Skyhawks don’t get the bounces

Jr. Wolves forward and former Skyhawk Jesse Graham chases the puck. Photo courtesy Todd Vandonk.

By Jacob Robinson

A solid effort and great start just wasn’t enough Sunday for the Skyhawks against the Sudbury Jr Wolves. It was a close contest but in the end the 1st place Wolves found a way to get a 3-2 win going away.

"I just don’t think we got the bounces tonight." North Bay coach Kevin Kerr said. "I thought we outplayed and out chanced them. They’re a very opportunistic team, you give them chances and they’re going to score."

It was the Hawks who looked like a first place club in the first bringing the play to Sudbury especially on the forecheck. The pressure had the Wolves back on their heels and Matt Collins capitalized intercepting a clearing attempt by Sudbury defenseman Steve Miller and scoring to draw first blood.

"They turned it over and I saw the lane. I drove wide, the goalie opened up and I put it in the net." Collins said after the game.

The Hawks went up two on the power play after Denis French set up Nick Kulas along the boards. Kulas walked into the center and buried a wrist shot 7:13 into the second period. North Bay had multiple chances with the man advantage which was a direct result of Skyhawks strong play.

"When you're out battling a team they'r going to take needless penalties. I think we were a little fatigued towards the end. I would like to see us on a weeks rest, I think we’d be flying," said Kerr.

From then on it was the crowd of 2,625 at the Gardens witnessed the Brian McGarry and Brenden Biedermann show. The two Sudbury snipers are numbers one and four respectively in NOJHL scoring and midway through the match they began to show why. Biedermann set up McGarry who took the pass and shot into an open net after a Hawk defender and Wolves forward crashed into North Bay goalie Mike Lalande leaving him with no chance to make the save. Lalande was sharp making 20 saves but break downs
in his teams defense led to the loss.

Just as it seemed North Bay would head into the third with the lead, McGarry and Biedermann struck again. McGarry got his second of the night catching Lalande going the wrong way after getting a pass from his line mate Biedermann with just five seconds left in the period.

"There a team that cheats offensively." Kerr stated. "They capitalized on their chances and we weren’t able to. We’ll rebound, we’ve got a good group of guys and a lot of character."

Sudbury had the momentum in the third and Biedermann scored his 16th goal of the season which was the eventual game winner. McGarry collected an assist giving him 105 points this season.

The Hawks poured it on down the stretch but Wolves backstop Paul Pidutti was equal to the task stopping 15 shots in the period. With the loss the Hawks missed a chance to take possession of second place. The battle for that spot will likely come down to the final games of the season. The Hawks will be on the road for two before coming home to face Manitoulin next Sunday at 7:00 p.m.