RENFREW, Ont. – Final day action at the Valley Cottage Cup preseason tournament in Renfrew, Ont., Sunday saw the Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League’s Blind River Beavers blanked 5-0 by the host Renfrew Wolves (CCHL) in semifinal action while the Espanola Paper Kings rallied past the Powassan Voodoos 6-5 in overtime in the VCC consolation final.
RENFREW WOLVES 5 BLIND RIVER BEAVERS 0 – It was all Renfrew in the semifinal as the host Wolves improved to 4-0 in the tournament.
Josh Penney notched the eventual game-winner 12 and a half minutes into the first.
They then broke it open in the middle stanza with a trio of tallies to go up by four after two periods of play with Jace Letourneau, Andrew Morton and Nicholas Esposito all scoring.
Morton then finished things off in the third with his second of the contest.
Ethan Dinsdale stopped all 18 shots he faced to post the shutout while Iain Wintle saw 45 attempts against in defeat.
ESPANOLA PAPER KINGS 6 POWASSAN VOODOOS 5 (OT) – The Voodoos took flight quickly, skating out to a 2-0 lead before the match-up was 40 seconds old, thanks to goals from Caden Dubreuil and Reyth Smith.
Espanola got one back at 3:09, off the stick of Grant Booth, who notched his fourth of the weekend, with help from Spencer Horgan and Graydon Guthrie.
Countering in rapid succession, Dubreuil connected once more for Powassan moments later.
Adding another before the first intermission, Zach Turner made it a 4-1 game after one period of play.
Heading to the second stanza, Horgan clicked on the power play midway through the frame, only to see Reid de Bokx put Powassan back up by three at 12:11.
Battling back, Espanola’s Jack Lynes scored before the frame came to a close, then saw teammate Graydon Guthrie convert in the first-minute of the third to make it a one-goal game.
The Paper Kings kept coming and tied it with 4:23 remaining in regulation on Liam Rampersad’s equalizer.
Then late in extra time, Espanola completed the comeback as Booth wheeled in the Powassan zone, then drove to the net from the left side and roofed the game-winner to end it.
Shots on goal favoured the Paper Kings 55-35 with Alain Botella getting the win while Miles Gordan suffered the setback.
“Highlight of the Night” – NOJHL YouTube Channel
