ROY, Mich. – The Thunder Bay Kings 2019-20 season in the North American Prospects Hockey League came to a close Sunday with a pair of defeats in the NAPHL’s Dixon Cup championship tournament in Troy, Mich.
Thunder Bay’s Sportop minor midget side fell 5-2 to CarShield AAA of St. Louis in under-15 semifinal action while the Happy Time Tours major midget Kings dropped a 6-2 decision to the New Jersey Jr. Titans to cap off their campaign.
After defeating CarShield 3-1 Saturday to finish 3-0 in round robin, they met the squad from Missouri once again Sunday morning and fell just short in their bid to advance to the title game.
The semifinal affair saw CarShield break a 2-2 third period tie with three unanswered markers, including two late empty netters, to pull out the victory.
Jouni Kemppainen and Keegan Jones were the marksmen in defeat.
Getting the goals in Saturday’s triumph were Alex Remenda, Kai Vanska and Zach Biniaris.
Next up for the minor midgets will be the OHL Cup, March 18-21, in Toronto.
In the majors setback vs. New Jersey, they fell behind by five past the midway mark of the contest before Trenton Morriseau and Alex Pineau got a couple back for Thunder Bay only to see the Titans cap off their victory with a late tally.
Saturday’s slate saw the Kings needing to defeat the U-18 CarShield side in regulation to advance to the playoff round, however their quest to repeat as NAPHL champions saw them drop a 3-2 decision.
In that match-up, Thunder Bay were down 3-0 before Morriseau and Travis Hensrud scored to make it close, but they could not get the equalizer before time expired.
Eric Vanska and Connor Lemieux both saw time in net for the Kings.
Hensrud and Jeremy Dunmore paced the club offensively with seven points apiece in four games.
Next up for the team will be the best-of-five Hockey Northwestern Ontario District Championship, which begins March 14 in Thunder Bay.
