BLAINE, Minn. – The Thunder Bay AAA Kings were a perfect three-for-three Friday as two of their four-member clubs commenced tournament play on a winning note.
At the North American Hockey League Future Prospects tournament in Blaine, Minn., the bantam Kings defeated the Arizona Bobcats 6-4 in their opening match-up before edging the Alaska All-Stars 2-1 in their second game of the day.
In the victory over Arizona, Josh Lehto paced the Thunder Bay attack with a pair of goals and an assist.
Also scoring in the decision were E.J. Paddington, Connor Chisholm, Zach Biniaris with the game-winner, and Caleb Labelle.
Chipping in with two assists apiece were Carter Anton and Alex Remenda while Daniel Giardino made 18 saves to record the win in net.
In the triumph over Alaska, Keenan Marks made 25 saves in the win with Remenda and Emerson Pelletier providing the offence.
Saturday has the squad meeting CarShield AAA of St. Louis at 2 p.m.
Also Saturday in Blaine, North American Prospects Hockey League begins their fourth round of regular season play.
The Arizona Bobcats provide the opposition for the major midgets under-18 division opener at noon before they tangle with the Colorado Springs Tigers later in the day at 10:15 p.m.
Minor midget action Saturday sees them with a 4:15 p.m. encounter with the under-16 Arizona Bobcats side.
Meanwhile, Thunder Bay’s peewee squad kicked off the 42nd annual Spirit of Duluth event with a convincing 7-0 triumph over the Elk River Elks.
The peewees are back at it Saturday as they take on the Cloquet Lumberjacks and Edina Hornets Saturday at 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. respectively.
All of the Kings’ NAPHL and Future Prospects contests will be streamed live and on demand at HockeyTV.com.
