SAULT STE. MARIE, ON - The North Bay Jr. A Trappers fell 5-1 to Soo Thunderbirds at the John Rhodes Community Centre Saturday night, but the injuries the Trappers players sustained during that defeat may have been worse than the final result.

Trappers head coach Ian Swalucynski felt it was a close game for the first half but after Dan Zawacki, Adam Marceau, and starting netminder Michael Mitchell went down with injuries, the club seemed a bit rattled.

"We were down to less than 3 lines so guys were battling and they didn’t quit and we had a great week of hard practice and it paid off just have to keep that up," said the Jr. A Trappers coach.

"When our starting goalie goes down kind of deflated the boys," added Swalucynski who noted Mitchell will be getting an MRI on his injured knee back in his hometown of Thunder Bay this week to see the extent of the injury.

Mitchell was replaced by newcomer Markus Leikkari, who made his Trappers debut last weekend against the Temiscaming Royals.

Tyler Evoy finished with a pair, while Bronson Kovacs, Chad Thibodeau, and Dylan Connolly did the rest of the scoring for the defending NOJHL champs.

Eric Pye stopped 33 shots in the T-Birds victory.

Stan Smrke scored the Trappers only goal early in the third period.

The Trappers will continue their Western Conference theme as they host the Blind River Beavers in a rare Wednesday night game at Memorial Gardens. Game time is 7:00 p.m.

SAULT STE. MARIE, MICHIGAN - Jonathon Aubertin and Michael Bodley had 2 goals each as the North Bay Jr. A Trappers defeated the Soo Eagles 6-4 at the Pullar Stadium on Friday night.

Stan Smrke chipped in with 1 goal and 2 assists while Sacha Guimond and Dan Zawacki each finished with 2 assists each in the win.

Justin Dicks had the other Trappers goal along with an assist.

Jr 'A' Trappers head coach Ian Swalucynski felt this was a solid road win.

"We played a good team game," said Swalucynski.

"We moved the puck well and took care of the puck in our own end."

Anthony Raymond led the Eagles with 2 goals while singles went to Brian Depp and Eric Cox.

North Bay Trappers assistant coach Paul Davis shares some practice tips that may help your hockey team during the season. Check it out!

Good day all and welcome back to another instalment of Assistant Coach’s Corner with your host Paul Davis.

Last session, we spoke about a typical practice and what should be included and skills worked on. Today we’ll talk about ”theme practices” and how basically with a lot of high-level teams, such as Rep teams, Major AAA and Junior A teams that many have these types of practices whereby the theme may be to focus on offensive play, defensive play and/or special teams. Some times with rental ice time being hard to get, a lot of coaches find it difficult to focus their practice on special teams or even individual positional drills. One of the best coaches in our area, who coaches our Major Midget AAA team, uses his early morning practices a lot of the time to just work on penalty killing, power plays, defenseman and or goalie specific drills. Which is a great idea as there often isn’t enough time to focus on these during regular practices.

In an offensive practice what you want to do is have the team focus on quick puck movements, passing, receiving, shooting, scoring goals going to the net (crashing the blue ice as Couchie says), break-outs and various offensive situations. This practice is generally a high tempo one and would include little defensive resistance. Drills such as 2vs1, 3vs1 with regroups and neutral zone counters can accomplish that. As this gives players the space to execute offensive skills without resistance, this sort of resistance we would use in other practices that focus on defensive tactics. The following drill of the week is an excellent flow, regroup drill so give it a try.

Remember one of the most famous hockey quotes:

“Skate to where the puck is going to be, not where it has been." - Walter Gretzky

Jr. Trappers forward Michel Gamache has been giving us an up close and personal look at the North Bay Jr. A Trappers in his blog. Upon his depature, defenceman Matt Weisensel stepped up to offer his insight in "Matt's Jr. Trappers Blog." Enjoy it!

I have played hockey for a large portion of my life, and have been around the game as long as I can remember. Playing hockey at the Junior ‘A’ level is not only a fun and challenging experience, it also opens so many doors for my future. The chance of playing hockey at the university or even pro level arises, following many junior careers. A friend of mine once asked what the game of hockey actually meant to me? Considering how much time I have actually spent in and around the game it’s a legitimate question.

Why do I play hockey? Why do I commit so much effort and time to, what some may say is, an extra-curricular activity? The first and most important reason is because I have fun doing it. I continue to play year after year simply because I can’t seem to get enough. Another reason, probably just as important, is all of the long term skills and qualities one obtains from participating in such a sport. Fundamental skills like leadership, teamwork, and time management are all acquired and developed by playing this exhilarating game.

Having the opportunity to go to university and play hockey is another goal of mine and a large reason why I continued playing after midget. To get a scholarship into the NCAA is the current mindset for me personally, but I know of others who play Junior ‘A’ in order to pursue tier one and aspirations. A free education is the best kind and I know it will take some work, but I am willing to go the distance, just as many of my teammates are. What I plan to take in university is another debate all together. I have always thought of going into medicine, excelling at sciences in school, but the thoughts of dentistry, business and teaching have caught my attention as well. The future is bright and I can thank my hockey, education and family for that.

Hockey has become more and more important to me as I rose through the ranks of bantam and midget hockey. Junior hockey is that next step in my ever expanding future. It is the elite hockey that I play now that will carry me to the next stage and beyond. I can only hope that I make the right choices, perform to the best of my abilities and continue to play the game that I love.

Have a pleasant week everyone!

GO! Trappers! GO!

Royals goaltender Jim Murray is beaten high to the short side on the goal that saw him get pulled from the game. Photo by Matt Gordon.

For the second straight time the North Bay Jr. Trappers and Temiscaming Royals battled in a high scoring, sloppy game. About the only thing that changed was the venue as the Trappers again bested the Royals, this time by a score of 9-6 in front of 896 fans at Memorial Gardens Sunday night.

The Trappers came out flying in the first period, scoring 4 goals while outshooting the Royals 15-6. Mathew Pepin opened the scoring for North Bay on the power play just 1:28 into the game. Mike Bodley, Brodie Barron and Sacha Guimond all added single markers of their own to round out the first period tallies.

The goals kept coming in the middle stanza as North Bay continued their success with the extra man, scoring on three more power plays. The Trappers went 4 for 5 on the power play in the game.

“Our unit has been trying some new stuff and it’s been working,” said Trappers captain Marcel Konopelky who quarterbacks the top power play unit for the team. “Today was our first game doing it and it worked so you can’t complain,” added the defenseman.

It was Temiscaming however that got things going early in the second on a power play goal by Kory Cashaback to pull within 3. North Bay quickly responded with their second power play goal to make the score 5-1. J.P. Kascsak roofed a puck short side on Royals starter Jim Murray, which ended the keeper’s night; Murray allowed 5 goals on just 12 shots.

Royal’s assistant coach Randy Edmonds said after the game that he was disappointed with Murray’s play of late.

“Our goalies just need to be better,” said Edmonds. “As a 20 year old goalie you need to be a heck of a lot better to give us a chance to win.”

Dan Frawley quickly welcomed the Royal’s backup Francis Bernard to the game with an unassisted marker just 20 seconds after Murray was pulled. The Royals did respond however as Alex Cooper and Pierrick Picard-Fiset scored goals just three minutes apart mid-way through the period.

Justin Dicks restored the Trappers four goal lead with an unassisted power play marker for his 4th notch of the season. The Royals quickly responded with a goal by Cedric Boutin as he beat goaltender Markus Leikkari. Stan Smrke restored the Trappers 4 goal lead just over a minute later making the score 8-4 going into the intermission.

In the third period, Leikkari was beaten for the 5th time early on, when Adam Avison scored a soft one. Pepin then scored his second of the game and eleventh of the season beating Bernard on the short side. Cashaback rounded out the scoring with his second of the game completing a 4 point night.

The two teams showed their distaste for one another late in the game as all 10 skaters on the ice got into a scuffle after Ben Bruha crashed into Leikkari, resulting in several ejections and an extra five minute major penalty to Bruha for running the net minder.

Andre Leclair had 3 assists while Darren Shecapio had 2 in a losing cause for the Royals. Cooper, Shane Golden, Axel Bousquet and Josh Blacksmith each had single helpers. Bernard allowed 4 goals on 14 shots in relief of Murray.

Barron, Dicks and Frawley all had 3 point nights as they each had two assists to go along with their goals. Smrke, Kascsak, Konopelky, Guimond, Jesse Cere and Nick Laporte each added single assists on the night.

Pepin, Dicks and Leclair were named stars one, two and three respectively. Leikkari made 23 saves on 29 shots for his first NOJHL win.

Trapper head coach Ian Swalucynski was extremely displeased with his teams play in the third period and said things would need to change if the team hoped to make noise in the post-season.

“We had a hard week of practice, we had lots of intensity, guys were battling each other, we had a couple of fights and every thing was good,” said the bench boss. “Today … everybody got dangleitis, nobody wanted to back-check, nobody wanted to fore-check, it was awful,” groaned the coach.

When asked what it would take to fix the problems, Swalucynski responded with only one word; “heart”. He added that he would try to instil some heart in his squad with another hard week of practice.

“I have to be grumpier than I was all last week,” vowed the coach. “We’ll be skating a lot, we’ll be hitting a lot and we’ll be ready for the Soo next weekend.”

Edmonds added after the game that despite some injuries to top forwards the team is scoring enough to win games but that on top of goaltending their defence needs to step up their game.

“We make too many simple individual mistakes … its hard when you are learning on the fly,” said the coach alluding to the youth of his squad.

Both teams are off until next Friday; the Royals will host the league leading Abitibi Eskimos while North Bay travels to Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan for a game against the Eagles.

Posted By JORDAN ERCIT THE NUGGET

Thought Groundhog Day was Tuesday.

Apparently, the North Bay Trappers and the Temiscaming Royals decided to celebrate a couple days early.

Efficient through 20 minutes, the Trappers built up a 6-1 second-period lead Sunday night at Memorial Gardens only to watch the Royals continuously close the gap in a defence-be-damned 9-6 victory.

Subtract a goal from each side and change the venue and it was an eerily similar result from their last meeting, an 8-5 North Bay win Jan. 21 at The Centre in Temiscaming.

Lessons were supposed to be learned, especially after some of the bad habits followed the Trappers into a flat 4-1 loss to the Abitibi Eskimos Jan. 24. A grumpy Ian Swalucynski tried to emphasize that with a tough week of practice and battle drills.

Didn't work. And now they have to face a couple of West Division powers on the road next weekend in the Sault Ste. Marie Eagles and Thunderbirds .

Unbelievable," the Trappers head coach said. How we can get so horse bleep in two periods.

I told them if we want to go where we want to be, we've got to make sure that we're ready to go. We have to make sure we can handle bus trips, make sure we can battle, make sure we can do it very night. And right now we can't.

Yeah we've got injuries, yeah we're young. I don't care. Guys got to step up, stop talking in (the dressing room) because it doesn't mean anything unless you do it out there (the ice)."

Brodie Barron, Justin Dicks and Dan Frawley each had three-point nights and a goal apiece for the Trappers (26-12-2), who despite their recent defensive issues (16 goals in their past four games) are still one of the hottest teams in the league with a 13-2-1 record since December.

Mat Pepin scored twice and Mike Bodley, Sacha Guimond, J.P. Kascsak and Stan Smrke all added singles as North Bay scored on its first four power plays and finished 4-for-5 on the night.

Kory Cashaback had a four-point night for the Royals (11-25-3), including a pair of goals, while Adam Avison, Cedric Boutin, Alex Cooper and Pierrick Picard-Fiset found the net once.

Both teams were shorthanded too, with regular forwards Chris Hebert, Kelvin Blackned and Robin Mendelsohn missing from the Royals lineup and Dan Zawacki, Jonathan Aubertin and Morgan Rudiger scratched by the Trappers.

All stats aside, it wasn't enough for Swalucynski, who wanted more from his team.

We're missing heart," he said,

and there should be 21 of them (to provide it) . . . I can't cheer-lead any more.

I'm not happy with anybody in there. It drives me nuts and I can't understand why we let teams back in it."

Trappers captain Marcel Konopelky said players need to hate losing -- whether it be games or individual periods -- and not take teams for granted.

We can't have that mentality ever," he said. This game was a lot closer than it should have been . . . we were giving up goals we shouldn't be giving up."

Markus Leikkari picked up a win in his first NOJHL start, stopping 23 shots, while Jim Murray and Francis Bernard shared duties for the Royals, allowing nine goals on 35 shots.

Some of the Royals issues Sunday though can be tabbed on their defensive corp. Associate coach Randy Edmonds was particularly critical of the knots on team's blue-line -- which consists of three 18-year-olds in Mike Robertson, Josh Blacksmith and Marcus Brien -- but added they have the rest of the season to work of the kinks.

"(Head coach Steve McCharles) and I have said it's about setting up next year," Edmonds said. But at the same time it's been painful.

After Christmas our defensive play and our goaltending has been very, very average. We've had to change our goalies in almost every single game we've played."

ICE CHIPS

* After a somewhat quiet rivalry this season, tensions between the Royals and Trappers ratched up a notch in the third when the Royals' Ben Bruha was assessed a goaltender interference major penalty.

That touched off a massive scrum in front of the North Bay net that, despite a number of punches thrown, resulted in zero fighting majors.

* The teams will play twice more before the end of the regular season -- Feb. 12 in Temiscaming and Feb. 14 in North Bay.

The Trappers lead the season series 8-1.

Posted By KEN PAGAN, THE NUGGET

The North Bay Trappers are missing some key forwards with injury, but they kept it simple in executing the game plan in a 5-1 win over the Sudbury Junior Wolves, Wednesday.

In what is likely a first-round preview, the Junior Wolves (16-22-3) opened the game with a goal in the first two minutes before the Trappers (25-12-2) took charge and scored five unanswered.

It's not the start we wanted-- taking two penalties in the first minute to put us down 5-on-3," said Trappers head coach Ian Swalucynski. But after that, we settled down and dominated the rest of the way."

The NOJHL's all-time games-played leader, Chris Pontes, scored on the power play 1:51 into the game.

The Trappers, who outshot the Junior Wolves 31-19, responded with three goals in the second period from Brodie Barron, Mat Pepin and J.P. Kascsak. Justin Dicks scored a shorthanded goal in the third period and Adam Marceau rounded out the scoring with 4:58 remaining as Michael Mitchell earned the win in net.

The short-handed Trappers played the game without forwards Jon Aubertin, Dan Zawacki and Morgan Rudiger, all nursing injuries. That opened up a spot in the lineup for midget Trappers' forward Scott Pawson, who played well" in his second junior 'A' game of the season and nearly scored a goal, Swalucynski said.

Because the Trappers played well as a team, with players such as Nick Laporte, Todd Hellyer and Dicks stepping up, Swalucynski said he'll be cautious with the injuries, with no reason to rush anyone back until they're ready.

The Trappers host the Temiscaming Royals (11-24-2) at Memorial Gardens, Sunday.

COPPER CLIFF, ON - Brodie Barron and Justin Dicks had 1 goal and 2 assists each as the North Bay Jr. A Trappers cruised to a 5-1 victory over the Sudbury Jr. Wolves at McClelland arena Wednesday night.

The Trappers fell behind early as former Skyhawk Chris Pontes potted a goal early in the first on a Wolves 5 on 3.

The Trappers, who played the game without forwards Dan Zawacki, Jonathon Aubertin, and Morgan Rudiger who are out with undetermined injuries, started to pick up their play midway through the first period and never looked back.

"I thought we had a strong game," admitted head coach Ian Swalucynski.

"We finished strong, we battled and we stuck to what we were doing and for whatever reason we didn’t play that way the last 3 games but I'm happy tonight."

Mathew Pepin, JP Kascsak, and Adam Marceau had the other goals for the Trappers while Dan Frawley contributed with 2 assists.

Michael Mitchell got the win in goal turning away 18 Jr. Wolves shots.

The Trappers are back home Sunday when they host the Temiscaming Royals. Game time is 7:00 p.m. at Memorial Gardens.

Jr. Trappers forward Michel Gamache has been giving us an up close and personal look at the North Bay Jr. A Trappers in his blog. Upon his depature, defenceman Matt Weisensel stepped up to offer his insight in "Matt's Jr. Trappers Blog." Enjoy it!

What to do in North Bay? It’s a question I am frequently asked from my friends and family back home (in Calgary).

A legitimate question, for I was asking myself the very same thing upon arrival to North Bay. Besides the high-level junior hockey, my teammates and I have seemed to keep ourselves quite busy with a list of things to do. From playing Xbox at a friend’s house, to going to the movies every Tuesday night; obviously because this is the cheapest night. From reading a good, captivating book, to attempting to cook some crazy concoction of bacon and eggs; thankfully in the end with the right choice of condiments the food remains edible. There are countless things to do here for us hockey players whether they be volunteering for school functions or helping wrap gifts for Christmas. Out of all the things and events us hockey players enjoy, I can tell you there is one activity that I thoroughly enjoy.

A great tradition for any hockey player, especially during this time of year, is going to the outdoor rink or the “O-D-R” as most of us call it. You are always in for a good time. Yes it is true, even on our days off of hockey you may easily find us playing hockey. I know that whenever the boys and I get a chance we are out there for a good while, throwing sticks in the middle and skating with all the other folks from the community. Last Monday a group of us Trappers had a quick game with a group of kids not too much older than eleven. We had a lot of fun and would do it again in a second. I along with a good chunk of my teammates absolutely love going out into the brisk air and slapping some pucks around. Not only is it a terrific workout, but you get to work on all your hockey skills, making you that much more of a well-rounded player.

Does it get competitive at times? Yes, but what good sport doesn’t have a little friendly competition, and who better to compete with then your teammates and neighbours. Scores are rarely kept in the outdoor games, but given the odd day or two you can find yourself running into some pretty good players.

Despite cold, windy temperatures outside, if the ice is nice you can be sure to find my Trapper teammates and I out there having a blast. Besides, once you get the feet moving and the blood pumping anybody who has done it would tell you the unrelenting weather means nothing when you’re having that much fun.

Enjoy your week everyone, and maybe I’ll see you on the ODR!

GO! Trappers! GO!

The Royal's Alex Cooper catches Trapper goalie Michael Mitchell out of position for his first goal of the game. Photo by Matt Gordon.

It certainly wasn’t pretty and their head coach definitely was not pleased, but the North Bay Jr. Trappers still came away with an 8-5 victory over the Temiscaming Royals on Thursday night at Le Centre. The Trappers built an 8-3 lead early in the third period, however some sloppy play let their cross-border rivals back into the game.

“We played an awful game,” said head coach Ian Swalucynski after the contest. “We’re not going to win against teams like Abitibi, the Soo or whoever if we play like that,” added the disgruntled bench boss.

Marcel Konopelky opened the scoring early in the first with a seeing-eye backhand that beat Royals goaltender Jim Murray over the shoulder. A few minutes later Cedric Boutin responded with an unassisted marker, wiring home a slap shot on a loose puck.

Brodie Barron made the game 2-1 when he picked up a rebound in front of Murray and tucked it behind the netminder after a quick move to the backhand. Murray was then given the hook by Royals head coach Steve McCharles and replaced with Francis Bernard.

“I don’t think Jim was ready to play tonight, the first two goals are very questionable,” said Royals assistant coach Randy Edmonds. “It sort of deflated us right off the bat.”

Bernard didn’t fair much better as Dan Frawley scored on a cross ice pass from Barron to make the score 3-1 going into the break.

Temiscaming got back into the game early in the second when Alex Cooper found the back of the net to pull the home side within one. However, Dan Zawacki scored a shorthanded marker just two minutes later making the score 4-2.

The teams continued to trade goals as Pierrick Picard-Fiset scored for the Royals followed by a breakaway deke by J.P. Kascsak of the Trappers.

“It felt like we were playing catch-up hockey the entire game,” said Edmonds. “Just when we had some momentum, they would score.”

Zawacki really put the Royals in catch-up mode when he scored less than 30 seconds after Kascsak’s goal and with less than a minute to go in the second frame.

The Trappers took their 6-3 lead into the intermission and looked to build on that early in the third. Sasha Guimond scored on a beautiful individual effort less than a minute into the final stanza to put the Trappers up by 4.

When Kascsak scored his second of the game just 36 seconds later to make the score 8-3, it looked as though the Trappers had the game well in hand. However, some sloppy play in their own end and some undisciplined play quickly allowed the Royals back into the game.

Cooper scored his second of the game un-assisted, taking advantage of some bad defensive zone play by the Trappers. Shane Golden then scored on the power play midway through the frame to pull Temiscaming back within 3.

The Trappers subsequently got themselves into more trouble and had to fight off a brief two man advantage to secure the victory.

“We think we’re a good team, well we’ve got to start acting like it,” said a frustrated Swalucynski. “Leaving our goalie out to dry like that was not right, hopefully we are better on Sunday,” added the coach.

Kascsak, Zawacki and Cooper were stars 1, 2 and 3 respectively, each having two goals on the night.

Kascsak, Barron and Nick Laporte each had two assists on the evening, while Guimond, Mitchell, Jonathon Aubertin, Todd Hellyer, Adam Marceau and Mathew Pepin each had one.

Defenseman Marcus Brien had two helpers in a losing cause for the Royals while Ben Bruha and Benoit Fiset each had single assists.

Mitchell made 27 saves for the victory while Bernard took the loss making 17 saves on 23 shots. Murray, who came back into the game after the eighth Trapper goal, allowing his two goals on 15 shots.

The Royals have 17 players that can return for next season and Edmonds said after the game that with a young team, they knew there would be games like this one.

“We knew there would be some painful nights, like tonight, where our inexperience shows a little bit,” said the coach. “It is what it is; we’ve got to try to move on,” added Edmonds.

With 4 regulars out of the line-up, Midget Trappers forward Scott Pawson was called up for the game. The youngster logged quite a bit of ice time and the coach was pleased with his performance.

“Scotty Pawson played a pretty good game for us … he’ll fit in well if we need him at the end of the year,” said Swalucynski.

Both team’s next matchup will be against the league leading Abitibi Eskimos. The Royals will travel to Iroquois Falls to play the ‘Eskis on Saturday night while the Trappers will host them Sunday night at the Gardens.

Players from the Junior ‘A’ Trappers visited students at ET Carmichael Public School today to how students the importance of nutrition and exercise. Players helped students with the milk delivery program during lunch hour and had a fun game of floor hockey with the students in the gym. Matthew Weisensel, Jesse Cere, J.P. Kascsak, Dan Zawacki, Dan Frawley, Nick Laporte and Michael Mitchell were on hand to take part in the activities.

“It’s very cool to see the positive impact we can have on these kids when we do community and school events like this,” said defenseman Matthew Weisensel.

“We also have a great time too, getting to play floor hockey with the students is a blast.”

The Trappers would like to thank Mrs. Talentino for helping coordinate the event.

The North Bay Junior ‘A’ Trappers are looking forward to being able to continue their community involvement in this new year. Throughout the first half of the season, the Trappers have taken part in school programs, community events and charity functions. If you would like to have the Trappers help out with your program or event, please call the Junior ‘A’ Trappers office at 497-0059.

Submitted to BayToday.ca

Jr. Trappers forward Michel Gamache has been giving us an up close and personal look at the North Bay Jr. A Trappers in his blog. Upon his depature, defenceman Matt Weisensel stepped up to offer his insight in "Matt's Jr. Trappers Blog." Enjoy it!

Greetings fellow readers! Unfortunately fellow friend and teammate, Michel Gamache, was dealt away at the leagues trade deadline. I know I speak for everyone when I say he will be missed. He was an awesome hockey player, and a great friend to have in the dressing room. He also did a fantastic job on updating the fans weekly, I would know for I was a frequent reader. He set the bar high, and I intend to pick up where he left off.

Although I have brainstormed many topics for which to write about, I only see it fitting to tell you readers a little bit about myself. Firstly, my name is Matthew Weisensel (wise-en-sell), number five for the North Bay Junior A Trappers. If you see me around the rink I am often referred to as Weiser or Weisy; Not a bad nickname if I do say so myself. I am eighteen years old and am currently participating in my fourteenth year of hockey. This season is different than any other season because it is the first time I have played away from home. I am the second oldest child from a family of seven; my Mom, my Dad and my four sisters. Yes I did say four. It’s a big family so you got to know it’s exciting. As chaotic as it gets from time to time I do love each and every one of them very much.

I moved to North Bay in mid-October from Calgary, Alberta. It was a rather long commute, but I sure was excited to go to a place I had never been before. At first it was tough as I’m sure anyone would say being the new guy, but once I got to know the boys and started hanging around with them things became so much easier. Being the new kid is alright only for so long, once you settle in with the team and become a Trapper, that’s when the fun starts. I have been here for a couple months now and absolutely love the town and everyone in it. It has become a second home for me. The plan now is to continue playing hockey to the best of my abilities and help this team win a championship.

Anyways, I hope you got a little insight about me, and I promise to be back next week with some juicy details about the lives of my teammates and I. Enjoy your week everyone!
GO! Trappers! GO!

Jr. A Trappers forward Stan Smrke misses off the side of the net in the first period of North Bay's 4-1 win over the Blind River Beavers. Photo by Paul Soucy.

Dan Zawacki scored on a break-away 0:53 into the first period, and North Bay never looked back as they built up a 3-0 first period lead and cruised to an easy 4-1 win over the Blind River Beavers at Memorial Gardens Sunday night.

Brodie Barron and Justin Dicks each scored pretty goals in the win, but Swalucynski said nice goals aren’t the important thing.

“As long as they go in, I don’t really care,” Swalucynski said jokingly. “I thought the nicest goal was the first one, because we did what we were preaching.”

Swalucynski stressed that basic hockey is the key to winning games.

“We finished our checks and we were being hard on them,” Swalucynski said of his teams play during their win over the Beavers. “We play positional hockey…I mean we’re a real strong team.”

With the win, North Bay now sits 10 points behind first place Abitibi. North Bay has being playing exceptionally well as of late, but not making up any ground to the Eskimos who are also playing well.

“I’m happy that we’re playing well,” Swalucynski said. “If we can continue doing this -- getting better everyday, it doesn’t matter how well you’re playing now; it matters how well you’re playing at the end of March when we play them (Abitibi).”

Even the Trappers dressing room is echoing Swalucynski’s sentiments.

“The mood in the dressing room is real good,” Newest Trapper addition Mike Bodley said. “There’s no trouble; everyone’s here for a reason – to win.”

Beating the Beavers is nice, but Bodley said the Trappers have bigger aspirations.

“That’s our goal – first place,” Bodley said. “But we just got to take it game-by-game, and hopefully we can catch them."

Scoring for the Trappers in the win were Dan Zawacki at 0:53 of the first; Brodie Barron at 14:58 of the first; Justin Dicks at 17:09 of the first; and Jonathan Aubertin at 10:10 of the second.

Michael Mitchell made 20 saves in the win.

Drew MacMillan scored the lone goal for the Beavers who dropped their third in a row after going on an impressive 10 game winning streak.

North Bay took to the ice without one of their goalies whom reportedly quit the team earlier this week.

“He felt he deserved a lot more than what we (Trappers) were giving him,” Swalucynski said of former goalie Sony Drolet. “There’s lots of goalies out there, we’ll find one.”

Midget ‘AAA’ Trapper, Tanner Davis was called up for Sunday Night’s game; Swalucynski said this won't be the last time North Bay hockey fans see him in a Jr. ‘A’ Trappers jersey.

“He’s a good goalie,” Swalucynski said of Davis. “He’ll probably have a good future with the organization if he wants to hang around.”

The Trappers next game is Thursday Night in Temiscaming before hitting the Memorial Gardens ice on Sunday night when they face first-place Abitibi. Game time is 7:00 p.m. at Memorial Gardens.

Jr. Trappers forward Michel Gamache has been giving us an up close and personal look at the North Bay Jr. A Trappers in his blog. Michel experienced the reality of Jr. Hockey Sunday when he found out he was traded to the Collingwood Blues in exchange for Michael Bodley. However, the articulate teenager wanted to do one final blog for his readers. Enjoy it!

It’s never an easy feeling having to leave the place you have become so accustomed to. Trying to adapt to a new environment once is hard enough on the body and mind but to have to do it all over again is just as hard if not harder. But trades are just part of reality in the hockey world.

It isn’t all negatives though. It is a chance to make new connections in the world of hockey, to meet new people, and make new friends. It is a chance for me to experience something I would probably never have experienced outside the world of hockey.

I’m fortunate to be able to expand my horizons as a hockey player, and often, change is good. But nonetheless, the past few days have been hectic, and they made me seriously think about my hockey career.

But in the end, I think the decision I made, was the right one. Collingwood is a great place to play hockey at a high level. I believe that this will be a good opportunity for me, as a hockey player, and as a 17-year-old kid going forward.

It has been a pleasure for me writing for the wonderful community that North Bay is. It is never easy to say good-bye, but the time has come for me to say Adieu, to you, my fellow readers.

Michel Gamache, signing off.

Check out BayToday.ca next Wednesday when Jr. Trappers defenceman Matt Weisensel takes over the reigns of the Jr. Trappers blog from his former teammate.

Ian Swalucynski continues to be busy working the phones on Canadian Junior 'A' Trade Deadline Day.

Sources close to the team and OJHL sources tell BayToday that the club has shipped speedy forward Michel Gamache to the Collingwood Blues of the OJHL in exchange for 20-year-old forward Vince Ouellette - although this could be only a portion of the deal.

However, after Sunday's game Swalucynski confirmed the first half of the deal, but the return is Blues forward Mike Bodley. The 19-year-old winger had 27 points in 38 games with Collingwood this season.

For Gamache, the writer for BayToday's Trappers Blog, the move left him with mixed emotions.

"It is with a very heavy heart that I annouce to you this morning, that I have been traded from North Bay," Gamache stated in an email to BayToday.ca Sunday.

Look forward to Michel's final Trappers Blog about the reality of trades in Junior Hockey this Wednesday.

Trappers forward Brodie Barron takes out T-Birds forward Tyler Evoy with a check in the first period. Photo by Paul Soucy.

The Trappers scored 3 goals in a span of 1:38 of the second period and added a pair in the third as the locals defeated the Soo Thunderbirds 5-1 in a game that was much closer than the score dictated on this night.

Trappers Coach, Ian Swalucynski said there could have been a much different outcome for his team on Sunday night.

“We could have folded the tent tonight,” Swalucynski said of his team which scored five unanswered goals after trailing 1-0. “That’s a good thing. We battled hard.”

North Bay was coming off a humiliating 9-1 load at Abitibi last night, something Swalucynski attributes to the fact there was a lot of trade talk going on.

“Guys were nervous. They didn’t know what was going on,” Swalucynski said of his team. “Other teams were calling our players convincing them to go there when we’re on the bus.”

“We came back hard tonight, which was nice to see.”

Former Nipissing Laker, Justin Dicks whom Swalucynski spoke highly of – calling him unselfish – played in his second game with the Jr. ‘A’ club on Sunday night – his first home contest.

“He gave Brodie (Barron) a goal,” Swalulcynski said of Dicks. “He could have just shot it in himself, but he didn’t...We’re excited to have him.”

Dicks added that he knows exactly what he wants his role on the team to be.

“I’d like to bring some offence, those guys can score,” Dicks said of new linemates J.P. Kascsak and Brodie Barron. “If I can find them they’re going to put the puck in the net.”

Dicks is comfortable with making that transition from OUA hockey with the Lakers to Jr. A with the Trappers.

“It wasn’t that much of an adjustment,” Dicks said. “Everyone else is the same speed and just as good of players. I think we’re going to go really far.”

The game’s first star, Brodie Barron had 2 goals and an assist in the win. Kascsak, Frawley and Aubertin had the other goals for North Bay.

The Trappers next game is Friday night when they visit the Manitoulin Islanders, followed by a home tilt with the Blind River Beavers on Sunday night. Game time at Memorial Gardens is 7:00 p.m.

The Junior ‘A’ Trappers look to continue their climb to the top of the NOJHL Eastern conference this Sunday January 10^th when they take on the Soo Thunderbirds. The last time these two teams met the Thunderbirds managed to come out on top. However, the red hot Trappers are showing no signs of slowing down as they are prepared to continue their winning streak. Game time is at 7:00PM. Every fan that walks through the door will get a ballot for a chance to win an Aerus FreshEra Vacuum Cleaner supplied by Aerus / Electrolux North Bay. Purchase a program and/or souvenirs to get extra ballots for the draw. Watch for other giveaways and prizes during the game supplied by Aerus / Electrolux. 

Jr. Trappers forward Michel Gamache is going to be giving us an up close and personal look at the North Bay Jr. A Trappers in his new blog. Michel will be sharing his stories with us weekly here on BayToday.ca. Enjoy it!

Ah! A winning streak — putting up numbers in the “W” column! Although, it feels great and has its bonuses, people do not seem to realize that it also comes with some added challenges.

Sure, it feels great to be winning, but there is always an added pressure associated with it. The pressure to win - when your team is winning, obviously, people expect you to keep on (winning). With every game, when the winning streak is on the line, there is a lot of extra baggage loaded on top of our shoulders.

Everything is critiqued more finely and virtually examined under the microscope — almost as though the playoff run has already commenced.

On the upside of things though, an advantage is that we get some added privileges. For example, our coaches seem to give us more leeway when it comes to curfew. Every so often, we get to stay around on the ice after a practice and do what we please. Once in a while, it’s nice to have some time to do whatever we want on the ice.

Overall, the atmosphere inside the dressing room is a lot more inviting than when the team is on the “other side of the mountain," so to speak. The players and the coaching staff alike seem happier and it is simply more fun to be at the rink.

Even though, you sign up for both, losses and wins, any player will tell that you he absolutely hates losing and at any cost wants to win.

We have a tough schedule ahead of us, but with heart, desire, and pride, I feel confident that we can keep on winning and adding to this winning streak.

Go Trappers Go!

If you have any comments, ideas, or tips, feel free to contact me at trappers.blog@gmail.com

The youngest member of the Nipissing Lakers has moved down the hall to join the North Bay Jr. A Trappers.

Nineteen-year-old Justin Dicks had appeared in only 2 games so far this season for the Lakers and will try and get more playing time back playing junior.

Dicks has played for both the OJHL's Huntsville Otters and the Sudbury Wolves of the OHL.

In 47 games last season with the Otters, the Nipissing University student registered 13 goals and 19 assists.

Trappers Head Coach and General Manager Ian Swalucynski is excited to add Justin to the roster.

“Looking at his playing history, Justin will add experience and provide the team with more offense, and that’s just what we need to make our playoff run,” said Swalucynski.

Dicks will be suited up for his first practice Wednesday at 4:30 p.m. and play his first game as a Junior ‘A’ Trapper this Saturday when the Trappers head to Abitibi to face off against the Eskimos.

Justin’s home ice debut will be this Sunday against the Soo Thunderbirds. Game time is at 7:00 p.m.

Royals forward Andre Leclair is knocked over after he scored to make it 2-1 Team East. Photo by Chris Dawson.

TEMISCAMING, QC - Brodie Barron thought it may have been the selfish play - but the right play, as he potted the empty netter that proved to be the game winner for Team East as they edged Team West 6-5 in the first NOJHL All-Star game in 5 years.

Barron was steaming down the left wing with linemate and Trappers teammate Dan Zawacki looking for the pass on a 2 on 1 going towards an empty Team West net.

“I saw him but there was a guy right there and I want to pass to him but can I? No, so I thought the safe play was to put it in there but I felt bad for him,” said Barron about his game winner.

“It would have been nice for all of us to get a goal – our whole line there but oh well.”

The goal made it 6-4 Team East with 44 seconds to play but the resilient Western squad got one back 11 seconds when T-Birds Tyler Evoy netted his 2nd of the game beating Trappers goalie Michael Mitchell who split the goaltending duties with Eskis Eddie Davey.

Barron finished with a pair of goals with the Jonathon Aubertin getting the other goal, while Zawacki was credited with a pair of assists on the All-Star Trappers line.

Sudbury Jr. Wolves sniper Chris Kangas was dominant scoring twice for Team East while taking home the prize for the hardest shot in the skills competition with a slapper clocked at 91 miles per hour.

“It’s a pretty big honour to be here especially in my last year in the league being in an All-Star game,” said Kangas.

“I think we put on a good show and to actually win makes it even better.”

The Temiscaming Royals line of Andre Leclair, Robin Mendelsohn and Cedric Boutin got the Temiscaming fans to their feet in the second period as Andre Leclair snuck one past Eagles netminder John Klienhans who robbed Leclair late in the first period with a highlight reel glove save. The ARC line - as they are nicknamed - had a number of great opportunities.

“It was a really big crowd so it felt really good every time we had chances our crowd was right behind us and it just felt good playing in front of our home crowd,” said Mendelsohn who had an assist and was named the Team East player of the game.

Tyler Evoy led the Team West offence with 2 goals. Singles went to the Beavers Chad Richard, Islanders Blake Pederson and T-Birds Michael Shug.

Team East head coach Ian Swalucynski coached in a SIJHL showcase 4 years ago. He was impressed with the high caliber of play both sides achieved on All-Star Saturday.

“It was good quality, it took a couple hits and a couple of guys got a little bit upset and then the game started really going which was nice,” he said.

“I thought we played pretty well, guys were moving the puck, driving the net and I think we showcased a lot of skill on both teams and there is lots of skill and it was a fast game so it’s good to see and I’m glad we got the big 2 points.”

Skills Results

Here are the winners from the Skills competition held at 5 pm:

Hardest shot – Sudbury Jr. Wolves - Chris Kangas avg. 91mph

Fastest skater - Soo Eagles - Brian Depp 13.59 sec.

Accuracy - Soo Eagles - Aaron Leonard

Puck Relay - North Bay Jr. A Trappers - Sacha Guimond

Posted By NUGGET STAFF

Now comes the fun part -- whether or not they can make a run down the stretch and the playoffs--for 2010.

J.P. Kascsak scored two goals for the second straight night as the Trappers (19-10-2) moved to within eight points of first-place Abitibi with a 6-2 win over the Sudbury Junior Wolves (13-18-3) at McClelland Arena.

Dan Frawley, Dan Zawacki, Brodie Barron and Jon Aubertin also scored for the Trappers, each of their goals coming in the second period when the Trappers scored four times to battle back from a 2-1 deficit.

Chris Pontes and Justin Lariviere scored for the Junior Wolves.

Aubertin, Zawacki and (Stan) Smrke are really starting to find themselves," said Trappers head coach Ian Swalucynski.

It's almost like our young guys are not young guys anymore. Our rookies are not playing like rookies. Guys like Sacha (Guimond) and Aubertin and Adam Marceau, they have 20 junior games under their belt now and they're playing with more confidence. It's amazing what confidence can do with a team full of young guys."

Goaltender Michael Mitchell earned his first win in more than a month, making 31 saves as the Trappers were outshot 33-26.

Swalucynski and seven of his players will travel to Temiscaming Saturday to suit up for the Eastern squad in the NOJHL All-Star game.

I expect it to be a really good game -- there is lots of skill and speed on both sides," Swalucynski said. And it will be nice to get cheered instead of hearing the boos in Temiscaming, personally."

Asked if he really expected to be cheered in Temiscaming, Swalucynski replied, Nooo."

Jese Cere celebrates after tying the game early in the first period in North Bay's 6-3 win over Sudbury Tuesday Night.

The Trappers faced an early 1-0 deficit but weren’t fazed as Jese Cere tied it up 42 seconds later and North Bay never looked back as they skated to a 6-3 victory Tuesday night at Memorial Gardens.

Often times when a team establishes a large lead, the opposition tries to stir the pot by starting to rough things up. Trappers coach Ian Swalucynski said Tuesday night was no exception.

“It was a little ugly,” Swalucynski said of the Trappers win over Sudbury. “Kind of got away from what we were trying to do.”

The rough stuff is sure to continue as both teams face each other again tomorrow night in Copper Cliff. But Swalucynski said his team needs to play smart as each point is important at this stage in the season.

“We need another two points,” Swalucynski said of tomorrow night’s game. “To get another two points closer to Abitibi, and that’s our goal.”

Newcomer J.P. Kascsak played in just his fourth game with North Bay this season, but didn’t show it; the forward scored twice for the Trappers and Swalucynski said his coaching staff did their homework.

“We knew he was gritty,” Swalucynski said of Kascsak. “We knew he had a quick set of hands, and we knew he could score.”

Kascsak said Swalucynski made it quite clear what he expected of him when he joined the team.

“He wanted a gritty player who could shoot the puck,” Kascsak said. “Someone who wasn’t afraid to get hit.”

The Trappers hit the road Wednesday night in Copper Cliff for a re-match with the Jr. Wolves.

The Jr. Wolves and Trappers can share a bit of love on Saturday as the clubs combine forces on Team East for the NOJHL All-Star game taking place in Temiscaming on Saturday.

North Bay’s next home game is January 3rd when they host the Temiscaming Royals.

IROQUOIS FALLS, ON - Jonathon Aubertin scored twice and Brodie Barron added 1 goal and 2 assists as the North Bay Jr. A Trappers upended the sliding Abitibi Eskimos 7-2 at the Jus Jordan arena in Iroquois Falls on Saturday night.

The Trappers came out strong scored 3 times in the opening frame which set the tempo for the big road win in their final game before the Christmas break.

“We had a great start, came out firing and everyone was moving doing all the little’s things and making sure we played as a team which is improving over the course of past 6 games and good to see we are getting rewarded,” said Jr. Trappers head coach Ian Swalucynski.

Michel Gamache, JP Kascsak, Jesse Cere and Adam Marceau rounded out the scoring for the Trappers who dominated the Eskis 5-1 on home ice on Sunday night.

Matt St. Jacques and Joshua Clancy scored for the Eskis.

“Back to back (wins over Abitibi) this is nice team win for us, we feel good about ourselves but in the same breath we are playing better and hope to carry it on after Christmas. There is still a lot left to be done.”

The Trappers will go into the break starting Sunday and will be back on the ice as a team on December 27th.

Jr. Trappers forward Michel Gamache is going to be giving us an up close and personal look at the North Bay Jr. A Trappers in his new blog. Michel will be sharing his stories with us weekly here on BayToday.ca. Enjoy it!

I’d like to start off by thanking those who have taken the time to write me a few words in the past couple weeks. I really appreciate the advice and the support. Now this week’s subject comes as requested by a fellow reader.

In hockey, Jr. A hockey especially, a lot happens inside the dressing room. Whether it be lounging with the guys, bonding as a team, or discussing plays, there is always something happening.

Before a practice, the coach doesn’t usually say much; we are just expected to be ready to practice. But the odd times, he will come in and say a couple words, either of encouragement, or sometimes to discuss an earlier matter.

The dressing room talk before a practice is pretty varied. Stuff from last night, the game before, work, school, job, NHL, girlfriends, and anything else that happens to pop into a conversation.

Before a game, the atmosphere in the room is very different from that of a practice. It is a lot calmer and focused. You can initially tell that everyone is getting prepared mentally for the game ahead of us. Although there is music blaring from the speakers, there always seems to be a kind of calmness roaming around the air.

Before the warm up, we have team meetings. Most of the time they are separated into these categories: forwards, defenseman, power play, penalty kill, and even sometimes meetings for each individual line.

Since we have a break between our warm up and the actual first period, the speech before it is usually about warming up. “Warm up your hands. Warm up your feet. Warm up your goalie.”

When we come back into the dressing room, after the warm up, everybody is geared up and excited to play. Coaches come in and review strategies studied during the previous practices. About 2 minutes before we head on the ice, they come back and give the final words before the game. The speech is followed by the calling of the starting line up followed with a loud roar, and everybody is up and heading out the dressing room and on to the ice.

Ready-set-go, it’s game time!

Next week I will be home for the holidays, I hope to find the chance to write something for then. If not, then I will be back in 2 weeks. Happy holidays everyone!

Michel.

By Paul Soucy
BayToday.ca
Sunday, December 13, 2009

Life Outside The Pond

By Chris Dawson
BayToday.ca
Wednesday, December 09, 2009

Jr. Trappers forward Michel Gamache is going to be giving us an up close and personal look at the North Bay Jr. A Trappers in his new blog. Michel will be sharing his stories with us weekly here on BayToday.ca. Enjoy it!

Believe it or not, hockey is not the only thing I like doing in life. What a shocker right? There are many things I enjoy doing in my spare time.

First and foremost, graphic design. I found a great interest in graphic design in 9th grade. I took on a Media Arts class, and loved it. Both my parents have a background in graphic design so you can pretty well say it was in my blood already.

I love doing anything from personal things; to school work (when I was in school), and now I’ve recently started working on a logo for someone’s company. I find it a great way to use my creativity and just let loose.

Secondly, I’ve found a great interest in health and training. Everyday I go to the gym to improve physically. It’s a great stress reliever as I am able to vent it all out onto the weights.

Third of all, I love movies, anything from the 1920s era all the way to the present time. My favorite director is Stanley Kubrick, and incidentally my favorite movie happens to be A Clockwork Orange. I have a strong passion for great movies, I love to watch them, and re-watch them, again and again. I run another blog where I try to watch one movie everyday, and then follow up with a short review.

As you can see from my blogging I also have a strong passion for writing. I find it’s another great way to express myself. Other than blogging I thoroughly enjoy screenwriting. I have recently started to write a screenplay, which is being adapted from a novel that my friend wrote. This started in my last year of high school, in my Creative Writing class. We had a certain assignment to do, which was to write a screenplay. I fell in love with it. I can honestly say I have never worked that hard on a school assignment before.

And last but not least, photography. Being the son of a fantastic photographer, it goes without saying that the skill runs in my veins. I had always admired my father in everything he did; amongst a lot of things (other than hockey) photography was a big part. Looking at the world through the lense of a camera, and finding shots that would make great pictures, is exciting and at the same time overpowering.

Now I can’t go without mentioning hockey in some way. My love for hockey has grown through the years, from a simple past time, to a pre-career opportunity. Hockey will always remain what I love best.

Have a great week!

Michel.
P.S. Don’t forget; if you have any comments or suggestions, I would love to read them. Drop me a line at trappers.blog@gmail.com

Thanks to Molson Canada, we have a very exciting prize for our fans that attend our game on December 13^th. All fans will be given a ballot at the entrance for a chance to win a pair of Toronto Maple Leafs tickets for the game on Saturday January 9, 2010 at the Air Canada Centre against the Pittsburg Penguins. Looking for more ways to win? Donate non-perishable food items to the Salvation Army food drive and receive an extra ballot for every item you donate. Still want more chances to win? Purchase a program or a Junior ‘A’ Trappers souvenir and receive an extra ballot. The draw will take place at the beginning of the third period so make sure your ballots are in by that time.

Jr. Trappers forward Michel Gamache is going to be giving us an up close and personal look at the North Bay Jr. A Trappers in his new blog. Michel will be sharing his stories with us weekly here on BayToday.ca. Enjoy it!

Where I come from, Jr. A hockey doesn’t get all that much attention, and even less for Jr. B. In Ottawa we have both an OHL team (the Ottawa 67’s) and an NHL team (the Ottawa Senators). So needless to say people would rather pay to watch either an OHL or an NHL game.

Playing at the Memorial Gardens is quite a change of scenery for me. We average now about 1000 people a game, which we (the team) are trying to augment in every way we can. Now don’t get me wrong… 1000 people attending a Jr. A hockey game is a lot, especially from where I come from!

The atmosphere inside the Gardens is incredible - 1000 fans screaming and cheering for you is more than any Jr. A player could ever ask for. When I scored my goal this passed Sunday afternoon, I was amazed at just how loud it got inside the building. It’s is a great thing to build off of - 1000+ fans screaming just for you is quite the feeling. Definitely not something I had ever experienced before.

Okay back on topic. There is a pretty scripted schedule on home game days.

At 9 o’clock I wake up to the sound of Radiohead playing on my computer. Now depending on how I feel either I hit the space bar to snooze for another 10 measly minutes, or I hit enter and get out of bed.

I head downstairs, usually I am alone at home; my billet parents are out the door by 6 or 7 already, and my roommate is usually hard at work at school. Most of the time I will make a couple of eggs, some toast and a protein shake. After I finish everything, I clean my dishes either by hand or the magic of a dishwasher.

By 10:30, I get picked up, and I am out the door heading to the rink for a pre game meeting at 11. During the meeting we talk about strategies and plays for the day’s game. Then we walk around the rink a few times to wake up the legs, and after we head back into the dressing room for a light stretch.

At around 12:30, I am back at home again. I make a little lunch to keep me going. Usually warm up some leftovers from last night’s supper. Now depending on how I feel I will either take a quick nap or watch a movie/TV. More often than not I watch a movie. I feel that sometimes napping only makes me more tired.

Now at 3:30, I sit down and eat a bowl of pasta that my awesome billet parents prepared for me the night before. It’s great to have a meal already cooked for you, ready to eat right on schedule.

After I finish eating, I take a quick shower to look presentable for the game. I put on my suit and prepare mentally for the task at hand.

For the second time today, I am on my way to the rink.

When I step out on the ice and I hear the announcer say: “North Bay Trappers”, and the fans answering with a roar; I know, at that moment, nothing else matters, and there is nowhere I’d rather be then here.

Have a great week, fellow readers.

Cheers!

Michel

If you any comments or suggestions for future topics please feel free to write to me at trappers.blog@gmail.com.

Jr. Trappers forward Michel Gamache is going to be giving us an up close and personal look at the North Bay Jr. A Trappers in his new blog. Michel will be sharing his stories with us weekly here on BayToday.ca. Enjoy it!

In the league where I played last year, well, leagues that is, both the EOJBHL and the CJHL, I didn’t really experience road trips per say. The furthest away game in the EOJBHL was a short 45-minute to 1-hour school bus ride to an out of conference game. In the CJHL, although I didn’t get the chance to go on this road game, the furthest place to travel would have been to Pembroke. So, needless to say, I wasn’t used to the whole travelling part of junior hockey and it no doubt came as a surprise when I learned how far I was going to have to travel in the NOJHL.

But as time passes, I have quickly learned how to embrace the 2-7 hour-long road trips.

Road trips are a nice chance to have some down time, and a chance for the guys to come together. Although the Veterans sit in the back, and the Rookies in the front, there is a lot of bonding that happens. For some reason, road trips are also a great chance to watch the same movies, over and over again. I am pretty sure I can now recite the whole script of the movie “Youngblood”.

Although lots of conversations and laughs are shared, there is always a time to take a nap, or two, or three. Let’s just say there is a lot of shut-eye that happens when you return from Abitibi at 3 o’clock in the morning!

Personally, I am the type of guy that sits in the front and sleeps. Although sometimes I like to chit-chat with my teammates, most of the time, I like to have some “me” time. This also gives me the chance to watch some of my own movies on my laptop.

As far as meals go on road trips, we eat a healthy diet of Subway. But for a 17-year-old guy living away from home, this can become quite costly. Lucky for me though, I am fortunate to have a set of billet parents who are nice enough to make a lunch for me to take on road trips.

Instead of spending $15.00 every road trip, I get to eat a nice home packed lunch.

Let’s not forget, regardless the place or the time, you can always look forward to the delicious, but sometimes not-so-delicious pizza, waiting for you in the bus.

When the bus trips are shorter, Temang or Sudbury for example, usually we all use that period of time to concentrate and think about the game ahead. It gives us a bit of quiet time before (getting on the ice).

And speaking of road trips, we are off to Sudbury tonight, hopefully to mimic the outcome of Sunday night’s game!

Have a good week, fellow readers.

Cheers!

Be sure to check out Coach Ian Swalucynski tonight (November 17^th) on Firing Line with Frank Caruso on Cogeco. Call in and perhaps you will be lucky enough to be able to ask Coach Swalucynski a question.

The North Bay Junior ‘A’ Trappers went 1 and 1 this past weekend. The Trappers put up a good fight on Friday against the Abitibi Eskimos but could not pull ahead. The Junior ‘A’ Trappers were back Sunday to face the Sudbury Jr. Wolves at the Gardens. After 3 periods of back and fourth and one overtime period, the Trappers pulled out a shoot out win. Newcomer Ryan Patsch scored the tying goal in the third period then helped the Trappers finish off the Sudbury Jr. Wolves by scoring the shoot out winner. The final score was 4-3.

Brodie Barron continued to show us his goal scoring abilities by scoring in both games and being featured as the North Bay Junior ‘A’ Trappers goal of the game on Friday. Highlights from this and other games can be seen on youtube (http://www.youtube.com/user/nbtrappersjra) and on the North Bay Junior ‘A’ Trappers website at www.gotrappersgo.ca.

Also, Junior 'A' Trappers merchandise will be available at all upcoming games at the Honda Garage/Souvenir Depot. T-shirts will be available to purchase as well as other exciting merchandise to order. Get your Trappers gear and be a proud supporter of Junior 'A' Hockey!

Trapper forward Dan Zawacki fights for the puck in front of Jr. Wolves goaltender Nick McMullen. Photo by Matt Gordon.

Ryan Patsch scored the game tying goal and scored the game winner in the shootout as the North Bay Jr. A Trappers defeated the Sudbury Jr. Wolves 4-3 at Memorial Gardens on Sunday night. The win puts the Trappers 3 points ahead of the Wolves for second place in the NOJHL’s Eastern Division.

North Bay head coach Ian Swalucynski praised the players who came up big down the stretch for the win.

“Dan Zawacki was probably the best forward out there tonight on either side, he was unbelievable and I thought (Jonathon) Aubertin played well too” boasted Swalucynski. Zawacki set up Patsch’s winner and was flying around the ice the entire evening.

However, Swalucynski also noted that he was forced to sit some players late as they made some mistakes that he couldn’t tolerate.

“A guy who took a stupid penalty didn’t play anymore, 3 turnovers by one guy so he didn’t play for the last 8 minutes,” said Swalucynski. “My point was proven by us coming out and finishing, (we Stuck) with the guys who play by the rules and follow the program,” noted the bench boss.

In the first period, the Trappers dictated most of the play outshooting the Wolves 16-10, but were unable to beat goaltender Nick McMullen. Michael Mitchell did his part as well stopping all ten Sudbury shots to keep the first period scoreless.

The middle stanza got started off with a bang as the Jr. Trappers scored on their first two shots at 0:19 and 0:49. Brodie Barron got the first goal, his 16th of the season, tucking it under McMullen from behind the net. Marcel Konopelky then wired one past McMullen from the top of the circle to make the score 2-0 for the home squad.

However, the Jr. Wolves got right back into the game less than 3 minutes later as Chris Pontes put a soft one behind Mitchell. The Sudbury goal also came on their first shot of the period. Dustin Ryan tied the game for the Wolves with less than two minutes left in the period on a two man advantage.

Sudbury forward Daniel Aubut put the visitors up midway through the final frame, before Patsch tied the game up with less than 3 minutes to go. The goal came just after a Trappers power play had expired.

McMullen came up big in overtime stopping 4 shots including a big glove save on Aubertin. McMullen stopped 39 shots on the night and was named the games first star; Mitchell was the third star in a 26 stop effort; Patsch took home second star honours.

In the shootout, Mitchell stopped both shots he faced and Patsch scored on deke to his backhand to seal the victory for the Trappers.

Stan Smrke had two assists to lead the Trappers, Nick Laporte and Zawacki had the only other two helpers for the home squad. Adam DiBrina had two assists for the Wolves while Tyler Arps, Luc Comtois and Brian Villeneuve all had single helpers.

Now almost half the way through the season, Swalucynski was asked what his team will need to work on to be ready for the home stretch and playoffs.

“We’ve got to learn to battle the right way, make sure we win the games we are supposed to and we have to play with a little bit of an edge,” said the coach.

These two teams will battle again this week when North Bay travels to McCelland arena on Wednesday night. The Jr. Trappers will then try to give the Eskimos their first regulation loss of the season on Saturday in Iroquois Falls.

Jr. Trappers forward Michel Gamache is going to be giving us an up close and personal look at the North Bay Jr. A Trappers in his new blog. Michel will be sharing his stories with us weekly here on BayToday.ca. Enjoy it!

I’d like to start off by saying what an amazing change moving to North Bay has been for me. Not only am I a part of a great organization and hockey team, but I have been given the chance to take part in something that I would have never done had I stayed back home; this being the opportunity to be a part of the wonderful community that North Bay really is. Coming to North Bay I had never done anything of the sort. Sure I’ve completed my 40 hours of community service like any other high school graduate, but I never imagined just how enjoyable the whole experience would be. Some people look at this as a chore, but the way I look at it, it’s a chance to give back to the community and an opportunity to meet new and interesting people, to interact with the kids who are our future, to create some contacts that may or may not be useful in the future, and to bring in a different fan base, and a chance to possibly bring in more fans to our hockey games!

Whether you know it or not, in the past few weeks, I, as well as a couple of other teammates, have been out of the arena and into the community

The first thing we did was make an appearance at the “Jeff and Tanis’” No Frills 1st Anniversary. We welcomed customers into the store, shared a smile and some laughs. We gave away tickets, helped bag customer purchases, and handed out carnations to the lady customers. I had the chance to meet new people, and also to introduce myself to the community. I got to see just how friendly the people of North Bay really are. I think they enjoyed our presence and we were really glad to be able to help. Secondly, last week, some teammates and I, made an appearance at the Mother St. Bride School to help with their Milk Program. It was great to see children willing to help others at such a young age. The kids were very curious as to the “hows and the whys” of a Jr.A hockey player. Lastly, this past Monday, we visited the same school again but this time to read to the students, and to share our experiences and our goals. It was an honor for me to have such young aspiring children looking up to me. Amongst many other things, I shared with them: who I was, how I got started in hockey, and how I ended up in North Bay. I could see myself in many of them. I am proud to be setting a good example for young children and also possibly our future hockey players. I must add — they also had their share of stories tell too! I am proud to say that Matt Weisensel and I have both been a part of each community involvement, and, I speak for both of us when I say that, I’m sure we will both continue to help out and give back for the remainder of our stay in North Bay.

Jr. Trappers forward Michel Gamache is going to be giving us an up close and personal look at the North Bay Jr. A Trappers in his new blog. Michel will be sharing his stories with us weekly here on BayToday.ca. Enjoy it!

I knew it wasn’t going to be easy, leaving home at 17. But I was prepared to do it; I was ready, wherever I went, I was ready.

When it finally became a reality that I was going to leave my home, I had to give it a lot of thought. It wasn’t exactly an easy decision, but I knew that in the long run it would be the right one, so, I decided to jump on board with it, and follow my dream.

It wasn’t easy leaving my parents, my girlfriend, my brother, my house, my room, and my friends behind. But it became evident that I had made a good decision the moment I arrived in North Bay and met with Coach Ian.

I stayed with my uncle Rob for the first week and a half. I was so thankful of him for letting me stay with him while the Trappers found me a billet home. I also had the chance to hang out with my cousin, Courtney, a couple of times. It was nice to know that I had family living so close even though I was so far away from home.
Although living with my uncle was great, I was still anxious to move into a house and settle in for the season. When that time finally arrived, I was elated to find out that I was moving into a nice house, that would soon become my home away from home.

Not only was the house nice, I quickly found out just how great the two people living there were.

Having never gone through this before I wasn’t sure what to expect from my billet parents. But, as time went on, I realized just how great it was to have two strangers become such a big part of my life. I can really say that they have become a second set of parents.

With all the countless new technologies, it makes it so much easier for me to stay in contact with my friends and family back home. There are so many ways for me to interact with people, such as Skype, email, text messaging and instant messaging.

Sure I still get lonesome, but thanks to my parents for buying me a laptop and cell phone, I can communicate with everyone whenever I get too lonesome.

Jr. A Trappers goalie Sony Drolet makes a safe off Royals forward Darren Shecapio in the second period. Photo by Chris Dawson.

Story by Paul Soucy

The Highway 63 rivalry between the North Bay Trappers and Temiscaming Royals did not disappoint those in attendance at Memorial Gardens on Sunday night. In a game filled with penalties, fights and game misconducts, a Temiscaming Royals team which saw its bench shortened by three players ran out of steam and lost to North Bay 2-1.

Will Laporte broke the 1-1 tie with a power play goal at 7:44 of the third period which stood up as the game winner on this night.

Royals Head Coach, Steve McCharles was not pleased with how physical the game was but it’s to be expected when the Royals play the Trappers.

“It’s always this type of game with North Bay,” McCharles said. “It’ll go on for as long as we’re in Temiscaming or North Bay is in North Bay.”

Near the end of the game, North Bay’s Will Laporte sucker-punched the Royals’ Robin Mendelsohn and McCharles wouldn’t comment on the episode. However, Trappers coach Ian Swalucynski thought Mendelsohn embellished incident.

“One guy thought he was Greg Luganis,” Swalucynski said. “He looked dead, then he’s back. Then he’s dead again and he’s back…If you’re going to play a man’s sports, be a man.”

Andre Leclair scored the lone goal of the game for the Royals; a power play marker to give the visitors a 1-0 lead after 20 minutes.

McCharles said he’s a different coach than he has been in the past, and conducts himself in a more professional manner during the types of situations such as Sunday night.

“I try to do that,” McCharles added. “I try and step back a little and not be so emotional which I think I’ve been going a good job of.”

The Royals were two men down twice during the loss to the Trappers, McCharles said it gave his team a boost, albeit short-lived.

“Obviously you get energy from that,” McCharles said. “But when your bench is as short as ours was…I think you noticed towards the end of the game that we were getting a little tired.”

North Bay out shot Temiscaming by 26 and only managed to score two goals. Swalucynski said his team has to work harder, and play better to compete against teams like Abitibi; a team they’re chasing in the standings.

“It’s got to start Tuesday at practice,” Swalucynski said. “We got to work…be rough around each other so when we have battles in games, we can win them and create opportunities.”

Newcomer Brodie Barron has been off to a great start this season since coming over from the Islanders. He scored the game-tying goal on Sunday night to give him 13 on the season and said playing with North Bay is much different than what he was used to last season.

“I’ve got better players to play with. No offence to Manitoulin,” Barron said. “I’m playing with Dan Frawley and he opens up a lot of space for me.”

The game was also the home debut for new Jr. Trappers goaltender Sony Drolet, who made a couple key saves in the third period en route to his first victory in Trappers red. Meantime, Royals netminder Jim Murray was stellar most of the night, turning away 46 shots in the loss.
The two teams renew the rivalry on Friday at Le Centre in Temiscaming, a contest that shouldn’t be any different than Sunday night’s game. North Bay’s next home game in Sunday vs. the Blind River Beavers.

Jr. Trappers forward Michel Gamache is going to be giving us an up close and personal look at the North Bay Jr. A Trappers in his new blog. Michel will be sharing his stories with us weekly here on BayToday.ca. Enjoy it!

I come from the nation’s capital, Ottawa.

Starting training camps earlier this summer I would of never thought I’d end up playing Jr. Hockey in North Bay Ontario.

My story starts in Sudbury, of course a city a little east of North Bay. This was my second year attending the Sudbury Wolves main camp. I had the privilege of being selected by the Wolves in the 8th round of the 2008 priority selection draft.

After I had attended both the rookie and main camp in ’08, the staff had told me to work on my overall strength and to “put on a couple pounds”. So I returned to Ottawa and did just that.

For the ’08-’09 season, I played both Jr. “B” and Jr. “A” with the Clarence Beavers and the Gloucester Rangers respectively.

I spent the summer in the gym, working on getting bigger, faster, and stronger.

When the ’09 training camp rolled up, I felt ready, and fitter than ever. I had set high expectations for myself.

The camp went well, I started by scoring 2 great goals in the first game. But on the Sunday I heard news that I didn’t want to hear. They told me, I just had a little bit more to go. Meaning there were still things I needed to work on.

When I got back to Ottawa, I continued with the Gloucester Rangers training camp, that I had left mid-way through to attend the Wolves camp.

The camp went by really well, I thought I was performing really well.

But when the last day arrived, I got some more bad news. The coaching staff had agreed on going with an “older” team for the season and there would be no room for me on the squad.

So there I was, sitting at home with my dad, wondering what I was going to do.

My dad spent the next couple of days literally on the phone. I am not exaggerating when I say that, when he wasn’t sleeping, he was either on the phone, or on his laptop sending e-mails, trying to find me a place to play.

Finally we heard from mouth to ear that the North Bay Trappers were searching for players.

I packed my bags, and next thing I knew I was driving up north once again.

And that’s how I became a North Bay Jr. A Trapper.

By Jordan Allard
BayToday.ca

For the North Bay Jr. 'A' Trappers it was a case of forgotten identity.

Fortunately for them their memory loss was temporary, as they rebounded with six straight goals in a 6-3 rout of the Sudbury Junior Wolves at the Memorial Gardens tonight.

"The sun shines on a dog butt once a day and it doesn't fool him." explained Jr. A Trappers head coach Ian Swalucynski.

"We kind of forgot who we were. We're not a skilled team, we're a team that has to work our butts off and that'll be our identity."

And while the Jr. A Trappers found their identity - the Junior Wolves lost theirs after getting out to a early lead thanks to goals from Adam DiBrina and Luc Comtois.

"We've been on a little of a roll lately winning four in a row and guys started to do things on their own tonight after we started well. We got out of our game plan really. We didn't chip pucks out and we got lazy and North Bay jumped on us." said Junior Wolves head coach Blaine Smith.

Down 2-0 late in the first despite out shooting their opponents things weren't looking good for the Jr. Trappers, but a big goal from Brodie Barron cut the visitors lead in half.

Barron cut out in front of the Junior Wolves net and backhanded a shot past goaltender Chris Kaye with just 12.5 seconds left in the period.

Swalucynski thought that goal was especially big, considering how poorly his team played in losses to Abitibi and Sudbury last week.

"It was a big goal for sure. We gotta believe and we lost our belief in ourselves for seven periods of hockey and I don't know why. We've never had a three game losing streak since I've been here and Brodie's goal went a long way in ensuring the win." he said.

Just over eight minutes into the second the Trappers would tie the game thanks to another goal from Barron.

This time he fired a wrist shot from the left faceoff circle into the back of the net.

The Trappers wouldn't stop there and before the end of the period they would take the lead.

At the 15:56 mark the Trappers would jam away at a loose puck in the crease and finally Dan Frawley would jam it home.

The Trappers outshot the Junior Wolves 17-8 in the period and 48-42 overall.

Frawley would strike again early into the final stanza, as six minutes in he tipped in Marcel Konopelky's point shot.

Moments after Frawley's go ahead goal the Trappers would put the game on ice thanks to goals from newcomer Dan Zawacki and Will Laporte in a 50 second span.

Zawacki - who played last year with the Boulder Jr. Bisons - is off to a fast start with the Trappers.

In seven games so far he has picked up 10 points (6 goals and 4 assists).

Zawacki attributed his strong play to his new line-mates.

"It's my line." he explained.

“I'm playing with Jon Aubertin and Brendan Galley who are two of the top players on this team. They're also both very speedy like me, so we've clicked together."

Evan Daciuk would round out the scoring for Wolves, as he redirected a long wrist shot from the point past Trappers tender Michael Mitchell.

With the win the Jr. Trappers move to 8-4 on the season and their next game is Saturday night against the Beavers in Blind River.

Their next home game is on the following night against the Soo Eagles at 7 p.m.

SAULT STE. MARIE, MICHIGAN - The North Bay Jr. A Trappers bounced back from a loss to the Soo Thunderbirds Friday night with an impressive 4-2 victory over the Soo Eagles Saturday night at the Pullar Stadium.

Brendan Galley and Jonathon Aubertin scored third period goals to break open what was a 2-2 tie after 40 minutes.

Jr. A Trappers goaltender Michael Mitchell got the win and a bit of redemption. The Thunder Bay product fanned on a clearing attempt that led to Phillip Webb's easy go ahead power play goal that gave the Eagles a 2-1 lead in the second period. Mitchell was flawless the rest of the way turning aside 24 Eagles shots including 3 big saves early in the third period.

Dan Zawacki and Mat Pepin had the other goals for the Jr. Trappers.

Ryan McAleese had the other goal for the Eagles who were outshot 48-26 on the night.

Jr. A Trappers head coach Ian Swalucynski felt a playoff atmosphere at the Pullar Saturday night.

"We turned it on tonight," said Swalucynski.

"We wore them out forechecking and hitting. Guys like Frawley, Marceau and Cere were grinding it out and it was a total team effort."

The loss was the first of the season for the now 4-1 Soo Eagles.

The Jr. 'A' Trappers (7-2) will look to find the win column again on Friday night when they host the undefeated Abitibi Eskimos. Game time is 7:30 p.m. at Memorial Gardens on Friday night.

Paul Soucy
baytoday.ca

A crowd of about 1,300 showed up to Memorial Gardens Sunday night to see the Highway 63 rivalry of the North Bay Trappers and Temiscaming Royals.

North Bay got on the board first at 4:09 of the first frame when newcomer Dan Zawacki scored his first of the year from Michel Gamache and Marcel Konopelky. After a failed power-play by the Trappers, Zawacki would get on the score sheet once more tipping in a Jonathon Aubertin point shot at 12:22 to make it 2-0 home side. The Trappers wasted little time in the second period as Todd Hellyer scored their third goal of the game from Dan Frawley.
Brodie Barron received a slashing penalty at 9:20, and Temiscaming made North Bay pay for it; Robin Mendelsohn scored his fourth of the season 27 seconds later from André Leclair and Rylan Henley.

The game became rough shortly after as each team received ten minute misconduct penalties at both the 10:28, and 13:39 marks of the second. 51 seconds later, Michel Gamache was assessed an elbowing penalty; four seconds after he stepped out of the box Darren Shecapio’s shot would trickle past North Bay Goalie, Michael Mitchell to close the gap and make it 3-2. It was Shecapio's league leading 8th goal of the season.

Mathew Pepin notched his first of the season with 30 seconds left in the second stanza, which would turn out to be the game winner. Temiscaming’s Robin Mendelsohn would add his second of the game to make it 4-3, and to round out the scoring, Sacha Guimond scored number two on the season on a sweet dangle on the breakaway at the eight minute mark of the third and North Bay would take this one 5-3.

On the other hand, Royals Head Coach, Steve McCharles said his team was not up to par.

"We played sloppy, our passes weren't on," McCharles said. "Everybody bobbled the puck, and so on."

After admitting his team played sloppy, McCharles went on to say he expects them to be much better.

"I think there are guys here that can absolutely play at a higher lever, but we're missing guys," McCharles admitted. "Michael Sauvageau, who I think is one of the top players in this league when he's on the ice."

The Trappers had several different players in the lineup for Sunday night’s game, and coach Ian Swalucynski said he was pleased with how they performed.

“It was good to see that we put in different guys and they’re following the game plan, and we’re getting results,” Swalucynski said.

Newcomer Dan Zawacki played in his first game with the Trappers on Sunday, and did not waste any time getting on the score sheet as he scored the first two goals of the game. Swalucyinsky had nothing but good things to say about the youngster from Boulder, Colorado.

“He’s a high-speed, in-your-face kid that’s got good offensive touch,” Swalucynski said. “I figured that he and Aubertin would work well together – or Gamache, or whoever you put on that left side – They were buzzing. In the first period you really seen something every time they were on the ice…He’ll be a nice addition for us.”

Despite being 6-1 on the season, Swalucynski is baffled as to why the seats at Memorial Gardens are not packed with more fans for Trappers home games.

“I don’t know what more we have to do,” Swalucynski said looking irritated.

“We’ve had fights. We got goals. We got hits. I don’t know, maybe people should come see us and check us out.”

Chris Dawson
baytoday.ca

Adam Marceau scored two-thirds of the famous "Gordie Howe Hat Trick" in less than a period and a half of hockey before being escorted off the ice at 7:46 of the second period as the Jr. 'A' Trappers dumped the struggling Sudbury Jr. Wolves 6-1 at Memorial Gardens on Friday night.

“Well I came out hitting, I think that’s a big difference I came out with some energy and kept going with it and scored the goal," said Marceau, who scored his first Jr. hockey goal and got into a short tilt with Sudbury's Zach McGillis in Friday's contest

It was a confident Jr Trappers bunch that broke things open in the third period after building a 2-1 lead after 20 minutes and 3-1 at the second intermission.

“They are responding, they are listening and they are buying in,” said Swalucynski about his club.

“We don’t do anything pretty we just work hard, chip it deep, stick up for ourselves and we play our way of hockey. Everybody knows it but nobody believes in us but they do believe in that dressing room so we are trying to earn respect a game at a time, a period at a time, a shift at a time, and that’s what we are all about this year."

Michel Gamache, Brodie Barron, Dan Frawley, Morgan Rudiger and Marcel Konopelky rounded out the scoring for the now 5-1 Jr. A Trappers.

Evan Daciuk scored the only goal for the Jr. Wolves who played without offensive dynamo Chris Kangas on the night. The Jr. Wolves sit in last place in the Eastern conference with a record of 1-4-2.

Chris Dawson
baytoday.ca

Brodie Barron scored twice and Jonathon Aubertin scored the winner late in the third period as the North Bay Jr. A Trappers defeated the Blind River Beavers 3-2 Sunday afternoon here.

Michael Mitchell got the win stopping 27 shots for his 4th win of the season as the Jr. Trappers improve to 4-1 on the season.

"We got off to a soft start but then we started to play better - finished our checks and banged some bodies," said Jr. A Trappers head coach Ian Swalucynski.

Dave McCaig and Drew MacMillan scored for the Beavers.

Nick Laporte added two assists for the Jr. Trappers.

The Jr. A Trappers are back on the ice next Friday when they host the Sudbury Jr. Wolves.

By Chris Dawson
BayToday.ca

COPPER CLIFF, ON. - Chris Kangas and Jordan Mills had 1 goal and 2 assists each to lead the Sudbury Jr. Wolves to a 5-3 victory over the North Bay Jr. 'A' Trappers in front of about 170 fans at the McClelland arena Wednesday night.

The Jr. Trappers found themselves in a hole early as goalie Michael Mitchell allowed 3 goals on the first 6 shots he faced as the visitors were down 3-0 after 20 minutes. Kiryl Rybalkin replaced Mitchell late in the first period.

Morgan Rudiger and Brendan Galley scored second period goals to close the gap to 3-2, but Jordan Mills and Kyle Shaw scored goals less than 30 seconds apart midway through the middle frame to help the Jr. Wolves regain their 3-goal lead.

Michel Ouellette scored the only goal of the third period.

Jr. 'A' Trappers head coach Ian Swalucynski felt the sluggish start and a pair of soft goals cost the team a chance at a road victory.

“We didn’t do what we did in the first two games that made us successful and we couldn’t recover,” said Swalucynski.

"We have to win more battles all over the ice. That’s something we will be working on in practice this week.”

Luc Comtois and Justin Larriviere had the other goals for the now 1-1-1 Jr. Wolves.

The loss drops the Jr. A Trappers record to 2-1 on the season. The Trappers are back on the road Friday when they travel to Manitoulin to take on the Islanders and then on Sunday afternoon they travel to Blind River for a matinee with the Beavers.

Matt Gordon - Baytoday.ca

The North Bay Jr. Trappers have opened the 2009-10 NOJHL season on the right foot. After a shootout win in their opening game on Friday night in Temiscaming, they beat up on the defending champion Soo Thunderbirds 5-1 at Memorial Gardens Sunday night.

The game began with opening ceremonies that included the Branch 23 Legion Pipes and Drums and player and player introductions done under spotlight. The Trappers also debuted their new look dawning Washington Capitals style red, white and blue jerseys.

The Soo opened the scoring 6 minutes into the game when forward Luke O’Brien pounced on a loose puck coming out of the penalty box and scored on a partial break. That was all the offence in the opening frame as the T-birds took the 1-0 lead to the locker room.

Jr. Trapper’s head coach Ian Swalucynski felt his team may have been affected by all the “hoopla” of the opening ceremonies, but was pleased with the effort once they settled down.

“We know how it is, we are a hard working team; in the first period we were a little bit shell shocked, in the second we bought in, third period we bought in. They took some penalties and we capitalized,” said the bench boss.

The Trappers did play much better in the last two frames of the game, especially in the second period where they out-shot the visitors 14-7.

Cory Marquardt got the Traps on the board early in the second period and Michel Ouellette pounced on Marcel Konopelky rebound for the game winner with a little over 2 minutes left in the period.

Konopelky, who is the first captain of the new North Bay Jr. Trappers, was pleased with the team’s effort and grit.

“We don’t have the prettiest team (offensively), but grinders can be better than snipers, we have heart and that’s all we need,” said the newly appointed captain.

In the third the Thunderbirds pushed hard to get back into the game, out shooting the Traps 20-9. However, for the second time in as many games the Trapper’s goalie Michael Mitchell was the difference maker as he stopped all 20 shots and gave his team a chance to win.

“He saved our bacon in the end … your goalie should be your best penalty killer and he was,” said Swalucynski of his keeper.

Konopelky scored the insurance marker midway through the last period jumping into the rush and roofing a wrist shot over McDonald’s glove. Konopelky led the Trapper defence that was very active on the scoreboard on the night getting credit for 6 points.

“We’ve got lots of skill back there, probably even more than up front but that’s all right. They all can skate, they all have a nose for the net and they can all shoot,” said Swalucynski of his back end.

Konopelky said he doesn’t expect to be an offensive leader all year but will look to help out at the other end whenever he can.

“I’m just trying to be a leader and do what I can for the team,” said the veteran blue liner.

Mitchell stole the show the rest of the way, stoning the T-Birds on four straight power plays. Jonathon Aubertin potted an empty netter with 43 seconds left to make the score 4-1. Just 18 seconds later, forward Brodie Barron scored on a great individual effort going around the Soo defender and hitting the top corner on a quick shot.

Mitchell was the games first star making 37 saves on the night, Konopelky and Ouellette each had a goal and an assist and were named stars two and three respectively.

O’Brien had the only point for the T-Birds and McDonald made 30 saves taking the loss as the Soo moved to 1-1 on the season.

Defenseman Ty Smith had two helpers on the night while Konopelky, Marquardt, Ouellette, Michel Gamache, Todd Hellyer, Nick Laporte and Will Laporte each had single assists.

After the game Swalucynski was asked if he was surprised with how his team opened the season after going 0-5 in the pre-season.

“It didn’t surprise anybody in our room; maybe it surprised some other people,” responded the coach.

The Jr. Trappers will be on the road for three games this week; they will play in Sudbury on Wednesday night against the Jr. Wolves. Friday night they will travel to Manitoulin Island where they will play the Islanders before moving on to face the Blind River Beavers on Sunday.

Skyhawks Training Camp will begin on August 24, 2009. Click on the link below for more details.

Training Camp Information