Skyhawks Bolster Offence

The North Bay Skyhawks have added a trio of forwards in hopes of injecting some much needed scoring into the club’s lineup as they prepare to open the season against the Sudbury Northern Wolves in Sudbury on Thursday night.

The Skyhawks acquired former Sudbury Northern Wolves forward Neil MacDonald from their Nickel city rivals. Last season the 20 year old scored 14 goals and added 26 assists for 40 points in 44 regular season games last season with the NorWolves. He’s expected to bring speed and offence to the lineup.

The Skyhawks left the country to grab another speedy forward, acquiring the rights to Nick Kulas from the Texarkana Bandits of the North American Hockey League. The Parma, Michigan native only scored twice and added six assists in 35 games in the American junior league. However, Blanchard insists that Kulas has some scoring touch and just wasn’t able to use his offence while playing on the club’s third line.

The Skyhawks also added some depth up the middle acquiring Ken May from the Manitoulin Islanders. May scored 12 times and added 21 helpers for 33 points in 41 games last season with the Islanders. Blanchard says he won’t be able to join the Skyhawks until next week.

Battle Between the Pipes

With the signing of Colorado native Ryan Douglas, the Skyhawks now have a goalie controversy on their hands. Although returning netminder Michael Lalande has missed training camp due to injury, Dominic Leveille and Douglas are threatening to stick around as well. That means when Lalande returns he will have to earn his spot as the number one goalie on the Skyhawks.

In Douglas’ debut last week, he shutout the Seguin Bruins.