Blind River - Gallery

BEAVERS UPSET LEAGUE-LEADING SOO THUNDERBIRDS February, 8th 2012
By Kelly James, The Standard

Perhaps it was the fact that they were playing on Super Bowl Sunday that inspired the Blind River Beavers to play like champions.

Whatever the reason, the Beavers rose up from the depths of the Northern Ontario Junior ‘A’ Hockey League standings and struck down the mighty Sault Ste. Marie Thunderbirds with a 3-2 shootout victory last Sunday. It marked the first win for the Beavers in their last 12 games, and threw the race for first place in the western division into serious turmoil.

The Beavers remain entrenched in third place in the western division standings with just 14 points, but their play of late gives hope that a playoff series upset is within the realm of possibility. They will play to second-place finisher in the western division standings during the first round of the playoffs, which will begin the first week of March.

Currently, the Thunderbirds lead the division with 71 points, while the Soo Eagles are close behind with 64. The teams each have seven games remaining, and play each other two more times before the regular season concludes.

The Beavers were full value for their victory on Sunday, as they carried the play to the T-Birds for the majority of the contest. They also received solid goaltending from Brandon Currie, who thwarted a number of good scoring chances by the Soo squad.

Daniel Pyymaki got the Beavers off to a strong start late in the first period when he scored on a high shot over the glove of Thunderbird goalie Remo Febraro. The home squad suffered a slight letdown in the second period, and the T-Birds capitalized to grab a 2-1 lead on goals by Brad Pascall and Kevin Michelcavage.

The Beavers realized that they had to pick up their level of play in the third period, and they responded with a goal by Paul Muio just 1:44 into the frame. The teams traded good scoring chances for the rest of regulation time, but both Currie and Febraro stood tall for their respective teams and kept the outcome in doubt through a five-minute overtime session to force the shootout.

With both goalies playing exceptionally well, it was up to one shooter to step up to win the game. That shooter proved to be Tyler Brown for the Beavers, as he snapped a high shot past Febraro for the only goal in the shootout to give the Beavers the upset triumph.

The victory gave the Beavers a split in their home-and-home series with the Thunderbirds last weekend. The T-Birds had won the opener of the series 6-3 in Sault Ste. Marie on Friday.

Friday’s game was essentially decided by the end of the first period, as the Thunderbirds out-shot the Beavers 11-2 in the opening frame and lead 3-0 on the scoreboard. Nick Romano potted the first two goals for the T-Birds, while former Beaver Cody Zorzi scored with just 24 seconds left in the opening act to give the T-Birds a comfortable cushion.

Michael Berens got the Beavers back into the game momentarily with a goal early in the second period to make it 3-1, but the Thunderbirds replied with goals by Micky Sartoretto and Matt Amadio to make it 5-1. Blind River fought back to make it 5-2 late in the second period on a goal by Shane Snow.

The Beavers played a strong third period and out-shot the Thunderbirds 14-5, but could only manage a power-play goal by Adam Newkirk for their efforts. That marker was countered by one by Kurtis Barbarie for the T-Birds, to make the final score 6-3.

The Beavers take to the road this weekend on a tour of the NOJHL’s northern-most franchises. They take on the newly-named Kirkland Lake Gold Miners on Friday, and then travel to Iroquois Falls for a clash with the Abitibi Eskimos on Saturday.

The next home game for the Beavers will be their regular season finale at the Blind River Community Centre. That contest will be against the Eskimos on Feb. 18, beginning at 7:30 p.m.

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