Thunder offence roars to life

After losing a rope-a-dope affair to start the weekend, the Borderland Thunder spent the next two days treating their opponents like punching bags.
A two-to-one advantage in shots on goal went for naught Friday night as the Thunder dropped a 4-1 decision to the host Fort William First Nation North Stars (formerly Wolves) in SIJHL action.
After Spencer Bodnar (Fort William) and the Thunder’s Matt Johnson traded first-period goals, Bodnar netted his second of the game in the second before Matt Heerema and Mike Greaves added insurance markers in the third.
Jean-Frederick Beaudoin was outstanding for the North Stars between the pipes as the Thunder outshot Fort William 40-19.
But the evening’s frustration was unleashed full force on the host Feathermen Hawks the following night as the Thunder racked up six goals in the second period en route to a 12-3 victory.
Johnson netted a hat trick in that one while Aaron Grynol had a pair of goals as part of a five-point outing.
Matt Alexander and Rob Scales also had two goals apiece for the visiting Thunder while Ryan Sinclair, “Critter” Nagurski, and Chad Baldwin added singles.
Vince Kurzewski, Gulliame Major, and Jarris Blacksmith replied for the Hawks.
Then Thunder shots kept hitting the mark here yesterday afternoon as Borderland jumped out to a 5-0 lead en route to an easy 7-2 exhibition victory over the Southeast Blades of the Manitoba Junior Hockey League.
Johnson continued his torrid scoring pace of late, tallying a pair, while Josh McAndrew, Kevin Webb, Baldwin, Ian Lockman, and Grynol added singles.
Abe Jolly and Joe Ewing responded for the Blades, who are second in the MJHL’s Addison Division with a 38-17-1-2 mark.
The Thunder (27-9-5-1) now have 59 points to lead the SIJHL standings by five over the Thunder Bay Downtown Volkswagen Bulldogs while also holding three games in hand.
The Thunder next head to Dryden to face the fourth-place Ice Dogs (26-15-2-1) on Wednesday in a rematch of a highly-physical 8-5 Thunder win up there last week.
That game included three fights, eight game misconducts, a stick thrown into the stands by Dryden’s Tyler Desjarlais—and even saw the Ice Dogs’ mascot ejected from the building.
Their next home action is slated this Friday and Saturday against the Hawks, with the puck dropping at 7:30 p.m. for both games.