Bantam Hounds all bite in opener

The Soo Bantam Greyhounds began the 24th Annual Steel City International Hockey Tournament on Thursday afternoon with an easy 13-0 win over Marathon's North Shore Mercs.

The Bantam Hounds hold a 1-0 record in the three-team Bantam AAA Major division heading into Friday's 2:30 p.m. contest against Detroit's Motor City Jr. Chiefs at Memorial Gardens.

On Thursday at the John Rhodes Community Centre, the Greyhounds grabbed the lead 6:30 into the opening period on a goal from Dylan King. Mike Rivard's power play goal late in the period upped the lead to 2-0.

But the Hounds dominance of the overmatched Mercs caught up in the second period when the locals scored 10 goals.

Jarret Burton, Dean Howard, Brett Perlini and Anthony Colizza scored twice each in the period while Kyle Jean and Kevin Closs added singles. Perlini capped the scoring in the third period with his hat trick marker.

"We didn't know anything about the team we're facing going in so we just prepare to go about our business as usual," said Greyhounds head coach Dominic DeLuca Jr. "You have to play, you have to be competitive and you can't change the things you're doing.

"Finally in the third period, we said that you have to make five passes in the offensive zone before you can actually shot the puck just to try something different but you also don't want to get away from what you're doing too much."

Greg McAllister recorded the shutout in goal while facing very little work.

Perlini added four assists, Luke O'Brien recorded three helpers while Colizza and Howard setup two others.

Overall this season, the victory improves the club's record to 46-9-1 as the team continues to enjoy a very successful season.

In December, the Hounds captured the Waterloo Gold Puck Tournament before putting in another strong showing at a Toronto tournament over the Christmas break. In Toronto, the Greyhounds finished the round robin with an undefeated record.

"This season has been like a continuation of last year for us," said DeLuca. "This is easily the most coachable kids I have ever had. They are all very unselfish and anything you teach them, they get right on board with it.

"When you see the puck movement and the things they try and do out on the ice, it is because they are willing to give that effort. A coach like myself wants to be creative and try new things to be creative and you can do that with this group. The kids get excited when they see things work because of the effort they put in."

While holding a sizeable lead in the Northern Ontario Bantam Hockey League, the Hounds have their sights set on rewriting some records to keep their focus and motivation.

With 24 wins and nine games remaining in the NOBHL, now in its 10th year of operation, the team is looking to eclipse the single season league record of 29 wins in a season. The team is also in search of the goals against record and some individual records.

"For 14 year-old kids, they are very focused," said DeLuca. "They know where they want to get to and the All-Ontarios is our ultimate goal. But they know that it is one step at a time to get there."

The Greyhounds will hit the ice for a second game on Friday at the Steel City as they play the same Mercs team at 8 p.m. at the Pee Wee Arena.

On Saturday, the Hounds play their lone game against Motor City at 4:30 p.m. at Memorial Gardens.

ADDITIONAL PHOTOS WILL BE ADDED SHORTLY.