With just six points seperating the league leaders from the seventh place team, there is plenty of excitement brewing within the Great North Midget Hockey League, as the teams hit the quarter-pole of regular season play. We try and capture some of that excitement with this week's edition of Peter Michelutti's End of the Roll Great North Midget League Weekly Report.
With seven points to show for their dozen games, the Kapuskasing Flyers are looking up at most of their GNML rivals, though head coach Glen Denney suggests there might be very little to choose between all seven teams this year.
"Our record is 3-8-1, but I believe that we're a much better team than what our record is," he said, following another tough loss, a 5-2 defeat at the hands of the Nickel City Sons on Thanksgiving Sunday.
"We're just making mistakes in certain places that are just critical, and we're paying a price. Because of that, we're playing from behind, and you can't always play from behind."
Making his return for yet another year behind the Flyers' bench, Denney has identified the key area that he will be looking to improve in the coming months. "I think that it's about execution with speed," he said.
"All of these young men are good hockey players, and they can play with the puck. It's about keeping your speed without the puck and knowing your options." Their latest encounter fell directly in line with the early season trend, as Kapuskasing spotted the Sons a 2-0 first period lead, with Joel Grandbois and Alex Smith both beating goaltender Mike Grenko.
Raphael Lecours got one back on the power-play for the visitors early in the second period, before Grandbois restored the two-goal advantage, making a nifty move in tight to Grenko with just over a minute remaining in the middle stanza.
"(Connor) Tessier gave me a nice pass for the breakaway," explained Grandbois. "I was trying to stickhandle, and I lost it about three times. I finally hit it, and it went straight to my backhand, so I tipped it in and fell right away."
"It was kind of lucky, but it turned out nice." It's been that kind of a season so far for Denney and the Flyers. Derek Goulet scored for Kap at 3:24 of the third period, only to see the Sons pull away on markers from veteran Mitchal Payette and David Ranger.
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Boasting six returning players on a roster that includes eleven third year midgets, Denney was pleased with the turnout at tryouts, though he really doesn't fret a whole lot about the issue.
"The way I see it, every league in the world, with the exception of the NHL, is a development league," he said. "So my job is to develop these kids for the next level. We move 50% of our players to junior hockey, and that's what it's all about."
Kapuskasing was one of the teams that did draw benefit from the folding of the Thunder Bay Midget "AAA" Kings, with speedy forward Tyler Minoletti ending up on their doorstep through a family connection in town.
"Very rarely do we have kids that have played "AAA" hockey before come to us," noted Denney. "He (Minoletti) brings a maturity in his game." Playing alongside returning forward Trevor Cheff, the pairing have proven to be the offensive catalysts early in the GNML campaign, most notably in a 10-2 home win over the Sudbury Nickel Capitals a few weeks back.
"Cheff has a huge amount of speed," said Denney. "He's found his scoring touch a little more this year, and he's making some plays. Our back-end is pretty young, just as far as "AAA" experience. I think they've done a nice job of making nice simple plays."
The Flyers were without the services of defenseman Jared Reckzine (bruised thigh) for the three-game long weekend set, with netminder Kurtis David also nursing a minor injury following the team's 4-2 loss Thursday in New Liskeard.
The Kapuskasing lads will hit the road once again this coming weekend, heading to the Detroit/Plymouth area to take part in the Warrior "AAA" Invitational. The Flyers are in Pool "C", matched up against the Chicago Blues, Michigan Hockey Advancement and U18 Summit in the age bracket that has drawn a total of 26 entries.
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For the Sons, the win over Kap extended their current streak to four games after dropping their first two encounters of the year. "Our first two games were a little sloppy, you could tell that last year we played against "AA" teams," stated Grandbois.
The team's second leading scorer is one of several core players who moved to the Sons after playing with the Nickel City Minor Midget "AA" Elite Sons one year ago.
"Every game we're getting better, and getting used to the speed," he added. At home now for a stretch of eight straight games, the Sons are already eyeing a mid-November matchup with their crosstown rivals.
"I really want to play the Nickel Capitals, because I have a lot of buddies over there," said Grandbois. "I just want to see how the matchup ends up, I think it's going to be a close game." Sudbury and Nickel City tangle for the first time this season on Saturday, November 15th at the Gerry McCrory Countryside Sports Complex.
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Kapuskasing posted a record of 1-2 on their Thanksgiving road swing, doubled by New Liskeard before besting the North Bay Trappers 6-3. Marshal Nikitin scored a pair of third period goals to give New Liskeard the win, after Minoletti and Nicholas Hway traded tallies with Cade Herd and Cameron Moore of the Cubs.
Lecours enjoyed a two-goal performance in North Bay to show the way for the Kap lads, joined on the scoresheet by Minoletti, Cheff, Graysen Vigneux and Martin Isabelle. Devyn Martel, with a pair, and Jack Drinkwalter replied in a losing cause for the Trappers.
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The Sault Ste Marie Thunderbirds vaulted to the second place over the weekend with a three-game sweep of the Timmins Majors in the Lock City. A goal by Carmen Scarfone snapped a 3-3 tie in the third period on Friday, lifting the T-Birds to a 4-3 win over the Majors.
Ryan Mulligan scored twice for the Soo, while Dillan Bruce did likewise for Timmins. Zach Senecal recorded a natural hat-trick on Saturday as the Thunderbirds posted a solid 4-1 triumph over the Timmins crew, with the homeside closing out their series with a 6-2 victory.
Brendan Gillis scored twice as Sault Ste Marie built up a 5-0 lead, cruising to their sixth straight win.
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The Sudbury Nickel Capital Wolves are just one point back of the Sooites after slipping past North Bay 3-2 in a shootout last Thursday evening in North Bay. Jake Stos scored the game-winning goal, with Kyle Liinamaa and Alex Guido adding the others for Sudbury, offsetting markers from both Jack Drinkwalter and Jacob Delisle of the Trappers.
