THUNDER BAY – Avery Siau is a pretty valuable hockey player.
Returning after missing five games with an injury, Siau picked up where he left off, scoring once and adding a pair of assists to lead the Thunder Bay North Stars to a 7-2 triumph on Friday night over the visiting English River Miners.
His coach, Rob DeGagne, is only too happy to have his star forward back.
“We missed Avery when he was out. He plays with a lot of grit and he just makes that line a lot better,” DeGagne said.
“It seems like whoever he plays with he helps him. He played with Owen (Belisle) tonight and Owen played a great game for us too and he got on the board a lot.”
So too did Alex Maticic, who scored twice with Siau feeding him the puck both times, including a sharp goal-mouth pass six minutes into the second period, the North Stars taking a 3-0 lead at the time.
It just felt great to be back on the ice, said Siau, who has 12 goals and 29 points in just 20 games this season.
“The boys were going tonight,” the 19-year-old Kakabeka Falls native said.
“I was just excited to get in the lineup. I was going to give 100 per cent no matter what.”
Although the Stars did get on a roll without him, winning their last four outings, they’re unquestionably a better player with Siau and Keighan Gerrie – who has yet to return from trying out for the Canada West entry at the upcoming World Junior A Challenge – in the lineup.
Ryan Mignault, who scored once and set up three other goals, said Siau was a difference maker.
“He brings a lot of energy to his line and definitely the team. He’s always a positive guy. He brings up the team mojo and we very much enjoyed having him back. I think he did awesome for us tonight,” said Mignault, a Red Rock, Ont. native who began the season in Saskatchewan and has 11 goals and 27 points in 13 games since arriving in Thunder Bay and tops the league with a 1.93 points-per-game basis among players appearing in 10 or more games.
Though the outcome was never really in doubt, the two sides battled like it was the seventh game of the playoffs, even dropping the gloves on two separate occasions. Charlie Corness and Max Jessen teed off in the first, while Justin Muir and Spencer Milne went toe-to-toe in the third.
That’s hockey, said DeGagne.
“I’m from the old days. I’m archaic, so I’ve seen a lot worse than that. It was rough at times, but you’ve got to answer the bell sometimes. We had some guys go and it was good. In all my days, I’ve never seen too many people get hurt in a fight,” DeGagne said.
Brad Thrower and Brendan Gillis also scored for the Stars, who spotted goaltender Brandon Bodnar a 4-0 lead in his bid for a second straight shutout.
English River, playing without coach Derek Sweet-Coulter, finally got on the board 92 seconds into the third, Nic Herringer banging home a loose puck in front of Bodnar. He’d add one more before the period came to a close. Sweet-Coulter coaching at the WJAC.
Westin Cardwell faced 30 shots in the English River net, stopping 23.
FIRST PERIOD
Scoring: 1. Thunder Bay, Thrower 14 (Gillis, Von Schoenberg) 7:54. 2 Thunder Bay, Maticic 9 (Belisle, Siau) 18:47 pp. Penalties: Milne ER (goaltender interference) 8:32, TISI ER, Turbide TB (roughing) 15:43, Jessen ER, Corness TB (fighting majors, game misconducts) 16:11, Pekar ER (cross checking) 17:20, Rusel ERM, Siau TB (tripping), Von Schoenberg TB (tripping) 18:47.
SECOND PERIOD
Scoring: 3. Thunder Bay Maticic 10 (Siau) 5:58. 4. Thunder Bay, Siau 12 (J. Newhouse, Mignault) 13:23 pp. Penalties: Milne ER (tripping) 12:57.
THIRD PERIOD
Scoring: 5. English River, Herringer 3 (Milgate, O’Neill) 1:32. 6. Thunder Bay, Belisle 8 (Mignault) 3:21 sh. 7. Thunder Bay, Gillis 12 (Mignault, Thrower) 6:49. 8. English River Herringer 4 (Evans, Russel) pp. 9. Thunder Bay, Mignault 11 (Leonidas) 14:41. Penalties: Leonidas TB (holding) 2:13, Albers ER (cross checking), Mihalcin TB (unsportsmanlike conduct) 6:41, Muir TB, Milne ER (fighting majors, game misconducts) 8:08, Gillis TB (slashing), Turbide (roughing, misconduct) 9:42, Smith TB (goaltender interference) 17:07, Von Schoenberg TB (high sticking) 18:48.
GAME DATA – SOG – English River 8-5-12-25, Thunder Bay 12-9-9-30; Power plays (goals-chances) – English River (1-5), Thunder Bay (2-3); Goaltenders – English River: Westin Cardwell, Thunder Bay: Brandon Bodnar; A: 255.
