Sarnia, Ontario    

Sarnia Blast
Jr. B. Hockey Club
2007-2008


Western Ontario Hockey League
 

 
Thursday, December 13 vs. Strathroy
Blast Blow Early Lead But Get the Win in the End
Final Score:  Strathroy - 5   Sarnia - 6
by Deb Lawrence

 

It was the second annual Turkey Toss and this year we added a Ham Heave to it and there was a twist to it.  This year, the participants had to shoot the puck with a stick and attempt to put it into the net through a hole in our event sponsors banner that covered the net.  However, many of the  pucks had some "help" getting into the net by Blast Players Matt Abercrombie and Tyler Lewis.

 
standing l-r  Holli Griffith (Sunshine Foundation), Linda Armitage (Sunshine Foundation),
Big Banana (nofrills), Sherrol and Simon Chretien (nofrills)
kneeling - Glenn MacKinnon (Blast Booster Club)

Also in attendance was the nofrills Banana who cheered on the shooters. Corunna nofrills sponsored the event by providing the 5 hams and 5 turkeys, In total $452.00 was raised for the Sunshine Foundation and after the toss & heave contest 4 Turkeys and 1 Ham went to the Salvation Army. In addition, all those attending the game were encouraged to bring a non-perishable item which was to be donated to the Salvation Army.  All in all, it was a good night for charities.

The Blast were sporting their usual "away" sweaters this evening, and will do so for the rest of this season, much like those in the upper echelons of hockey.  This will give our home fans the chance to see the away sweaters that are modeled after the Carolina Hurricanes.

Starting in goal for the Rockets was Paul Turkalas and picking up his 13th win of the season was John Faulkner.
 
1st Period:  Strathroy opened the scoring with a goal at the 3:47 mark, just 12 seconds after the high sticking goal to Jon Conrad had expired.  Scoring the goal was Jason Furlong from Shaun Furlong and Kyle Moore.  That was the only time the lead would be held by the Rockets as Sarnia's Tyler Peters netted a goal just 28 seconds later.  Assisting on the goal were Toby Brune and Tyler Lewis. Scoring a power play goal at 9:41 to give the Blast the lead was Tyler Cicchini. Assisting on the goal were Matt Abercrombie and Tyler Lewis.  Shots on goal: Strathroy - 5   Sarnia - 10.  Strathroy was 0 for 2 with the man advantage this period and Sarnia was 1 for 2 on the power play.
 

 
2nd Period:  The Blast made it 3-0 on yet another power play goal as Eric Beauchamp was off serving a minor for goaltender interference.  Scoring the goal at the 1:40 mark was Tyler Lewis with assists to Tyler Cicchini and Matt Abercrombie.  Doing it again when the Blast enjoyed a two man advantage at 9:45 was Tyler Lewis.  Picking up assists on this goal were Josh Cornelissen and Matt Abercrombie.  At this point, the Rockets made a goaltender change to Derek Malcalm.  Sarnia got into some penalty trouble near the 13 minute mark and Strathroy made good on it with a 5 on 3 power play goal at 14:10 off the stick of Shaun Furlong from Kyle Moore and Jared Anger.  Shots on goal:  Strathroy - 17/22  Sarnia - 8/18.  Strathroy was 1 for 5 with the man advantage and Sarnia was 2 for 4 on the power play this period.


3rd Period:  The Rockets began their climb back into the game with a goal at 5:42 that was scored by Kraig Wright from Andrew Secco and Joe Pikul.  Sarnia restored the two goal lead at the 8:18 mark with a goal off the stick of Tyler Cicchini with assists to Wayd Pitfield and Tyler Peters.  With Sarnia's Josh Cornelissen off at 11:29 for high sticking (the only penalty called this period), Strathroy scored a power play goal just 26 seconds later with a marker by Kyle Moore from Jason Furlong and Shaun Furlong.  Notching the game at five each at the 17:24 mark was Joe Beauchamp with assists to Dan Chadwick and Andrew McCombe.  The tie lasted for all of 7 seconds when Tyler Lewis ripped home a goal that was his hat trick, giving him 5 points for the game.  The lone assist went to Toby Brune.  With just under a minute to go in the period, Strathroy pulled their goaltender for an extra attacker and then with 43 seconds to go and the faceoff deep in the Blast's end, a time out was taken by the Rockets.  Strathroy pressed to equalize the game, but were unable to control the puck as the Blast spent part of the time with possession of the puck in the neutral zone.  Shots on goal:  Strathroy - 14/36   Sarnia - 2/20.  Strathroy was 0 for 1 with the man advantage this period and were 2 for 8 in the game.  Sarnia had no power play chances this period and were 2 for 6 in the game.

Sarnia's on the road for a game in Petrolia on Friday the 14th of December. Game time is 8:00 p.m.
On Thursday the 20th, the St. Marys Lincolns come for the final game to be played by the Blast at home for 2007.

highlights brought to you by:

 www.sarniasports.com