In the final game of the 2020 – 2021 Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League season for the Soo Thunderbirds and the Blind River Beavers on March 28th, the Thunderbirds hosted Beavers in game seven of the 2021 COVID Cup at the John Rhodes Centre in Sault Ste Marie, Ontario.
15 players played their final junior ‘A’ game this afternoon with Thunderbirds Avery Rebek, Warner Young, Noah Boman, Andrew Malek, Caleb Wood, Parker Morgan, and Scott Young wearing the blue and orange fo the Soowhile Beavers Jack McLeod, Milos Todorovic, Noah Minns, Spencer Kennedy, Thomas Michaud, Josh Maine, Lucas Adams, and Jacob Kelly wore a Blind River jersey for the final time.
33 seconds into Sunday afternoon matinee, 20 year old Caleb Wood picks up captain Avery Rebek’s rebound to find the back of Beaver goaltender Gavin Disano’s net to give the Thunderbirds a 1 – 0 lead. Cameron Dutkiewicz added the other assist on Wood’s tenth of the season. From the right faceoff circle, Noman Boman fires his eighth of the season with a wrist shot behind Disano to bring the Soo’s lead to 2 – 0. Cooper Smyl and Connor Toms drew the helpers on Boman’s goal at 4:17 of the first. Blind River’s Jacob Kelly picks up a turnover at the Beaver blueline to rush the ice to find the back of Thunderbird 20 year old netminder Scott Young’s net for his fifteenth of the season to close the gap to one at 13:05. Lucas Adams and Noah Minns notched the contributors on Kelly’s goal. With twenty seconds remaining in the period and on a five on three, Thomas Michaud bats the puck out of mid air to find the back of the Soo’s net to even the game and send the Beavers and Thunderbirds into the first intermission tied 2 – 2. Minns and Kelly had the assists on Michaud’s powerplay goal.
59 seconds into the middle stanza, Cooper Smyl picks up 20 year old forward Andrew Malek rebound to sink the go-ahead goal for the Thunderbirds for his sixteenth of the season. 20 year old forward Noah Boman registered the second assist on Smyl’s goal. With a scrum in front of Soo Scott Young’s net, Matt Cato slides the tying goal, his seventh of the season through the Soo netminder’s five hole to tie the game 3 – 3 for the Beavers at 5:25. Adams and Todorovic had the helpers on Cato’s powerplay goal. 36 seconds later, Smyl picks a rebound off of a Jacob Doucette shot on Disano to give the Soo a 4 – 3 lead at the 6:01 of the second. Boman had the other contributor on Smyl’s second of the contest. Boman increases the lead to 5 – 3 at 1:29 of the third with catching a pass from Caleb Wood to lift the Soo’s fifth over Disano’s blocker. At 4:14 of the period, Todorovic fires the fourth of the game through traffic to pull the Beavers within one with Michaud and Black McNally had the helpers. At 7:34, Cato and Kelly had the assists on Beaver Noah Minns eighth of the season to bring the game to 5 – 4. Parker Morgan scores his sixth of the season with tipping a Connor Toms wrist shot from the right blueline over Disano blocker to give the Soo a 6 – 5 lead at 8:45. At 12:42 of the third, Tyson Doucette is credited with Soo’s final goal of the 2020 – 2021 season to give the Thunderbirds a 7 – 5 win. Dylan Parsons added lone contributor on Doucette’s fifth of the season.
With the 7 – 5 win, the Soo Thunderbirds were awarded the 2021 COVID Cup champions. Gavin Disano turned away 35 of 42 shots for the Beavers while Scott Young stopped 35 of 40 shots in the game seven win.
Check out Saultsports photographer Bob Davies photo gallery of game seven in Sault Ste Marie.
Photo Credit: Bob Davies
