Strong start

In a tournament this tight, every point is important.

The Thunder Bay Kings picked up a valuable pair of them on Monday morning, kicking off the 2011 All-Ontario AAA Bantam Hockey championship with a lopsided 7-1 win over the Northwestern Ontario All-Stars.

Nicholas Nigro, who paced the Kings attack with a goal and two assists, said except for the opening period, he was pretty proud of the way he and his teammates played.

“It was pretty good. I thought our team was a little bit sloppy at the beginning of the first period, but then in the second period and third period we came on strong. The coaches wanted our line to go out there and go hard, so we gave it to them,” said Nigro, the younger brother of former Fort William North Stars standout Joey Nigro.

The key, he said, was how fast Zach Grzelewski responded in the opening minute of the second period, after Rory Keith tied the game 20 seconds after the opening face-off, pulling the All-Stars – comprised of players from Sioux Lookout, Fort Frances, Kenora and Dryden – into a 1-1 tie.

Grzelewski waited all of 10 seconds to restore Thunder Bay’s one-goal lead, the first of five unanswered tallies his team recorded in the period.

“That was a game-changer right there,” Nigro said. “We came back and scored more after that. Coach wanted us to shoot more and score more and just play better.”

Vern Ray, the coach in question, said one-sided exhibition wins last week against the All-Stars gave them confidence heading in, and Grzelewski’s goal was the wake-up call the Kings needed to get their offense going.

“Our guys came out with a bit of a lacklustre start. We chatted after the first period and they responded really well. They came out and did what they needed to do and ultimately got us the result we wanted,” Ray said.

Earning a win on Day 1 was all the veteran bench boss could ask for, he added.

“You can’t squander anything here. One game could come back to bite you. You don’t want that to happen. The competition is very stiff. I think we’re in the mix, but ultimately we have to compete shift in and shift out and be working hard.”

Up 2-1, Liam Coulter scored his first of two at 8:50 of the second, followed three minutes later by a Matthew Sutor marker, who tipped home a cross-ice pass from Ryan Walsh at 11:44.

Coulter pounced on a rebound for his second at the 14-minute mark, then 28 seconds later Daniel Delpaggio deflected at Jonathon Masters shot to put the Kings up 7-1.

Nigro scored the lone goal of the third for Thunder Bay, who out-shot their opponent 27-8.
All-Stars coach Doug Novak said his squad has only played sparingly together, making it tough to have any chemistry at the start of provincials.

“You have a system in place. But we’ve only played five games together because we’re a regional team that came together from AA. I thought the kids played well. The second period, where we started chasing a bit, (the Kings) capitalized on their chances,” Novak said. “The first period we played well. They scored with 1.4 seconds left to make it 1-0. I thought we did a lot of good things in the third period.”

The Kings will take on Sault Ste. Marie in Monday night’s 7:30 p.m. game, while the NWO All-Stars will play the Merlin Malinowski-coached Elgin-Middlesex Chiefs at 5 p.m.



Bantam bites: Thunder Bay last won the AAA Bantam All-Ontario title in 2000, their fourth title in six seasons ... Periods are 15 minutes  long, with no flood between the first and second period ... Northwestern Ontario All-Stars goalie Rylie Willis is the only female in the tournament.
 
First period
Scoring: Thunder Bay, Salesse 1 (Langen, Simpson) 14:59. Penalties: Nigro TB (slashing) 5:13, Simpson TB (tripping) 6:53, Novak NWO (holding) 11:03.
 
Second period
Scoring: 2. NWO, Keith 1 (Oberg) 0:20. 3. Thunder Bay, Grzelewski 1 (Burton, Delpaggio) 0:30. 4. Thunder Bay, Coulter 1 (Arabia, Nigro) 8:50. 5. Thunder Bay, Sutor 1 (Walsh, Simpson) 11:44. 6. Thunder Bay, Coulter 2 (Nigro, Masters) 14:01. 7. Thunder Bay, Delpaggio 1 (Masters, Burton) 14: 28. Penalties: McKee TB (tripping), Prouty NWO (unsportsmanlike conduct) 7:37, Kavanaugh NWO (slashing) 5:48, Burton TB (roughing) 14:48.
 
Third period
Scoring: 8. Thunder Bay Nigro 1 (Sutor, Walsh) 4:40. Penalties: McKee (holding) 12:56, McKee TB (roughing) 7:51.
 
Game Data – SOG – Thunder Bay 11-0-0-27, NWO All-Stars 3-3-2-8; Power plays (goals-chances) – Thunder Bay (0-2), NWO All-Stars (0-5); Goaltenders – Thunder Bay: Dalton Demerah, NWO All-Stars: Brandon Bodnar; A: 200 (estimated).