Minor Bantam
The North Bay & District Hopper Buick/GMC Minor Bantam AAA Trappers came home early Sunday after a disappointing 3-2 shootout loss at the hands of the eventual tournament winning Whitby Wildcats at the Great Lakes Cup event in Stratford, Ontario on the weekend.
The Trappers held a 2-1 lead late but the Wildcats responded with a 6 on 4 power play marker in the final minute of play to get the equalizer. After a scoreless fve minute four on four period, the Wildcats scored on one of their only two shootout attempts on Trappers netminder Justin Robinson, while the Trappers could not score on their three attempts.
Jesse Lefebvre and Heath Bradley scored in regulation for the Trappers in the playoff loss.
The Trappers got to the quarter-finals by pulling off two wins and two ties in round-robin play.
In their opening game Friday, the Trappers dumped the Waterloo Wolves 4-1. Anthony Boyes led the attack with a pair of goals while singles went to Zach Major and Heath Bradley. Justin Robinson got the win in goal.
On Friday night the Trappers battled the North Central Predators to a tight 0-0 tie with Robinson recording the shutout.
Saturday morning, the Trappers kept their shutout streak alive as Mikey Purkhart backstopped the local squad to a 3-0 victory over the Kitchener Jr. Rangers.
Zach Major had a pair of goals while Lucas Nashkawa added a single in the win.
On Saturday afternoon, the Trappers battled the Oshawa Generals to a 3-3 draw. Masen Wray, Mathieu Turgeon and Nate Gravelle scored in the tie which set up the early morning quarterfinal against Whitby.
The Minor Bantam Trappers are back in action on Saturday as they host the rival Nickel City Sons for three games at the Powassan Sportsplex starting a 10 a.m. on Saturday.
Major Peewee
With North Bay Major pee wee Trappers looking to get back into the win column on the weekend, they would have to wait for Sunday as the Saturday games were cancelled due to weather.
North Bay would face off against Sudbury Wolves who were definitely out to prove themselves as a formidable opponent after the 7-0 previous defeat handed to them by North Bay.
The Trappers would get on the board first as Benjamin Graham rung one in off the post and in, so just like that, it was a 1-0 game.
Later in the period, Sudbury Wolves tie up the game 1-1 with a power-play goal.
In the second period Sudbury catches a break during a penalty kill, as their player steps out of the penalty box he is hit with a pass and goes in all alone and makes no mistake to put the Wolves up 2-1.
In the third, the Wolves would go up 3-1 with a slap shot from the point. Late in the third North Bay would make things interesting with a power-play goal of their own when Brant Romaniuk decides to shoot one on net.
However, when the buzzer sounded, it would be the Trappers falling 3-2 to Sudbury.
The makeup game from Saturday will be played in Sudbury this coming Saturday, January 25 and you can bet that the Major Peewee Trappers will not wait for the last few minutes to put so much pressure on the Wolves this time.
Minor Peewee
Steve’s Premier Pizza Minor Peewee AAA Trappers competed in the Huron-Perth Great Lakes Cup over the weekend. Game one found the Trappers down early, with Cameron Lockhart scoring the lone goal in the 6-1 loss to the Cambridge Hawks. Linemate Jayson Synott was credited with an impressive assist as he slid the puck across the crease.
Game two had the Trappers up against the North Central Predators. Looking for another win against this team, the Trappers fell short with a 5-3 loss. Hugh Bouley and Jayson Synott were the goal-getters in the attempt to come back.
The Trappers faced off against the Waterloo Wolves in game three. Trappers’ winger Ben Brunton scored the lone goal in this contest. Terry Bradley was impressive in goal, keeping the score close and allowing the Trappers a chance at a win.
The Trappers were given another shot at the Cambridge Hawks in game four. The Hawks pulled ahead early in the first. Ben Brunton scored his second of the weekend in an attempt to generate some offence in the second period. In the third, Michael Dech scored a beautiful backhand goal on an end to end rush. The Trappers fell to Cambridge 6-2.
This team of resilient players meet up with the Nickel City Sons this weekend, looking for a well-deserved win.
