THUNDER BAY – Jouni Kemppainen and Ryan Doucette both tallied twice to lift the Thunder Bay under-18 Kings to an eventual 6-2 decision over the U-16 counterparts Saturday in SIJHL exhibition action at the Fort William Gardens.
Closer than the final score would indicate, the U-18s converted early into the contest as blueliner Jack Cook darted around a pair of defenders before chipping the puck behind the net to Mike Sheare, who promptly set-up Kemppainen parked in front where he quickly banged it in.
They then tacked on another at the seven-minute mark as Colton Crysler buried the rebound from the left side off a Brodie McLeod attempt from the right point.
It was more from the U-18 Kings later in the session as Cook collected another helper as his long-range pass found Doucette streaking in from the left wing where he moved to the middle and calmly tucked a backhand through the legs of U-16 starter Kolton Bourret.
Second period play saw Thunder Bay’s U-16s get on the board as defenceman Owen Loubier sent a cross-ice feed over to partner Ashton Parker, who in turn let a high shot go that U-18 netminder Keenan Marks could go only get a piece of before Brady Butvin jammed it into the open net from in close.
Continuing to battle back, the U-16 squad got another off a Kaden Goodwin rush and a Jonathan Beaucage shot from the slot that was stuffed in by E.J. Paddington from close range during a two-man advantage.
Heading to the third, the U-18s handled a number of U-16 power plays before Cook collected his third assist of the night as his rising shot bounced off the glass and back in front where a waiting Kemppainen jammed it in before Bourret could get to it.
Adding some insurance, Jacob Sargent skated into the U-16 zone and put a shot on net that came right to Doucette who blasted in a one-timer to help secure the victory.
The U-16s pulled their netminder late for an additional attacker, while also on the power play, but Jack Pineau put one into an empty net to wrap things up.
Shots on goal finished up 38-26 in the U-18s favour with Marks getting the win and Bourret suffering the defeat.
The two teams are slated to meet again Tuesday in an 8:15 p.m. start back at the Gardens with the match-up being streamed live on HockeyTV.com.
Photo credit: Gary Moskalyk
