Thunderbirds gain revenge on Blind River

The Soo Thunderbirds had one thing on their mind when they took to the ice on Wednesday night against the Blind River Beavers.

Revenge.

In the last two meetings between the two teams, the Beavers knocked off the Thunderbirds 2-1 in Sault Ste. Marie and then beat the locals again 9-6 in Blind River last Saturday night.

On Wednesday, the Thunderbirds got their revenge with a 6-1 win over Blind River at the John Rhodes Community Centre.

In the opening period, Frank Maddaloni gave the Beavers an early lead as he released a shot from the top of the face off circle that handcuffed Thunderbirds netminder Jarrett Michaels and trickled in behind him, where Maddaloni was able to help the puck across the line.

The Thunderbirds then took advantage of two power play opportunities and Mike MacMillan, named the game's first star, scored both goals just under five minutes apart to give the home side a 2-1 lead heading into intermission.

In the second period, the Thunderbirds were caught in a bad situation just over five minutes in when referee Scott Thibault handed out minor penalties to Tom Vernelli for high sticking and Kyle Jones for unsportsmanlike conduct. The penalties gave the Beavers a two man advantage for two full minutes.

The Thunderbirds, despite a couple of quality scoring chances by the Beavers, managed to kill off both penalties and used the kill as a momentum builder.

Not long after the penalties expired, Aaron Anderson cut in front of the Beaver goal and beat Kevin King to give the Thunderbirds a 3-1 lead. At 10:57, D.J. Jelitto, on a delayed penalty call, took a pass in the slot from Vernelli and beat King on the glove side to increase the lead to three goals.

Then, with a minute left in the period, Vernelli scored on the power play to make the score 5-1 heading into the third period.

The Thunderbirds got the lone goal in the third as Kelly Thomson beat King to cap off the scoring and give the Thunderbirds a 6-1 home ice win.

Thunderbirds coach Jim Capy was pleased with the way his team responded after Saturday's loss and he feels that his team can now go into Friday's home game against the North Bay Skyhawks at Memorial Gardens on a good note.

"We got off to a little bit of a slow start five-on-five," Capy said. "The power play was the best I've seen it this year. We did a much better job (tonight). My message to (the players) is that if you work hard you're going to get rewarded and they got rewarded tonight in the second period. We can go into Friday's game feeling good."

Capy went on to say that top teams like the Skyhawks and Thunderbirds can't afford to take teams like Blind River lightly, because the teams can beat you on any given night.

"Team's like us and North Bay need to understand when you play Blind River, or Manitoulin, they could still beat you on a given night," Capy said. "We took a little bit of confidence away from Blind River (tonight), heading into the playoffs because this is a team that we could face."

The Thunderbirds now prepare for an important weekend as they take on the top two teams in the NOJHL.

On Friday night, the North Bay Skyhawks will be in town to take on the Thunderbirds in a 7:30 start at the Memorial Gardens. On Sunday, the Sudbury Northern Wolves will be in town in a 6 p.m. start back at the John Rhodes Community Centre.