Thunder approaching full strength

The most relevant acronym for the Borderland Thunder so far this season hasn’t been SIJHL, but OHIP.
The 2002-03 campaign has been an ongoing tale of medical mishaps for the Thunder, who have survived their injury woes to post a 19-5-4-1 record and a firm hold on first place by seven points over the Thunder Bay KC Bulldogs (16-11-2-1).
The revolving infirmary door hopefully will make its last spin for the foreseeable future tonight in Dryden against the Ice Dogs, when forward Aaron Grynol likely will make his Thunder debut after being on the shelf for the first 29 games of the campaign with a rotator cuff injury.
While Grynol is expected to provide offensive punch to a team already averaging more than 4.5 goals per game, Thunder head coach Dave Allison warned not to thrust the 20-year-old into the role of team saviour.
“He’ll play when he’s ready to play, but we can’t put all the pressure on him,” he stressed.
The team—riding an 8-2-1 record in their last 11 games heading into tonight’s clash with Dryden—added one major piece to their puzzle with the return of forward Kevin Webb last weekend.
The second-year Thunder player—tied for the team lead in goals (15) and third in team scoring (29 points)—scored in both games here against the Bulldogs after having missed eight games with a sprained A-C joint in his shoulder.
“Webb was moving his feet tonight and was effective the whole weekend,” Allison said after Saturday night’s 9-2 win.
“At this level, you don’t have video [to evaluate performance] so you have to have guys on your team to show the others what success can be,” he noted.
“Kevin’s a player who really involves his linemates on the rush. He proves that results are equal to the effort you put in,” Allison added.
Dryden, meanwhile, is coming off a tumultuous week which saw the defending SIJHL champions fire head coach Wayne Labrie last Thursday after he led the team to its current fourth-place position with a 17-9-2-1 record, which included the loss of nine points due to the use of ineligible players during the early part of the season.
With new coach Jason Tatarnic scheduled to make his debut behind the bench tonight for the Ice Dogs, who are nine points up on the fifth-place Feathermen Hawks (8-19-1-4), Allison knows the Thunder will have to continue their hot play of late.
“It’s always a big rivalry when we face Dryden,” he noted. “I look forward to our group feeding off its success. They know what has to be done.”
The Bulldogs, who lead the third-place Fort William First Nation Wolves (13-13-3-4) by two points, got the Thunder’s new year off to a bad start by doubling Borderland 4-2 on Friday night to open their two-game series.
Trevor Karasiewicz, whose weekend efforts moved him into second place in the SIJHL scoring race with 55 points (including a league-high 35 assists), inflicted most of Thunder Bay’s damage.
After Matt Johnson opened the scoring on the power-play at 6:05 of the first period, Karasiewicz shook off the check of Jay Phillips to deposit a Brady Laskowski pass behind goalie Dan Hoehne at 9:48 to tie the game 1-1.
Hoehne, making his first start after missing four games with headaches related to a possible post-concussion syndrome, looked steady but had little chance on any of the four Thunder Bay tallies.
Karasiewicz was johnny-on-the-spot to fire home a rebound of a Jamie Silverson point shot at 1:37 of the second to put the Bulldogs in front.
Only 54 seconds later, Karasiewicz created a turnover in the Thunder zone, which led to Laskowski (three assists in the game) feeding Rylan Vesa in front to make it 3-1.
Later in the period, the Thunder defence fell asleep long enough for Karasiewicz to bust in loose on a breakaway from the blueline, finishing the play with a fantastic deke on Hoehne to pump the lead up to 4-1 at 16:25.
Webb converted a wraparound try at 2:43 of the third to give the Thunder hope.
The rally seemed in full bloom at 16:16, when Kurt Hogard’s shot from outside the blueline ricocheted off the end boards and into the net off the back of the pads of goalie Kyle Rogers, who went 2-0 with a 3.50 goals against average for the Thunder before being released in early October.
But after an extended discussion between all three on-ice officials, the goal was waved off due to the Thunder being offside on the play, ending their momentum and putting the Bulldogs in the clear.
Not wanting to tempt fate two nights in a row, the Thunder blasted out of the dressing room Saturday night, jumping out to a 4-1 lead after the first period en route to the 9-2 win.
The tone was set on the game’s first shift when Ian Lockman and “Critter” Nagurski delivered a pair of crushing checks against their Bulldog opponents that fired up both the team and the partisan crowd.
Lockman had missed the previous night’s game because he “wasn’t 100 percent,” said to Allison, although another team source attributed his absence from the line-up Friday to having missed a recent practice.
After the game, Allison talked of Lockman’s importance to the team in exemplary terms after the forward’s contribution of a goal, an assist, and a healthy dose of physical punishment.
“The kid could be another Jordin Tootoo,” said Allison, referring to the hard-hitting forward from this year’s Canadian national junior team who captured the country’s hearts with his tough and tireless performance at the recent world championship in Halifax.
“I saw Tootoo play two years ago, and people couldn’t understand why Nashville [Predators] would give up three draft picks to move up and pick this kid,” Allison noted. “He’s battled all the odds.
“[Lockman] came out and rocked someone on the first shift, and that’s infectious for the entire group,” Allison added. “He showed he’s got the potential to be just like [Tootoo].”
Rob Scales (his sixth of the year), A.J. Tucker (15th), Nagurski (second), and Johnson (12th) all tallied for the Thunder in the first while Vesa had the Bulldogs’ lone response against goalie Jamie Munro, who upped his season record to 8-1-1.
The barrage continued in the second, as Lockman (ninth) and Webb (15th) raised the lead to 6-1, before Dallas Mosbeck’s first of the season chased SIJHL wins leader Keith Anderson (10) to the bench in favour of Rogers at 14:13 of the period.
John Antoniak made it 7-2 before the end of the middle frame, but Josh Baxter (eighth) and Kyle Prystupa (14th) became the Thunder’s eighth and ninth different scorers in the game to complete the destruction.
Tucker, whose team outshot Thunder Bay 57-29, pointed to an increased desire to crash and bang the Bulldogs at every opportunity as the Thunder’s biggest weapon in the contest.
“We worked a lot harder, we skated better, and we hit them more,” he noted. “After we hit them at the start, they kind of slowed down a bit, but we never stopped.
“Everyone got the holiday break out of their system last night. It should be a good game against Dryden [tonight].”
Tonight’s game in Dryden is a make-up of the one cancelled Dec. 18 because Highway 502 was closed due to poor road conditions.
The Thunder also will face the Ice Dogs this Sunday at 4:30 p.m. at the Ice for Kids Arena.
Sunday’s game, originally scheduled for 1 p.m., was moved back because of the Bantam ‘A’ tournament set for this weekend at the Memorial Sports Centre.