North Bay forward Tyler Field waits for a rebound from Sudbury goaltender Landon Noel as Wolves defensman Stephane Houle looks on. Photo by Matt Gordon. The North Bay Trappers season came to end on Saturday at Memorial Gardens.
North Bay forward Tyler Field waits for a rebound from Sudbury goaltender Landon Noel as Wolves defensman Stephane Houle looks on. Photo by Matt Gordon.
The North Bay Trappers season came to end on Saturday at Memorial Gardens. The Sudbury Nickel Capital Wolves beat the Trappers 5-0 to take the best of 5 quarter final series 3-0. After losing the first two games last weekend in Sudbury, the Trappers fought hard to keep their season alive but couldn’t contain the powerful Wolves.
The first period was a back and forth affair with both teams getting several chances to break open the scoring. However, Trapper net minder Tanner Davis and his Wolves counterpart Landon Noel both came up big when tested and sent the teams to dressing rooms in a scoreless draw after the opening frame.
In the second stanza the Wolves came out flying and captain Denis Restoule finally cracked Davis under a minute in. The Teams then traded power plays and there was even a brief period of 3 on 3 hockey early on in the period. North Bay had a full minute of a 5 on 3 power play just before the mid way mark of the game, but Noel used his entire 6’2” frame to keep a plethora of good chances out of his net.
After the game Trapper head coach Beau Moyer pointed to his team’s lack of success on the power play as their main downfall in the series.
“I don’t even think we had a power play goal this series so I think definitely the power play let us down,” said the young bench boss.
Once the first penalty expired on the 5 on 3, Wolves forward Guillaume Lecours broke in alone and scored short handed to put the visitors up 2-0. Later on in the period, again with the Trappers on a power play, the Wolves scored short handed. Kyle Stasiuk let go of a wicked shot that left everyone wondering if it hit the cross bar or a bar inside the net. However, the rebound fell right onto team mate Gabriel Rodrigues’ stick and he slid the puck in behind a helpless Davis, quashing any debate.
With the score 3-0 in favour of the Wolves the teams hit the dressing room for the second intermission.
The Trappers could have laid down at this point, but they came out in third period trying to do anything they could to get back into the game. Second year Trapper Adam Marceau, who was playing in what would be his last game for the team, was definitely the emotional leader on the night. All game long he blocked shots, back checked hard and hit pretty much anything that moved.
“Just work hard and throw your body in front of everything, that's how (Moyer) taught me to play,” said an extremely emotional Marceau after the game.
Despite their fight the Trappers could not beat Noel and when Rodrigues scored his second of the game four minutes into the third you could tell that it took its toll on the home squad. Down 4-0 in the game and 2-0 in the series to the defending Telus Cup National Midget Champions, it would have been easy for the team to pack it in.
However even after Wolves forward Andre Comtois found his way behind the North Bay defence and scored on Davis you could still see the team’s competitiveness. Moyer gave Davis the mercy pull at this point and when most goalies would have been happy to get off the ice Davis was obviously upset that he was leaving the game that way.
The Trappers fought hard until the final whistle but could not manage to beat Noel who played calm and composed all night long.
After the game Moyer spoke about his team’s rollercoaster season and the closeness that developed in their change room because of it.
“We finished off this season with a group of guys that I’d want to finish with. They’ve all grown up big time … and I’ve probably grown an inch too. It’s something that kids this age shouldn’t be going through but they’ll all be better people for it,” said Moyer after the game, speaking to the criticisms of him and his team.
The end of the season also marked the end of an era for the Trappers as they say good bye to long time President Larry Keenan and Manager Art Tiernay who are turning over their duties for next season.
“Larry has done so much for me all the way up, obviously you want to do something special in their last year but things weren’t meant to be,” said Moyer who played for Kennan as a Trapper in the late 90’s.
Marceau also had some strong praise for Moyer after the game, responding to the displeasure some have had with his coaching decisions.
“It’s not Beau’s fault at all. Little mistakes cost us big, you give them an inch and they take a mile,” said the graduating player.
