FORT WILLIAM FIRST NATION – A season in the Greater Toronto Hockey League has the Thunder Bay Kings U18 squad ready for playoff action.
The Kings on Sunday rode a pair of goals from defenceman Nick Holomego and the standout goaltending of Keenan Marks, downing the visiting Kenora Thistles 9-1 to capture the Hockey Northwestern Ontario crown and a spot at the Telus Cup West Regionals in Virden, Man.
Thunder Bay won the best-of-three opener 7-1 on Saturday, both games contested at the Fort William First Nation Arena.
Kings forward Luca Ricciardi, who had a goal and an assist in the win, said the series triumph was huge – but only the first step.
“Obviously we’re ecstatic,” said Ricciardi, a 12th-round pick last year by the Ontario Hockey League’s Sudbury Wolves.
“We get to go to the West Regional and potentially the Telus (Cup). We’re all super excited.”
Knowing the competition will only stronger, Ricciardi said he’s still confident the team has what it takes to compete at the next level, but they’re going to have to prepare a little differently than they did for the Greater Toronto Hockey League playoffs.
It’s a different brand of hockey on the plains, he said.
“They play a little bit grittier than the teams down south. We’ve just got to bring our game, compete, use our speed, take shots in the slot and hit the net, all that kind of stuff,” Ricciardi said.
His father Jeff, who coaches the U18 team, said his squad got off to a slow start on Saturday before pulling away in the late second and third, but did the right things on Sunday and made easy work of a Thistles team that struggled to get ice time in the second half, Ontario’s COVID-19 restrictions making it tough to continue playing against Manitoba midget competition.
“I thought today we played fast and physical and moved the puck and attacked the puck, so I was pretty happy with the way we finished this weekend,” Ricciardi said.
The Kings opened the scoring just 2:20 seconds into the contest, Keegan Jones beating Kaden King to set the tone for what was to come. Evan Lachimea doubled the Thunder Bay lead at 9:12 of the first, and the Kings added another before the period ended, Easton Glousher slamming home a cross-ice pass from Kaden Goodwin to give the Kings a 3-0 lead after one.
They kept the attack going in the second, Zach Biniaris firing a low shot that went untouched past Marks. Within six minutes the lead had grown to 6-0, courtesy of Brodie McLeod and Owen Voortman, who tallied with the Kings down a man at 12:39 of the middle frame.
Holomego upped the lead to 7-0 on the power play at 15:04, though Kenora would finally get on the board, for just the second time in the series, Nick Fagnilli letting loose a quick shot from the left faceoff circle that Thunder Bay goaltender Keenan Marks couldn’t catch up to in time.
The Kings added a pair of goals in the third, Holomego netting his second of the afternoon, after Ricciardi made it 8-1 less than two-and-a-half minutes into the period.
“The battle’s not over,” Lachimea said. “We’ve got to get to Virden, keep pushing as hard as we can and do the same thing that we did here, try to get to the Telus and then finish it out there.”
The Kings join the host Southwest Cougars at the West Regional. In Saskatchewan, the Notre Dame Hounds hold a 2-0 best-of-five series lead over the Warman Wildcats. In Manitoba, the Brandon Wheat Kings lead the Winnipeg Wild 2-1 in their best-of-five final.
