NORTHERN ONTARIO JUNIOR HOCKEY LEAGUE
NOJHL COMMUNICATIONS
MEDIA UPDATE
Release Date: Sunday, Feb. 23, 2014
Thunderbirds top Trappers in Mattawa
MATTAWA, Ont. – The first place Soo Thunderbirds rode the strength of four power play goals to dump the North Bay Trappers 6-1 Sunday in a Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League neutral site affair at the Rodden Arena & Community Centre in Mattawa.
Sault Ste. Marie jumped out to a 3-0 lead after one period of play on tallies by Gavin Burbach, Nicolas Tassone and Tyler Jones, with the latter coming during a man advantage.
The middle stanza saw North Bay net their only marker courtesy of C.J. Nicolson at 5:37 only to see Burbach notch his second of the game six minutes later to make it 4-1 after 40 minutes.
The T-Birds then put the game away in the final frame tacking on two more power play efforts off the sticks of Burbach, who finished off a hat-trick while running his league-best goal total to 46, and Anthony Miller to round out the scoring.
Darcy Haines dished out four assists to aid the Thunderbirds cause while Jones and Jaren Bellini each had a couple of helpers.
Shots on goal favoured the winners 55-22 with Brian Kment picking up the victory and Evan Cormier the loss.
With the victory the No. 1 ranked club in all of the Canadian Junior Hockey League now has 93 points on the season with their magic number to wrap-up the NOJHL regular season title being lowered down to three with any points gained by the club or lost by second place Kirkland Lake giving them the crown and the top seed in the upcoming playoffs.
NOJHL play resumes Monday as North Bay takes on Elliot Lake back in Mattawa at 7 p.m.
