Chris St-Pierre
For La Presse Communautaire
With a five-game win streak on the line, the Kapuskasing Eastview Chev Flyers will have to do everything in their power to protect it this upcoming weekend. They will be hosting the Sudbury Nickel Capital Wolves and the GNML leading North Bay Major Midget Trappers over the course of two grueling days at the Sports Palace.
Both teams are responsible for the two lone losses on the Flyers’ sheet this year in 21 games. The Wolves took the third encounter of the 18-19 season between both squads on October 14th, winning 4-3 in Kapuskasing. The Trappers gave Glen Denney and company a hard time on November 10th, dominating early on to take it home 6-2.
Saturday afternoon, expect to see the hard-nosed style of hockey often played by Sudbury teams. Despite being a low scoring team, totaling 49 goals for in 18 games, the Nickel Capital Wolves have strung together 9 wins this season to take 4th place in the standings. The record against Sudbury stands at four wins and only one loss, the last game ending in an 8-3 victory for the Kapuskasing team.
Goalies Owen Kilganon and Ryan Teddy both have good skill sets and had solid stand-up game against the Flyers. Sudbury also packs a fair bit of offensive punch with their top line of Jack Heaphy, Draper Maclean and Nicholas Faught. They are all among the Wolves’ top scorers, Heaphy being the leader with 7 goals and 6 assists for 13 points in 14 games.
Sunday will be a very different story as the Kapuskasing Flyers try to weather the storm that is the North Bay Major Midget Trappers. Last time they faced off, the Trappers gave quite the beating to the visiting Flyers, dishing out two thirds of their goals in a 6-2 win with the help of special teams.
Bolstered with a few OHL Priority Selection picks in forwards Jesse Kirkby, Jack Stockfish and goalie Reece Proulx, the Trappers roster has been a force to be reckoned with all season. Six players find themselves amongst the top ten scorers in the Great North Midget League with pocket winger Joe Jordan leading the pack (16G-23A-39PTS-18GP). Forward Gavin Brown hasn’t missed a step either, holding down a point-per-game streak since the very start of the season for a total of 36 points in 19 games.
Trappers head coach Guy Blanchard expects nothing less but the best of his team. His teachings have molded the group into a lightning quick squad that is hard to beat in skill and speed. The Flyers will have to show heart, determination and work ethic if they hope to give North Bay their first loss.
On the Kapuskasing roster, an iron hot Samuel Vachon will need to be watched this weekend, having already obtained two hat tricks and 11 points in his first five official games back with the Flyers after trying his hand at the Junior level down south.
On the blue line, the pairing of Blane Boissoneault and young 15-year-old rookie Kyle Trottier has been very effective in both ends of the ice. Not only are they blocking passes and stopping pucks with the body, but they are also creating offense out of their zone and finding plays in the opponent’s territory. The elder Boissoneault is now on a three-game point streak, racking up three goals and as many assists.
The Kapuskasing Flyers will be back in action at the Sports Palace this Saturday. The take on the Sudbury Nickel Capital Wolves at 3pm followed by an early matchup Sunday versus the North Bay Major Midget Trappers with the first puck drop scheduled for 1:30pm.
