Sept. 30/07--The K&A Wolverines posted back-to-back shutouts Sunday in cruising to their second straight Joe Ward Memorial Trophy as Thunder Bay Jr. B/Juvenile/AAA Hockey League pre-season tournament champions at the Tournament Centre.
After dumping the Superior Eagles 8-0 in the semi-final they rolled to a 12-0 rout of the Nipigon Elks in the title game.
Jason Jaundoo made 22 saves in posting the shutout in the final while Sean Spenrath and Ben Letowski had two goals each. Adrian Cordes, David Renzi, Curtis Dowswell, Luke DeCal, Corey Fortier, Tyler Rizzutto, Justin Backorand Larry Johanson also replied.
In the semi-final it was Kelly Heikkila who registered the shutout making 21 stops.
Dowswell and Fortier both tallied twice in that game while Renzi, Backor, James Kane and Ryan Krasnichuk added singles.
Nipigon advanced to the final upsetting the Northern Hawks, who finished 4-0 in round robin play, in the other semi-final 4-3 in a shootout.
Davis Buchanan kicked out 44 shots backstopping the Elks to the win while Kirk Bodnar was saddled with the loss.
Mitch Joyce, Tom Langen and Logan O'Neill had the Nipigon goals in the first 60 minutes then Travis Komar and Mike Ray, with the winner, notched markers in the shootout.
Curtis Sandberg, with a pair, and Mario Figliomeni scored in regulation for the Hawks while Sandberg had the lone goal for his team in the shootout.
Regular season play in the league kicks off Thursday as K&A and Nipigon meet yet again in a 7:30 p.m. start at the Tournament Centre.
