hunder Bay Kings AAA Hockey
Media Update
Release date: Thursday, March 31, 2016
Bantam Kings season concludes with tie at provincials
ROCKLAND, Ont. – The Thunder Bay bantam Kings season came to a close Thursday in Rockland, Ont., after they rallied for a 3-3 draw against the North Bay Trappers in the final round robin game at the all-Ontario AAA hockey championship.
With the Kings knowing they needed a victory to get them into the semifinals and the Trappers requiring just a tie, it was North Bay who advanced after the outcome while Thunder Bay’s 2015-16 campaign drew to a close.
It was all Trappers in the first period as they struck three times in less than a nine-minute span to take early control of the contest.
Cole Craft paced the North Bay attack with a pair of goals and an assist in the frame.
The Kings did get one back late with the lone tally of the middle session as Michael Stubbs buried a Levi Siau feed with 99 seconds left in the second.
Battling back in the third, Thunder Bay’s Christian Veneruzzo pulled his team to within one with 3:22 to go in regulation as Cody Hurd and Jonathon Kilby picked up assists.
The Kings then tied it with an extra attacker a minute and a half later courtesy of Joseph McCollum, but could not net the winner before time ran out.
Shots on goal favoured the Trappers by a 28-19 count with Jordan Smith picking up the season-ending draw for Thunder Bay.
The Kings wrapped up the seven-team provincial championship with a 2-3-1 record finishing tied for fifth with the London Jr. Knights at five points apiece.
North Bay will now meet the Mississauga Rebels in one semifinal Friday while the Whitby Wildcats will tangle with the host Eastern Ontario Wild in the other.
The championship game will be held Saturday afternoon back in Rockland.
Next year’s all-Ontario bantam championship will be hosted by Hockey Northwestern Ontario, the Thunder Bay Minor Hockey Association and the Kings and will be held March 27-April 1, 2017at the Fort William Gardens.
