THUNDER BAY – The Thunder Bay Kings were crowned peewee AAA champions after claiming the Hockey Northwestern Ontario district title Saturday morning at Fort William First Nation Arena.
Thunder Bay blanked the HNO Stars 5-0 to take the best-of-three series 2-0 and with the result will now advance to the all-Ontario peewee championship April 3-7, hosted by the Don Mills Flyers (GTHL), at the Mattamy Athletic Centre, formerly Maple Leaf Gardens, in downtown Toronto.
In Saturday’s contest, the Kings took control early by grabbing a 3-0 lead before the match-up was six minutes old.
Jack Pineau started the offensive outburst 28 seconds after the opening face-off.
Connor Chisholm then fed Jett Mintenko during a Thunder Bay power play at 5:18 to put the hosts up by a pair.
The Kings then came right back and tacked on another 28 seconds later compliments of Adam Blazino.
A man advantage marker from Alex Remenda added to the Thunder Bay cushion at 5:21 of the smiddle session before Emerson Pelletier finished off the scoring three and a half minutes later.
Mintenko also chipped in with two assists to aid the Kings’ cause.
Keenan Marks posted the shutout for Thunder Bay with Ethan Rose and Kaden King combining to face 20 shots in defeat for the Stars.
