Cochrane Wins in Crunch-Time, Blackhawks get Blasted

 On Friday September 5th, the Cochrane Crunch hosted the Powassan Voodoos in NOJHL action. This would be Cochrane's second game in as many nights after defeating the Mattawa Blackhawks, and the Powassan Voodoos first regular season game in franchise history.

It was the Crunch who would break the ice in this one, 3:25 into the first period when Sudbury native Cody Gratton scored a short-handed goal on Ben Auger, assisted by "Captain Crunch" Max Glashauser. The Voodoos would soon tie the game with a bar-down goal and first goal in Voodoos history on Crunch goalie Troy Paquette from Nathaniel McLeod, assisted by OHL Battalion prospect Brendan D'Agostino. Before the end of the first period though, the Crunch would take the lead again off a Brandon Plourde power-play goal, Gratton recorded his second point of the night with an assist and the other assist coming from Jacob Erwin.

The second began with a bang as well, but it was the Voodoos scoring two unanswered goals. The first scored by Michael Silveri from Steve Harland, and the other from Nate McLeod scoring his second of the game (assisted by Tyler Gervais-Rolfe and Aaron Dart). Before the end of the second period, the Crunch would capitalize on a power-play opportunity with a goal from Josh Racek, assisted by Aviv Milner, tying the game at three a piece.

Going into the third and final period, the Crunch had almost doubled the Voodoos seventeen shots and were looking to convert those shots into goals. Ben Auger had played spectacular up to this point in the game and was feeding his team momentum. Auger continued to do his part throughout the final frame, then with 4:13 left in the third D'Agostino netted his first goal (assisted by Aaron Dart) as a Voodoo and second point of the night. At this point it looked to be over, Auger had made over forty saves, and the Voodoos were up 4-3 with less than two minutes to play. Dustin Cordeiro had other plans. 18:43 into the third, Gratton fed the puck to NOJHL veteran Cordeiro as he cut across the crease to beat Auger and tie the game 4-4. We were going to overtime.

The first overtime period was controlled by Cochrane for the most part, outshooting the Voodoos 4-1. In the dying seconds of the frame though, Crunch goalie Paquette was forced to make a huge save stopping a Voodoos breakaway and keeping the game alive.

The second overtime period began, and it was classic 3 on 3 hockey. Lots of open ice and room for players to skate. By this point in the game, Powassan had battled hard and strong throughout the game, showing tons of heart and hustle, but it just wouldn't be enough. It only took a minute and fifty-six seconds of play before Cody Gratton scored his second goal and fourth point of the night to end the game.

Powassan gave it everything they had, but it still wasn't enough to overcome the powerhouse Cochrane team. Both goalies played remarkable, Auger ended the night with an outstanding 53 saves and Paquette with 34. A game changer was the special teams. Powassan went 0 for 5 on the power play, but Cochrane converted on 2 of 5 chances. Gratton finished the night with four points and an OT winner, but honourable mentions to McLeod for a multi-goal performance, and Racek for a three point night. Powassan will play back-to-back, as they're in Abitibi tomorrow night, Saturday September the 6th visiting the Eskimos. Cochrane is off until September 11th, when they'll host the Barons.

Blackhawks get Blasted by Gold Miners

The defending champions Kirkland Lake Gold Miners opened their season off with a bang, embarrassing the Mattawa Blackhawks 10-0. The Gold Miners had twelve different players record points in the game, including four points from Luc Soares and a pair of goals from Ryan Swain. Kenny Fitzgerald put up a thirteen save shutout. The Blackhawks twitter feed tweeted after the game: "The @jrablackhawks want to apologize to Mattawa on a humiliating loss, changes coming to the locker room soon." With tonights loss, Mattawa begins the season off 0-3, and by the sounds of it, things may be tense in the Hawks' environment for a while.