Thunder pound Ice Dogs in slugfest

The Borderland Thunder scored with their sticks and their fists yesterday afternoon.
The top team in the SIJHL used a pair of goals from “Critter” Nagurski to hammer the defending champion Dryden Ice Dogs 7-1 at the Ice for Kids Arena in a chippy affair that boiled over several times.
After topping the Ice Dogs 4-2 on Wednesday night in Dryden, the Thunder and their conquerors in the league final last season got under each other’s skin in a big way here yesterday.
The penalty box area looked like a refugee camp at certain times, with a total of nine players from the two sides crammed into their respective sin bins at one point in the first period.
The Thunder (21-5-4-1), who have lost only two of their last 13 games, ended the game without forward Kevin Webb (fighting in the first period), defenceman Clayton Windigo (match penalty for verbal abuse of referee Bill Daley in the second), and forward Ryan Sinclair (hitting from behind in the third) because of their various infractions.
Windigo’s penalty also carries an automatic three-game suspension, which will keep the blueliner out of action until the Thunder’s Jan. 24 home game against the Fort William First Nation Wolves.
Leading 3-0 after the second, the Thunder poured on the pressure to add four goals in the final frame against the tired Ice Dogs (18-12-2-1), who were playing their third game in three days.
A.J. Tucker, David Lloyd, Matt Johnson, Josh McAndrew, and Ian Lockman also scored for the Thunder, while Albert Kavanaugh spoiled goalie Dan Hoehne’s shutout bid at 16:01 of the third.
The Thunder next hit the road for a two-game series with the Northwest Wisconsin Knights this Friday and Saturday, before returning home for a rematch against the Ice Dogs on Jan. 21 at 7:30 p.m.
In related news, the Thunder released two players while making no acquisitions before last Friday’s Canadian Junior ‘A’ Hockey League signing deadline.
The Thunder bid farewell to defenceman Dallas Mosbeck, who had one goal and one assist in five games this season, and forward Rob Scales, who recorded six goals and two assists for eight points in 26 games.
CJAHL rules state all teams must be down to 21 carded players on their roster by Jan. 10. Any players signed during the rest of the season must have been made free agents by the signing deadline.
The final deadline for teams to set their rosters for the rest of the season is Feb. 10.