Thunderbirds hang on to defeat Black Bears (8 photos added)

SAULT STE. MARIE, MI – It wasn't pretty, but the Soo Thunderbirds came away with an important victory on Wednesday night.

Embetted in a battle with the Blind River Beavers for top spot in the Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League's West Division, the Thunderbirds defeated the Northern Michigan Black Bears 3-2 Wednesday night at the Big Bear Arena in the Michigan Sault.

A dazzling performance from Thunderbirds goaltender Michael Maulucci was the difference in a game that saw the Black Bears outshoot the Thunderbirds 38-16.

"Michael was his vintage self," said Thunderbirds coach Toots Kovacs. "He enjoys those kind of games. They give me heart palpitations but he enjoys those."

"Maulucci's a good goaltender," said Black Bears coach Bart Jarrett, "and he played up to his potential."

The Thunderbirds opened up a first period lead when Matt Conway scored just 1:46 in. After Sean Farley tied the game for Northern Michigan at 14:07, Mark Thorburn and Ryan Maunu each scored in the final five minutes of the period to give the Thunderbirds a 3-1 heading into the second.

After a scoreless second period in which the Black Bears outshot the Thunderbirds 18-7, Jake Watchorn scored midway through the third period to get the Bears to within one but it wasn't enough as the Thunderbirds rode Maulucci to the win.

"It was an ugly win," Kovacs added. "I thought that other than the first twenty minutes, for the final 40 we were outplayed. (Northern Michigan) beat us to loose pucks, they caused turnovers and we were standing around watching."

"We made a couple of mistakes that cost us in the first period," Jarrett said of the loss.

Kovacs went on to say that the bigger ice surface of the Big Bear Arena was not an excuse citing, "(the players) know what it's like. If it was early in the year (it could be an excuse), but not now. They've got to make some adjustments. They know what they've got to do."

Jarrett did say that he thought the Thunderbirds looked "tired" at times, which could have been attributed to the Thunderbirds long layoff prior to the game as the Thunderbirds had an 11 day layoff between games.

"I think they struggled with the big ice and they haven't played for 10 days," said Jarrett. "They looked a little tired, a little rusty."

The Thunderbirds will be back in action on Saturday night when they host the Abitibi Eskimos at the John Rhodes Community Centre. Game time is 7:30 p.m.

The Black Bears are also back in action this weekend when they host the Eskimos on Friday night at the Big Bear Arena. Game time there is also 7:30 p.m.

After the Eskimos roll through on the weekend the two teams will meet up again on Oct. 19, which is the next action following the weekend for both clubs. The Thunderbirds and Black Bears will meet up at the John Rhodes Community Centre in a 7:30 p.m. start time.

*** TOURNAMENT ACTION AT BIG BEAR ARENA:

There will be plenty of hockey action this weekend in Sault, Michigan.

Not only does Northern Michigan have a home date with Abitibi. The Lake Superior State Lakers will face off against Colgate on Friday and Saturday nights at the Taffy Abel Arena.

On top of that, the Big Bear Arena will again play host to the Kewadin Classic Midget hockey tournament, which features teams from across Michigan as well as the Green Bay Gamblers.

Both ice pads at the Big Bear, as well as the Norris Center and Pullar Stadium will be used for the tournament.

Following is the complete tournament schedule:

Oct. 14

9 a.m. Green Bay Jr. Gamblers vs. Capital Center Pride (Minor) – Big Bear 9:15 a.m. West Michigan Warriors vs. Midland Northstars – Big Bear 10:30 a.m. Traverse City vs. Soo Indians – Big Bear 10:45 a.m. Morot City Mechanics vs. Capital Center Pride (Major) – Big Bear 5:15 p.m. Green Bay vs. Midland – Big Bear 6:45 p.m. Traverse City vs. Capital Center (Major) – Big Bear 6:45 p.m. Capital Center (Minor) vs. West Michigan – Pullar 8:15 p.m. Motor City vs. Soo – Pullar

Oct. 15

9 a.m. Midland vs. Motor City – Norris 9:15 a.m. Capital Center (Minor) vs. Traverse City – Big Bear 10:30 a.m. Green Bay vs. Capital Center (Major) – Norris 10:45 a.m. West Michigan vs. Soo – Big Bear 3:15 p.m. Motor City vs. Capital Center (Minor) – Pullar 4:45 p.m. Midland vs. Traverse City – Pullar 6:15 p.m. West Michigan vs. Capital Center (Major) – Pullar 7:45 p.m. Green Bay vs. Soo – Pullar

Oct. 16

9 a.m. 1st Place (National Division) vs. 2nd Place (American Division) – Norris 9 a.m. 1st Place (American Division) vs. 2nd Place (National Division) – Pullar 3 p.m. Championship Game – Pullar

A weekend pass for the tournament is $10 while a day pass is $5.