December 27 - The sixth annual Lakehead Thunderwolves TBayTel Varsity Cup men’s hockey tournament Day 1 action opened with a thrilling OT game between the No. 9 Manitoba Bison and the York Lions which saw Manitoba Captain Rob Smith score the winner at 3:28 of OT to give the Bisons a 6-5 win.

Smith led the Bisons with two goals and an assist while other Manitoba tallies came from Nick Cowan, Stephane Lenoski, Cole Hunter, and Mike Hellyer. Rick Wood added three helpers for Manitoba while Jared Walker chipped in two.

Tyler Harrison played a strong game for the Lions; notching two goals and an assist. Singles came from Chris Jones, Nathaniel Brooks, and Doug Henderson. Brooks also added two assists.

Shots on goal were 28-26 Bisons in the game. Manitoba was 1-3 on the powerplay while York was 3-7 with the man advantage.

Manitoba had opened a 4-2 lead late into the third when the Lions exploded for three goals in just over a minute; two on the powerplay, to take a 5-4 lead. However, the Bisons came right back within two minutes to tie the game at five apiece.

The Lions then took a penalty with just over three minutes left but the Lions killed it off. Then the Bisons were called on a minor with just over a minute left; setting up a barnburner of a finish but the Bisons forechecked well on the PK to put the game into OT.

The OT format for the tourney is 4-on-4 for ten minutes; followed by 3-man shootout, and then by a sudden death shootout if necessary. Manitoba started the 4-on-4 down a man for 36 seconds; but killed the carryover minor time off. Action was fast and furious with both York’s Domenic DeFrancesco and Manitoba’s Krister Toews making some good saves in the OT.

Scoring Summary:

Per: 1:

1) MB: 2:29; Stephane Lenoski from Ryley Dudar and Jared Walker

2) YK: 11:56: Tyler Harrison from Nathaniel Brooks

Per. 2:

3) MB 4:28 PP: Rob Smith from Rick Wood and David Brown

4) MB 10:03: Nick Cowan from Chris Falloon and Stuart Thiessen

5) YK 13:27 PP: Tyler Harrison from Nathaniel Brooks and Chris Jones

Per. 3:

6) MB 2:36 Cole Hunter from Rick Wood and Miles Rumsey

7) YK 11:46 PP Chris Jones from Trevor Waddell

8) YK 12:18 PP Nathaniel Brooks from Tyler Harrison and Kyle Searle

9) YK 13:04 Doug Henderson from Matt Restoule and Brett Short

10) MB 14:40 Mike Hellyer from Rick Wood

OT

11) MB 6:02 Rob Smith from Jared Walker and John Cara.

The Lakehead Thunderwolves TBayTel Varsity Cup Day 1 night game will see the host No. 9 Thunderwolves play the defending tourney champion Toronto Varsity Blues.