Photo Credit: Freeze Frame Photos

At the 2023 Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League Showcase in Sudbury, Ontario, the fifth place west division (3-3-2-1) Soo Thunderbirds took to the ice for an afternoon matinee to face the first place (5-1) east division Powassan Voodoos.

At 11:31 of the opening period, Kaden Dundas fires a shot off of the right glass in the Voodoos zone to take an awkward bounce all the way behind Powassan goaltender Miles Gordon to give the Soo a 1 – 0 lead unassisted. 6:59 into the period, Zach Turner tucks his first goal of the 2023 season under Thunderbird netminder Connor Hatfield’s right pad just inside the Soo netminder’s post to tie the game 1 – 1. Alexander Case and Darby McCarthy added the helpers on Turner’s goal. With 2:50 remaining in the first, Thunderbird forward Grayson Ebrahim picks up his own rebound off of Gordon’s right pad to give the Soo a 2 – 1 lead. Jackson Truchan and Dundas notched the contributors on Ebrahim’s sixth of the season.

With 11.1 seconds left in the second period, Darby McCarthy catches a pass from Zach Turner behind the Thunderbird net to lift McCarthy’s third of the season past Hatfield with a wrist shot to send the Voodoos into the second intermission tied at 2 – 2. From between the faceoff circles in front of the Soo crease, McCarthy sinks his second of the contest for the Voodoos go-ahead goal 17 seconds into the final period to give Powassan a 3 – 2 lead. Tucker Shields had the lone contributor on McCarthy’s third point of the game. From the left faceoff circle, Reyth Smith rifles a snapshot past a Thunderbird defenseman to find the back of Hatfield’s net under the Soo netminder’s catches to bring the Voodoos lead to 4 – 2 at 2:18 of the third. Chase Thompson added the assists on Smith’s third of the season.

With the Soo on a powerplay, Jackson Truchan sinks his fifth of the season from the top of the left faceoff circle pass Miles Gordon to close the gap to one for the Thunderbirds. Jacob Smith and Ebrahim registered the helpers on Truchan’s powerplay goal at the nine minute mark of the third. At 16:59, Alex Remenda picks up a rebound off of Voodoo goaltender Miles Gordon’s right skate to tie the game 4 – 4 for the western division Thunderbirds with Fellinger and Beaupre notching the contributors. From the top of the right circle, Kaden Dundas scores his second of the game with 2.5 seconds remaining in the game to give the Thunderbirds a 5 – 4 win over the Voodoos. Captain Kolby Fellinger had the lone assist on Dundas’ winning goal. Powassan goaltender Miles Gordon stopped 27 of 32 shots in the Voodoos loss while Soo netminder Connor Hatfield turned away 29 of 33 shots in the Thunderbirds 5 – 4 win at the 2023 NOJHL Showcase.

Thunderbirds will play their second game of the showcase on Wednesday, October 4th with a 1:00 p.m puck drop against the east division Hearst Lumberjacks while the Voodoos next opponents will be the Sudbury Cubs to close out the 2023 NOJHL Showcase on October 4th at 6:45 p.m.