Trappers eliminated(updated)

The Trappers and North Stars do the elimination hand shake after a bitterly contested game 3 of the Great North Midget League semi-finals. Photo by Steve Freyer.

By Steve Freyer

Like the old saying goes ‘what goes around comes around’ proved to be a reality for North Bay Trappers Saturday night, as they were swept from the 2nd round of the Great North Midget League playoffs, falling to the Sault Ste. Marie North Stars 7-2, just a couple weeks after doing the same to the Timmins Majors in round 1.

After getting dominated on the score sheet the first two games against the North Stars in Sault Ste. Marie by a combined score of 21-3, the Trappers were looking to turn things around and avoid the dreaded sweep as they returned to their home West Ferris arena for game three of the best of five semi-finals.

Getting back into the series looked promising for the Trappers, as they held off a vicious assault from the hard hitting North Stars in the first ten minutes, before Joel Senecal, from the side of the net fed the puck to an open Tyler Hummel, who snapped the puck by Sault goalie Justin Hogsden for a 1-0 Trapper lead. The Trappers would extend the lead to 2-0 just 5 minutes later when the two Trappers connected again. This time Senecal did his best Gretzky impression by finding Hummel in front of the crease from behind the net. Hummel one-timed the pass which got by Hogsden but trickled along the goal line, allowing Hummel to reach out and tap the puck over the line. It looked as though the Trappers would go into the dressing room up 2-0 going into the second period, but with only a hair left on the clock the North Stars found the back of the net during a scramble in front of the Trapper’s crease by Brett Thompson, who collected his first of five points on the night making it 2-1. While the Trappers held their own in the first period, it was a much different story in the second, as they were out shot 18-9 and surrendered 5 goals to the North Stars, including power play and short handed markers. The Sault’s scoring outburst in the second resulted in Trappers head coach John Couch pulling starting goaltender Marc Veilleux in favor of back up Shawn Bailey. Bailey wouldn’t surrender any goals in the second, keeping the score at 6-2 North Stars going into the third frame.
The Sault started the third with a bang, scoring just under a minute in, stretching their lead to 7-2 and going on to win by that margin as the North Stars went into a defensive mode, dumping the puck whenever they touched it, not allowing the Trappers to create any quality scoring chances.

The North Stars were led by Brett Thompson with five points and Micky Sartoretto, who added three. Other Sault players to find the score sheet were Mike Rivard, Kurtis Travaglini, Jarrett Burton and Kevin Close each contributed two points, while Luke O’Brien and Kevin Smith added singles. North Bay was led by Tyler Hummel, Joel Senecal and Chris Hebert, who added two points each.

Although the Trappers were knocked out of the playoffs by the Sault, North Bay coach John Couch didn’t shy away from giving both teams credit.

“My hats off to them,” Couch said.

“They (Sault) deserve to be where they are, and the reason they deserve it is because they’re a very talented, all around, three line hockey club. But at the same time that first period our hockey team was unbeatable and I give kudos to each and everyone of those guys in the dressing room because on paper this team we just played should mop the floor with any team in this league and they do most nights, but that first period we showed those guys that we can play with them,” Couch explained.

The rough, body bruising game was filled with penalties throughout for both teams, with a combined total of 126 minutes served in the sin bin. John Couch didn’t think it was a lack of discipline on his team’s behalf.

“We showed a lot of class, after our goals we didn’t skate by their bench and call them every swear word in the book like they did,” Couch said.

“They have a good hockey club, but some of their players don’t have a lot of class,” a visibly frustrated Couch explained

Sault Ste. Marie head coach Mike Hall praised the play of the Trappers in the first, however wasn’t surprised by the final 7-2 outcome on the scoreboard. “ I didn’t think we had a very good 1st period, to their credit they came at us strong in their building and we kind of expected that, but the whole series the 2nd period has been our breakout period, averaging six or seven goals in the period,” he explained. “I thought the fifth goal was a big goal and gave us a lot of breathing room, but the sixth goal five seconds later more or less broke their back,” Hall added.

The Sault Ste. Marie North Stars will host the Sudbury Nickel Capital Wolves as the two best teams from the regular season square off in the finals at a date yet to be determined.

“We’ve played Sudbury six times, they beat us the first game of the year, then we beat them five times in a row. In those games a couple of them were overtime games,” Hall explained.

"It’s going to be a great series, I don’t think it’s going to end in three straight, I think it will go to four or five."