Soo T-Birds ready for battle at national playoff
Soo T-Birds ready for battle at national playoff
The champions of the Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League play the best Canadian junior ‘ A ‘ hockey teams in Estevan, Saskatchewan.
Just a week after winning the NOJHL championship, the Soo Thunderbirds are now in Estevan, Sk. for the Centennial Cup.
“There was no Dudley Hewitt Cup, the Central Canadian Junior A Championship, this year. So this is great that the winner of the NOJHL goes directly to the Centennial Cup,” said Rob Mazzuca, NOJHL Commissioner.
“The Soo Thunderbirds are a terrific team. They reeled off 26-straight wins at one point.”
The T-Birds faced an uphill battle in the NOJHL final, losing the first three games, before coming back to win four consecutive games against the Hearst Lumberjacks.
“They had an incredible five weeks,” said Mazzucca.
“They had hot goaltending, and that’s what you need to get to the nationals, and the T-birds got that. It’s probably the hardest fought series I’ve seen in 11 years.”
Mazzuca said the Thunderbirds are a resilient team. And, he believes they stack up well against the competition at the national level.
“They knew what it would take to win, and kept on going against Hearst. This is going to be a great event for the T-Birds because this is a short-term tournament.”
“By the way, the Soo is the youngest team at this tournament and they’re going to have fun.” said Mazzuca
As to who might win the Centennial Cup?
“The Soo Thunderbirds rank in the top 20 in the country, but the odds on favourite is the Brook Bandits from Alberta, and then you have the Summerside Western Capitals from Prince Edward Island.“
The Soo Thunderbirds lost their first game Thursday against the Flin Flon Bombers by a score of 6-1.
The T-Birds play the Summerside Western Capitals from PEI Friday at 6 P.M.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Liberal MP says she's leaving politics over disrespectful dialogue, threats, misogyny
Liberal MP Pam Damoff says she won't run again in the next federal election, saying she has experienced misogyny, disrespectful dialogue in politics and threats to her life.
Concerns about Plexiglass prompt inspections at some Loblaws locations in Ottawa
Inspections are underway at more than one Loblaws location in Ottawa after complaints were filed about tall Plexiglass barriers.
Federal employees will be required to spend 3 days a week in the office
Starting in September, public servants in the core public administration will be required to work in the office a minimum of three days a week. The Treasury Board Secretariat says executives will need to be in the office four days per week.
OPP officer said 'someone's going to get hurt' before wrong-way Hwy. 401 crash
As multiple Durham police cruisers were chasing a robbery suspect on the wrong side of Highway 401 Monday night, an Ontario Provincial Police officer shared his concerns, telling a dispatcher, "Someone's going to get hurt."
Ont. woman who faked pregnancy to defraud doulas arrested again on similar charges
Victims of a Brantford, Ont., woman who was sentenced to house arrest earlier this year for defrauding and deceiving doulas say they’re not surprised she’s been apprehended again on similar charges.
Five human skeletons, missing hands and feet, found outside house of Nazi leader Hermann Göring
Archeologists have unearthed the skeletons of five people, missing their hands and feet, at a former Nazi military base in Poland.
Poilievre returns to House unrepentant for calling Trudeau 'wacko,' Speaker not resigning
An unrepentant Pierre Poilievre returned to the House of Commons on Wednesday to pepper the prime minister about his drug decriminalization policies after being booted the day prior for refusing to take back calling Justin Trudeau 'wacko' over his approach to the issue.
Construction begins on LGBTQ2S+ national monument in Ottawa
Shovels have hit the ground for constuction on Canada's LGBTQ2S+ national monument in Ottawa.
B.C. man awarded $5,000 in damages in first-of-it-kind intimate image case
In a first-of-its-kind case, a B.C. tribunal has ruled on a dispute involving the non-consensual sharing of intimate images, awarding damages and issuing orders that the photos be destroyed and taken offline.