The Espanola Express and Lions Club teamed up once again for the annual Teddy Bear Toss on Friday collecting dozens of toys after the Express scored their first goal.
Lions spokesperson, Grant Lewis, says some 200 children from 88 local families will receive toys this year, thanks to their annual toss and toy drive.
It was a busy weekend in gameplay:
Smith supplies hat trick, assist, as Canadians double up Express
Oliver Smith scored three times to register his first Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League hat trick and added an assist to help propel the Rayside-Balfour Canadians to a 6-3 decision over the Espanola Express Friday evening at the Regional Recreation Complex.
Rayside-Balfour needed just 45 seconds to commence the night’s scoring when Smith notched his 15th goal of the season to give the guests the early lead.
He then sniped another at 5:07 to put the Canadians up by a pair.
Battling back before the first frame was complete, Espanola tied it on late tallies from Josh Boucher and Tyler Nelson.
Down a man in the second stanza, Rayside-Balfour regained the lead thanks to Brady Maltais’ man-down marker at 6:20.
They then got their two-goal cushion back midway through the night on a Benjamin Hatanaka effort.
Still clicking offensively, the Canadians collected their third marker of the session as Smith finished off his three-goal night.
The Express got their second final-minute effort of the night deep in the session when Nelson notched another to make 5-3 at 19:15.
In the third though, Maltais added his second of the evening midway through to add some insurance and wrap things up offensively.
Mathieu Dokis-Dupuis had a big night for his side, dishing out four assists in the RBC triumph.
Making 29 stops, Canadians netminder Nicholas Heinzle posted the win.
Quinn, Savignac score twice each in Blind River win over Espanola
The Blind River Beavers got two goals apiece from Kyle Quinn and Devon Savignac to help lead them to a 5-3 victory over the visiting Espanola Express Saturday in Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League meeting at the Blind River Community Centre.
It was the Express that got on track early on when Zach Trempner scored 29 seconds into the contest as he collected his seventh tally of the campaign.
Regrouping, Blind River drew level past the midway point of the initial frame thanks to Quinn, who scored for a sixth straight game.
Teammate Savignac then put the Beavers in front at 17:28 as he potted his 15th tally of the season to give the hosts a 2-1 cushion heading to the intermission.
Quinn then added another halfway through the match-up to extend the lead, while Savignac came back with his second of the night less than two minutes later, during a man advantage, to make it 4-1 for the hosts.
Up a skater themselves later in the period, Espanola pulled back to within two at 13:41 on Cameron Walker`s fourth of the year.
In the third, Blind River forward Jared Dupuis jammed in his first NOJHL tally from close range to make it a 5-2 game.
Zachary Matyasik got one more back for the Express with 10 and a half minutes remaining as his 10th marker of the campaign rounded out the scoring.
The league`s leading point-getter, in Beavers` captain Caleb Serre, dished out three assists to aid in the triumph as he collected his sixth multi-point performance in a row and also ran a point streak to eight in succession.
Shots on goal finished up 51-33 in favour of Blind River with Jackson Hjelle getting the win while Carson Boutin suffered the loss.
Canadians come back to beat Wildcats
After falling behind early, the Rayside-Balfour Canadians countered with five unanswered tallies to pull out a 5-2 victory over the Elliot Lake Wildcats in Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League action Sunday evening at Chelmsford Arena.
Having been shutout in their previous three games and going without a goal in just over 210 minutes of action, Elliot Lake snapped their lengthy drought by opening the scoring near the midway mark of the first period on recently acquired forward Joseph Pacana’s first NOJHL marker.
Pacana then added his second league effort a couple of shifts later to put the guests up by a pair.
Rayside-Balfour cut into the deficit at 12:47 as Mitchell Martin connected on the power play to make it 2-1 after one.
Moving on to the middle stanza, the Canadians collected the equalizer just before the six-minute mark of the session off the stick of Dylan Bertrand.
The hosts kept coming and got the eventual game-winner from Joel Mongeon at 12:21 of the second.
Samuel Vachon then made it 4-2 late in the session as he picked up his seventh of the season.
Rayside-Balfour then wrapped up the scoring with the lone offensive effort in the third thanks to Gavin Brown to finish off the comeback triumph.
Benjamin Hatanaka chipped in with two assists to help the RBC cause.
Canadians netminder Nicholas Heinzle made 25 saves to record the win.
Wildcats starter Parker Simpson allowed four against on 45 shots while Jonathan Lemaire handled nine of 10 in 13 and a half minutes of relief.
Reddy is steady as Gold Miners blank Wildcats
Kohl Reddy handled all 21 shots he faced to register his second shutout of the season and the Kirkland Lake Gold Miners went on collect a trio of third-period tallies as they went on to defeat the Elliot Lake Wildcats 3-0 in a Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League inter-divisional match-up Saturday at Joe Mavrinac Community Complex.
A tightly-contested first period saw neither connect offensively as the two teams hit the intermission scoreless.
It was much the same in the second stanza as both Reddy and Elliot Lake starter Jonathan Lemaire kept opposing shooters at bay through 40 minutes.
Kirkland Lake would finally break the deadlock, 4:11 into the third as Connor Van Weelie converted on a man advantage opportunity and collected the eventual game-winner.
Coming right back, the Gold Miners scored again less than a minute later on a Camille Marcoux effort.
The hosts then finished off the home ice triumph in the late going when A.J. Campbell put one into an empty net to round out the evening`s scoring.
While Reddy picked up the win, Lemaire was busy in defeat as he made 47 saves on the night to keep his side in it throughout the contest.
Powassan picks up a home win over Elliot Lake
A five-goal second period was more than enough as the Powassan Voodoos went on to blank the Elliot Lake Wildcats 7-0 Friday in a Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League match-up at the Powassan Sportsplex.
Parker Bowman put the Voodoos in flight nearly three and a half minutes into the contest as he notched his team-leading 26th tally of the season.
The home side then went up by a pair at 7:25 of the first frame as Seiji Martone set-up Gregory Trudeau-Paquet for his 18th of the campaign as they carried their two-goal cushion into the intermission.
Action in the second stanza saw Joe Whittet strike early for the hosts to put them up by three at 1:08.
Coming right back, they added another less than a minute later on a Brett Shawana effort.
Not done there, Raf Praysner’s first goal as a member of the Voodoos added to the cushion before teammate Eric Mondoux made it 6-0 with half a game to play.
The Powassan power play contributed to the night’s tally courtesy of Martone late in the second.
A scoreless final frame finished off the Powassan victory
Voodoos’ netminder Luke Greenwood stopped all 18 shots he faced to record the win and post his third shutout of the season.
Wildcats’ starter Parker Simpson was peppered with 65 attempts in defeat.
Beavers double up Rapids
Caleb Serre’s Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League-leading 33rd goal of the season broke a third-period tie as the Blind River Beavers went on to double up the French River Rapids 4-2 Sunday afternoon at the Blind River Community Centre.
Another red-hot Blind River forward, in Devon Savignac, got the hosts going offensively as he tallied for a seventh straight game just 100 seconds into the contest while notching his 17th marker on the campaign.
French River came back to knot the affair at 14:04 thanks to a Ryan Smith effort as he extended a modest point streak to four consecutive games.
Moving to the middle stanza, the Rapids went in front early in the session compliments of Cooper Bowman at 2:15.
Later in the session, it was the Beavers who countered with the equalizer thanks to David Campbell at 11:25 to help send the two sides to the second intermission knotted at 2-2.
A Blind River power play helped them regain the lead in the third as Serre scored, which with an earlier assist, gave him his seventh consecutive multi-point performance as he etched his name on the scoresheet for a ninth outing in a row.
Jake Behnen then secured the victory with a shorthanded, empty-net effort in the final seconds to round out the scoring.
Shots on goal did favour French River by a 42-34 count with Jackson Hjelle getting the win while Ben Mongomery suffered the defeat.
