a lot of hockey in a lot of days lately. I think it took a toll as the periods went on here. In the third period we didn't have a lot of jump or a lot of energy. We've got to learn from that and play a little bit smarter."

Kovacs added that he was pleased with the play of his top line of Mike McMillan, Ryan Maunu, and Chris Towell.

"They contribute so much to this hockey team," Kovacs said of the trio. "They're getting better defensively which really pleases me. I really would like to see those guys have success in their last year of junior hockey. They're the backbone of our team."

Kerr pointed to the veteran group of players with hopes that the group will learn from their mistakes in game one and regroup for the rest of the series.

"One game doesn't make a series, but hopefully we can learn from our mistakes and be ready to go Sunday," said Kerr. "We have a lot of games coming up in a lot of days and I think it's up to my older guys, my veteran guys, to lead the team. They've been through this. It's something that they're somewhat used to and they'll rebound."

Game two is set for Sunday night in North Bay at the North Bay Memorial Gardens at 7 p.m. Game three will be Monday night in Sault Ste. Marie at the Rhodes. Game time in the Sault is also 7 p.m.

*** NOJHL PLAYOFFS:

SEMI-FINALS

2. SOO THUNDERBIRDS vs. 3. NORTH BAY

(Soo leads series 1-0)

Game 1 - Fri. Mar. 24 - Soo 7 North Bay 3 Game 2 - Sun. Mar. 26 - Soo vs. North Bay Game 3 - Mon. Mar. 27 - North Bay vs. Soo Game 4 - Wed. Mar. 29 - Soo vs. North Bay * Game 5 - Fri. Mar. 31 - North Bay vs. Soo (@ Memorial Gardens) * Game 6 - Sun. Apr. 2 - Soo vs. North Bay * Game 7 - Wed. Apr. 5 - North Bay vs. Soo

1. SUDBURY vs. 4. NORTHERN MICHIGAN

Game 1 - Sat. Mar. 25 - Northern Michigan vs. Sudbury Game 2 - Mon. Mar. 27 - Sudbury vs. Northern Michigan Game 3 - Thu. Mar. 30 - Northern Michigan vs. Sudbury Game 4 - Sat. Apr. 1 - Sudbury vs. Northern Michigan * Game 5 - Mon. Apr. 3 - Northern Michigan vs. Sudbury * Game 6 - Tue. Apr. 4 - Sudbury vs. Northern Michigan * Game 7 - Wed. Apr. 5 - Northern Michigan vs. Sudbury

(* = if necessary)

QUARTERFINALS:

2. SOO THUNDERBIRDS vs. 7. MANITOULIN

(Soo wins series 4-1)

Game 1 - Tues. Mar. 14 - Soo 8 Manitoulin 0 Game 2 - Wed. Mar. 15 - Soo 6 Manitoulin 4 Game 3 - Fri. Mar. 17 - Manitoulin 4 Soo 3 Game 4 - Sat. Mar. 18 - Soo 2 Mantoulin 1 Game 5 - Mon. Mar. 20 - Soo 5 Manitoulin 2

3. NORTH BAY vs. 6. ABITIBI

(North Bay wins series 4-1)

Game 1 - Tues. Mar. 14 - North Bay 3 Abitibi 1 Game 2 - Wed. Mar. 15 - North Bay 6 Abitibi 5 (4OT) Game 3 - Fri. Mar. 17 - North Bay 7 Abitibi 2 Game 4 - Sat. Mar. 18 - Abitibi 4 North Bay 0 Game 5 - Tues. Mar. 21 - North Bay 5 Abitibi 1

4. NORTHERN MICHIGAN vs. 5. BLIND RIVER

(Northern Michigan wins series 4-0)

Game 1 - Tues. Mar. 14 - Northern Michigan 2 Blind River 1 Game 2 - Thu. Mar. 16 - Northern Michigan 3 Blind River 2 (OT) Game 3 - Sat. Mar. 18 - Northern Michigan 3 Blind River 1 Game 4 - Sun. Mar. 19 - Northern Michigan 4 Blind River 3

1. SUDBURY - bye

***

(Above photo by Brad Coccimiglio. All gallery photos courtesy of Jim Egan.)