Photo Credit: Freeze Frame Photos

Over the January 9th to 11th weekend, the Thunder Bay Kings traveled to Sault Ste. Marie to play a four-game GNU18HL regular season series against the Soo U16 and U18 Greyhounds, with each age group meeting twice. The weekend showcased strong performances from both Soo squads, highlighted by a dominant five-point outing from Reegan DeZordo in game two of the weekend.

The opening period was a defensive battle, as both teams focused on structure and limiting quality chances. Strong play at both ends of the ice kept the game scoreless through the first twenty minutes.

Soo broke through in the second period at the 3:37 mark when Alexander Priem opened the scoring for the Greyhounds. Priem netted his fifth goal of the season, finishing a play set up by Matthew Circelli, giving the Soo a 1–0 lead heading into the final frame.

Thunder Bay answered early in the third period. At 2:10, Sawyer Smith tied the game for the Kings, scoring his eighth goal of the season off assists from Mikita Dolmat and Nathan Vita, evening the score at 1–1 and sending the game toward overtime.

With neither team able to find the back of the net in regulation, the contest went to extra time. Five minutes into the overtime period, Sawyer Smith struck again, scoring his second goal of the game and ninth of the season. The unassisted tally sealed a 2–1 overtime victory for the Thunder Bay Kings.

Game two of the weekend took place Saturday morning, January 10th, with a 9:00 a.m. puck drop at the John Rhodes Centre as the Soo U16 Greyhounds faced the Kings. The Soo came out flying, opening the scoring just 1:47 into the game when Reegan DeZordo netted his fifth of the season, assisted by Matthew Circelli. DeZordo continued to factor heavily, setting up Ethan Cress at 13:21 for his third of the season to make it 2–0. The Greyhounds capped off a strong first period at 14:51, as Alexander Priem scored his sixth of the year with assists from Gage Guzzo and Logan Watson, giving Soo a 3–0 lead after one.

Thunder Bay responded in the second period, cutting into the lead with three unanswered goals. Nate Girvin scored at 1:05, followed by a power-play marker from Luke Sicliano at 2:46, and another power-play goal from Nathan Vita at 6:29 to tie the game 3–3 heading into the third.

The final period belonged to the Greyhounds and DeZordo. At 10:33, Simon McLean scored his first of the season to put Soo back in front, assisted by DeZordo. Just over two minutes later, DeZordo added a goal of his own at 13:11—his sixth of the season—off assists from Nolan Lesperance and Nicholas Patience, making it 5–3. Thunder Bay pulled within one on a power-play goal by Michael Figliomeni at 14:53, but the Soo sealed the win late. At 19:45, Bryson Palahnuk scored a power-play goal, assisted by Benjamin McKinlay and DeZordo, completing DeZordo’s five-point performance and securing a 6–4 Greyhounds victory.

Thunder Bay coach Nick Parry told Saultsports that “Despite some injuries leaving us short staffed, I was pleased with our discipline and the compete level. There are no easy games in this league and we were right there in all four games against the two very solid Soo teams. Obviously we had hoped to come home with more than two points but a couple bounces in our favour could have easily changed the outcome of all games.”

Up next for the Greyhounds will be back in action on Wednesday, January 14th, when the Soo travels to Sudbury to face the U18 Wolves. The team will then head to Peterborough for the January 15th weekend to compete in the 2026 Steve Richey Tournament of Champions. Meanwhile, the Thunder Bay Kings will head south to take on the U16 and U18 Wolves in Sudbury over the January 23rd to 25th weekend.