Blades and Trappers at the Big Nickel

North Bay’s AAA squads have a chance see how they measure up against the rest of the province this weekend as the North Bay Trappers and the Hilltop Variety Blades compete in the 27th annual Big Nickel tournament in Sudbury.

The Trappers opened up the tournament on a losing note as Adam Scuglia scored his second goal of the game to break a 3-3 tie late in the third period as the Toronto Marlies edged the Trappers 4-3 Thursday afternoon at the Country Side Sports Complex.

Tyler Hummel had two goals for the Trappers and Joel Senecal had the other goal in the loss.

On Friday morning the Trappers rebounded with a 6-2 victory over the Elgin-Middlesex Chiefs.

Jordan Scott continued with his hot hand potting a pair of goals in the win and Tyler Hummel, Jamie Olivier, Josh Tass and Nick Huard adding singles.

The Trappers couldn’t carry that momentum forward into their game against the Nepean Raiders as the Ottawa area team doubled the locals 6-3 on Friday afternoon.

Tyler Hummel scored two more goals in the loss with Joel Senecal adding the other.

The Trappers are in a must win situation on Saturday afternoon as they face the Burlington Eagles in their last round robin game. Game time is 5 p.m.

Blades rolling

Roch Pellerin broke a 1-1 tie with less than 6 minutes left in regulation to give the Hilltop Variety Blades a 2-1 victory over the Markham Majors in their opening game of the tournament on Thursday.

On Friday morning the Blades remained unbeaten as they tied the Thunder Bay Kings 2-2. Dakota Barnhardt and Mathieu Lavigne scored for the Blades.

On Friday afternoon the Blades suffered their first loss of the Big Nickel as they dropped a 4-0 decision to the Whitby Wildcats.

The Blades can likely move on to the playoff round with a victory Saturday morning against the Ottawa Valley Titans. Game time is 11 a.m. at the McClelland Arena.