GALLERY: Boivin, Briand blank Crunch

Forward Brady Harroun, of the Timmins Rock, battles to maintain control of the puck while being chased by Cochrane Crunch forward Tyler Curnew during the second period of Sunday’s NOJHL exhibition game at the Tim Horton Event Centre. The Rock went on to blank the Crunch 4-0 in the preseason opener for both East Division squads. The Rock will now head to Collingwood for the 2022 Cottage Cup exhibition tournament, running from Wednesday to Friday. THOMAS PERRY/THE DAILY PRESS

The Timmins Rock blanked the Crunch 4-0 in the first exhibition contest for both NOJHL East Division rivals at the Tim Horton Event Centre Sunday afternoon.


Thomas Perry
The Daily Press/Postmedia Network


COCHRANE — The Timmins Rock blanked the Crunch 4-0 in the first exhibition contest for both NOJHL East Division rivals at the Tim Horton Event Centre Sunday afternoon.

Patrick Boivin, acquired from the West Division’s Blind River Beavers in the off-season, and Josh Briand, who served as the Rock’s third-string puck stopper in 2021-22 but didn’t see a second of game action, combined on the shutout.

And Ethan Pool, one of three players the Rock acquired from the defending SIJHL champion Red Lake Miners, set up a pair of power-play markers.

Rock coach and general manager Brandon Perry was pleased with what he saw from his squad.

“I think our effort was really good,” he said.

“We were hunting a lot of pucks and, as you would expect in the first one, there was a lot of sloppy stuff.

“It is nice to have that video now to be able to clean things up during the next two days and get ready for Collingwood.”

The Rock will be taking part in the 2022 Cottage Cup tournament, which opens on Wednesday, with the OJHL’s Trenton Golden Hawks providing the opposition.

Icing a lineup that included just five regulars from 2021-22, the Rock came out flying Sunday afternoon, outshooting the Crunch 25-9 and building a 2-0 advantage, in the first period of play.

Veteran Liam Wells and newcomer Liam Kelly each found the back of the net for the Rock in the opening frame.

“If you are first on pucks all night, I think you are going to like your chances, regardless of your systems, regardless of your play,” Perry said.

“If you are a tenacious team and you are hunting pucks and on them, you are going to have a chance any night and I think that’s what we did in the first period.”

Newcomer Lucas Lowe then netted the first of the Rock’s two power-play markers to increase the Timmins lead to 3-0 in the second period.

While the Rock continued to enjoy a territorial advantage in the frame, the Crunch shook off their early jitters and were only outshot 11-4.

Newcomer Hayden Rynard iced the victory for the Rock with his third-period power-play marker.

The Rock’s revamped blue-line proved Sunday afternoon they are more than just big bodies.

“It was really nice to see them back there on breakouts and their passes were clean,” Perry said.

“They spread the puck out well on the O Zone blue-line. It was a really good effort and I think it is an indication of what’s to come out of that group.”

While the Rock found the back of the net four times in the contest, the score actually could have been even more one sided had their shooters been a little more accurate.

“I think it just comes down to game reps, timing and guys getting back into it,” Perry said.

“We left a couple on the table for sure this afternoon, but there are some guys, like Brady (Harroun), Nicholas Frederick Pige (Nicolas Pigeon), those guys aren’t going to be kept off the scoreboard for long.”

The Rock outshot the Crunch 14-4 in the final frame, making the final total 50-17 in favour of the visitors.

“Pattie (Boivin) looked unbelievable in net,” Perry said.

“He was really calm and played the puck really well, really helped out our D back there in terms of those quick breakouts.

“We really didn’t give them any time to establish a forecheck or hem us in our zone.

“He was really big back there. He is a confident goalie and we are super happy to have him on our side.

“Then Josh had seen game action in probably two years and it was seamless with him going in in the third period.

“He was really confident and really calm, other than when he blew a wheel there on the delayed penalty.

“That was probably nerves a little bit.”

With 25 players currently on the roster, the Rock had a number of healthy scratches in the contest, with only new blue-liner Kyle Garland missing due to (lower-body) injury.

Crunch coach Tom Nickolau admitted his squad was a little nervous, especially during the opening 20 minutes Sunday afternoon.

“We have four 17-year-old hockey players and we are still tweaking the lines,” he said.

“After the first period, I thought we showed some speed and some physical play and some good hockey.”

Clearly, the offensive side of the Crunch’s game is a work in progress early in the preseason.

“We have to get in shape, too, stamina wise,” Nickolau said.

“We do have some skill on this team, but obviously we were playing a team that is really, really good. They are a strong team.

“With a full week of practice, I think we will get some offence going.

“We did have some scoring chances, but our guys were tentative around the net.

“On the defensive side of the puck, we made some mistakes but the biggest thing we have to get better at is face-offs.

“When you lose 70 to 80 per cent of the face-offs and you are chasing the puck, it’s a tough night.”

Nickolau agreed the best player on the ice for the Crunch was goalie Jake Dubinsky.

“Our goal this year was to have two strong goaltenders and we have two in Jake Dubinsky and Nicholas Summers,” he said.