The North Bay Trappers are full value for their 24-3-0-1 record and first place standing in the GNML. Coach Guy Blanchard and company are on yet another roll, picking up two more wins this past weekend and extending their latest streak to six games.
The Trappers made things look easy Saturday night in Powassan, blasting the Sudbury Minor Midget "AAA" Wolves 8-1 as Matt Hardwick paced the attack with a hat-trick.
Jake Gravelle, Dylan Bond, Ryan Mills, Eric Mondoux and Sam Garagan joined in the fun, as North Bay established leads of 2-0 and 6-1 after one and two periods respectively. Carson McMillan countered with the only goal for the Minor Midget Wolves.
A tougher challenge await the GNML front-runners the next afternoon, with the team up to the task at hand, upending the Sault Greyhounds 4-1. Hardwick was back on the scoresheet again, joined this time by teammates Bailey Chenier, Mason McMahon and Ian Denomme, with Camaryn Baber replying with the lone goal for the Hounds.
The North Bay schedule to close off the 2016-2017 regular season is heavily tilted towards road games, with the Trappers away for their seven final games, a stretch that will be interrupted only by a rescheduled home encounter with the New Liskeard Cubs (date not yet confirmed).
The Gateway City crew heads north this coming weekend, battling the Timmins Majors (2-26-1-1) on Friday and following up with a two game set versus the Kapuskasing Flyers (20-9-1-1).
Kapuskasing Flyers:
The Kapuskasing-North Bay matchup brings together the two hottest teams in the league, with the Flyers riding a nine game winning streak that grew by two while in Sudbury last weekend.
The Kap kids needed a shootout to put away the Sudbury Nickel Capital Wolves 2-1 Saturday night at the Gerry McCrory Countryside Sports Complex. Jacy Filion settled matters in the penalty shot segment, after Martin Poisson (Flyers) and Glenn Therrien (Wolves) traded markers earlier in the game.
With the Flyers suffering a bit of a letdown the next afternoon, and the Minor Midget Wolves executed their game plan very well, the contest remained close, as Kapuskasing needed an empty net goal to finally pull away from the Sudbury first year midgets, 4-2.
Samuel Bourdages capped off his three goal performance, taking advantage of the fact that Wolves netminder Jake McGuire was pulled in favour of an extra attacker. Jared Dupuis opened the scoring for Kapuskasing, with McMillan and Joe Mazur both replying in the second period for the homeside.
Sudbury Nickel Capital Wolves:
With the reinforcements now in place, the Nickel Capital Wolves are poised for one final run, looking to capitalize on their games in hand over both Sault Ste Marie and Kapuskasing. With a record of 20-7-0-1, coach Peter Michelutti Jr and company sit one point back of the Flyers and four behind the Hounds.
The team managed a weekend split despite the shootout loss to Kap, blanking the New Liskeard Cubs 7-0 Friday night at the Don Shepherdson Arena. Hunter Chiblow enjoyed a three goal outing to show the way offensively for the visitors, with Parker Savard, Therrien, Alex Rodrigue and Brady Maltais chipping in with one tally apiece.
Matty Mayhew recorded the shutout in net for Sudbury, his third of the year, second only to North Bay puckstopper Joel Rainville. After spending the first half of the season competing with the Lockerby Vikings high school team, Rodrigue returned to his previous squad, joined by Marc-André Quevillon, formerly of the French River Rapids.
Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds:
The Greyhounds may have faltered against North Bay in their weekend finale, but they were spot on point in their first two encounters, downing the Sudbury Minor Midget Wolves 5-1 and rolling over the Timmins Majors 9-4.
Nik Gervasi, Lucas Theriault, Owen Shier, Tristan Cicchello and Baber all found the back of the net at the Carmichael Arena, with Mazur spoiling the shutout attempt of Ryan Cook.
Theriault increased his lead atop the GNML scoring race against Timmins, drilling home a hat-trick, with Caleb Wood and Noah Boman adding two each, and Parker Morgan and Cichello closing things off.
Frederic Leclair-Pouw answered with a pair of markers for the Majors, with Linden Spencer and Evan Kentish-Stack also hitting the mark.
The final game of the weekend would see New Liskeard trim Timmins 3-2, with Tristan Flood pulling the trigger twice for the Cubs. Kean Chartrand scored the game-winning goal, while Austin Holmes handled all of the scoring for the Majors.
