Skyhawks fall to Thunderbirds (updated)

Skyhawks goalie Ian Wilson goes down to make a stop during a Thunderbirds 3rd period powerplay. Photo by Chris Dawson.

Story by Michelle Baril

With the loss of Cory Park and John Seymour, and no head coach, the North Bay Skyhawks stepped it up physically last night against the Soo Thunderbirds. Despite the hard-hitting, vintage style of hockey the ‘Hawks set out to play, the T-birds were too strong and took the game 5-2.

Skyhawks captain Justin Roy says that there is a big hole without Park and Seymour but there are veteran ‘Hawks that are ready to step-up and fill the gap.

“We have a lot of depth on our team with myself and some older guys and maybe the younger guys can step-up their game to fill that void left by Park and Seymour,” Roy said.

In the first 4 minutes the Soo put one on the board when Matt Amadio took a pass from Nick Minardi and slid it behind North Bay netminder, Ian Wilson. But that wasn’t the last mention of Minardi. In the second he grabbed another assist and a goal to give him three points on the night.

“We came out real slow in the first half, it could have been that week off but they were already in the zone. In the second they had a few lucky bounces and we had to dig ourselves out of the hole,” Roy said.

The Skyhawks came out hard in the third frame when Brad Hummel picked up his own rebound and found the puck a home behind a stunned Ryan Dube. North Bay would add one more short-handed goal by Dustin Fummerton late in the third but it wasn’t enough, and the Thunderbirds took the game 5-2.

It's their second straight loss to the Thunderbirds who defeated the Skyhawks 6-2 last Saturday in Sault Ste. Marie.

The next home game for the ‘Hawks is Sunday at 7:00 p.m. against the Abitibi Eskimos.