The Northern Hawks bounced back from an opening day loss at Keystone Cup Western Canadian Jr. B Hockey Championship in Saskatoon, Sask., on Thursday as they recorded a pair of victories on Friday.
Game 1 of the day saw the Thunder Bay Jr. B Hockey League champions defeat the host Saskatoon Royals 6-3 and then follow that up with a 7-5 triumph over the Arborg Ice Dogs of Manitoba. In the win over Saskatoon the Hawks stormed back from a 2-0 first period deficit to pull out the victory.
Nathan Spina led the way offensively with a goal and three assists while Nick Brimmer chipped in with a pair of markers. Mike Mapledoram, Josh Elvish and Brett Biasiol supplied singles.
Markus Leikkari picked up the win in net making 32 saves. The night cap saw Andrew Groom tally twice and set-up another with Justin Affleck, Dallas Allaire, Cary Brown, Daniel Salokari and Justin Tougas supplying solo efforts helping their club improve to 2-1 at the six-team tournament.
Leikkari and Eric Rogers both saw time between the pipes for the Hawks in a contest they outshot Arborg by a 47-29 margin. The Hawks wrap-up round robin play Saturday with match-ups vs. Alberta’s Whitecourt Wolverines and the Pilot Butte Storm of Saskatchewan.
