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Jan 25, 2013 – A weekend of intense, fast-paced hockey in Bishop’s Falls in the HNL Bantam AAA Series was highlighted by the undefeated performance of the St. John’s Ice Breakers.

In the Series opener, Central IcePak squeezed by the Western Oil Kings 2-1 on a winning goal in the third from Jared Lush. Lush had a two point game as did teammates Adam Dawe and Zack Sampson. Dawson Drake had the lone Oil Kings goal on a set up from Ethan Retieffe.

Tri-Com Thunder doubled the Tri-Pen Ice 4-2 in the following contest. Blake Fudge got the Thunder rolling up front with a pair of goals, while Zach Snook and Pierce Halliday chipped in singles. Lyndon Thorne and Donavan Warren replied for the Ice.

In the last match of the night, the St. John’s Ice Breakers won 3-0 to hand the Oil Kings their second loss. MacKenzie Janes earned the shut-out, having to foil only limited scoring opportunities by Western. Dylan MacKenzie scored the winner in the first on a goal mouth scramble, tapping home a Dylan Guy rebound. The other St. John’s goals came in the third, with David Penney scoring from Daniel Rice and Thomas Hagan scoring a short-hander with help from Patrick Pilon.

In the first match of Day 2 action, the Ice Breakers continued their strong defensive play, shutting down the IcePak 3-0. Danny Rice scored the winner on a first period unassisted buzzer beater. Rookie Joel Bishop continued his tournament scoring ways by contributing a goal in the second, with assists going to Thomas Hagan and Max French. David Penney banged home a Rice rebound to make it 3-0 before the end of the period. Luke Bhatia earned the St. John’s squad’s second shut-out of the series.

In the following contest, it was the Blake Fudge Show as the CBR product scored a sweet four goals in a row to lead the Thunder to a 6-4 victory over the Oil Kings 6-4. Jesse Sutton also scored once and added three assists, while teammate Jake Upshall had the other Thunder goal. Oil Kings scoring came from Andrew Genge, Robert Hicks, Iain Pilgrim, and Jaylen Gillard.

Game 3 of the day saw the IcePak and Tri-Pen Ice deadlock at 5-5. Hunter Downton delivered a pair of goals for the IcePak and teammates Scottie Greene, Kyle Champion, and Jared Lush also scored. Tri-Pen goals came from Marcus Ralph, Mark Butler, Riley Baker, Donovan Warren and Cameron Simms.

The Ice Breakers then picked up their third win of the weekend thanks to a convincing 6-1 victory over their cross-town rivals, the Thunder. The Ice Breakers scored by committee as Dylan Guy, Danny Rice, Kyle McGrath, David Penney, Patrick Pilon and Dylan MacKenzie tallied solo markers. The Thunder’s lone marksman was Zach Snook.

In the final game of Day 2, the Ice won 7-3 over the Oil Kings. The Ice attack was led by Cass Warren and Donovan Warren with two goals each. Ice mates Noah Mercer, Marcus Ralph and Mark Barrett chipped in singles. Tyler Powell notched a pair for the Oil Kings, while Jaylen Gillard added the other goal for the winless Western team.

Led by a hat-trick from sniper Danny Rice, the Ice Breakers downed the Tri-Pen Ice 5-2 Sunday morning to go undefeated in the weekend series. Tyler Planetta and Dylan MacKenzie also scored for the St. John’s team in a very rough contest, which included numerous fighting majors. Jordan Coombs and Lucas March scored for the Ice, while Cass Warren earned a pair of assists.

The Thunder improved to 3 and 1 on the weekend, winning the final match 3-1 over the IcePak. Jesse Sutton, Blake Fudge, and Bradley Mills provided the firepower for the Thunder, while Jared Lush continued his scoring ways for the Host IcePak.

(Photo credit: Dean Howlett)