ROY, Mich. — The Thunder Bay minor midget Kings wrapped up their 2019-29 North American Prospects Hockey League season at the NAPHL’s Dixon Cup championship tournament in Troy, Mich.
The following is a game-by-game update supplied by the team’s coaching staff:
GAME 1 VS. EVERETT SILVERTIPS: Thunder Bay opened the scoring near the end of the first period with a Brodie Mcleod tally that started off of a beautiful passing play by Zach Biniaris and Josh Lehto. The Kings continued to pour it on early in the second as Lehto sent Matt Beazley in on a breakaway, who made no mistake with a back hand snipe. After Everett made it 2-1, Beazley then set up Max Buffone with a back-door power play tap-in. Lehto added an insurance marker on a silky smooth move that left Everett’s tender on his back. Gunner Paradis stopped 25 of 27 shots in a solid performance that backed the Kings to a 4-2 victory.
GAME 2 VS. COLORADO SPRINGS TIGERS: The Kings speed and physical play proved to be too much for Colorado Springs to handle as they bested the Tigers in all three zones to a 9-2 final score. The winning goalie, Keenan Marks stopped 10 of the 12 shots he faced. Alex Remenda and Alex Smith each recorded two goals and an assist each while Jouni Kemppainen recorded two markers as well. Branden Boress scored his first of the season on a bar-down shot that was set up by a crisp back hand feed from Biniaris.
GAME 3 VS. CARSHELD AAA: Paradis stopped all but one of the 30 shots that a skilled CarShield AAA side threw at him as the Kings skated to a 3-1 win. Alex Remenda open the scoring in the first period on the power play while Kai Vanska chipped i offensively with a goal and an assist. The Kings special teams play was the difference in this one in addition to some very gutsy team defence.
SEMIFINALS VS. CARSHIELD AAA: A back and forth affair saw two good teams going at it. Carshield AAA opened the scoring early in the first period. Keenan Marks held the gates as CarShield continued to pepper the Kings netminder in the opening frame. Vanska evened the score late in the first on the PP off of a designed back-door play. The pace of the game continued to increase as the game neared the halfway point of the game. CarShield broke the tie just before intermission. Just two minutes into the second half, Brody Stenlund sent Josh Lehto and Keagan Jones in on a 2-on-0 where Jones made no mistake as he buried the Lehto backhand feed, tying the affair at 2-2. This truly turned out to be an old fashioned goaltender battle as both netminders continued to turn away chances left and right throughout the third frame. CarShield broke the tie with eight minutes to play off of a scramble in front over an outstretched pad of Marks. Marks continued to shine though, keeping the Kings within striking distance of the heavy CarShield unit. With one minute remaining, the Kings pulled their goalie and set up a face-off play that broke down and resulted in am empty netter. They would then add another empty netter to make it a 5-2 final.
COACHES COMMENTS: “I can’t say enough about my guys right now,” offered Kings head coach Matt Valley when discussing his club’s performance.
“I mean, Carshield went on to beat Everett 3-0 in the finals, So to beat the two finalists in the round robin is an accomplishment in itself,” added the Kings’ bench boss.
“Sure, we want to start executing a bit here, especially in those big games, so we’re aren’t necessarily satisfied. But, at the same time, I’m extremely proud with how the team competed each and every shift and how they’ve been carrying themselves as of late.”
Our 5-on-5 play has been really started to develop and take a turn for the better in all three zones and our special teams have been basically lights out. Both goaltender have been solid and we didn’t have any passengers either.”
“Everyone in and around our dressing room has truly bought into the team first, relentless, resilient mentality that our staff has been preaching. It’s really fun to be a part of this group’s journey here and we’re excited to see what the next month or so entails.”
