The Adirondack Thunder finished the year on a positive note and are starting to creep themselves back in the standings as heading into 2023, and they find themselves just five points behind Trois-Rivieres for fifth in the North Divison. Pete MacArthur always talks about the next man up. This weekend it was Ryan Orgel who got his opportunity and made the best of it, putting up three assists in two games, “Ya, It’s nice, he played with confidence, he was playing well down there (SPHL with the Pensacola Ice Flyers), when they come into this situation you want them to have that same type of confidence and not have them strapped to the bench, I think he played more minutes tonight cause there weren’t as many special teams opportunities” said MacArthur after Saturday’s game.
Welcome To The Xavier Parent Show
Glens Falls, NY-The Adirondack Thunder welcomed the Worcester Railers back to town on Friday Night just a week after a 7-0 win over the Railers. It looked to pick up another win over their division rivals in their last meeting against them of the calendar year. In the opening period, it would be the Xavier Parent show. As he opened the scoring at the 9:48 mark of the period, he found a puck that had been blocked and fired it home. As the Thunder opened up the scoring, Parent wouldn’t be done as 4:54 seconds later, he got a nice pass from Grant Jozefek for his second of the game. The Laval native would finish the night with eight shots on goal, “Ya, for sure, it’s a new league I have to adjust just doing my thing, and I think we’ve been playing better over the last four or five games, I just think with our line we saw each other everywhere on the ice” said Parent. One of the most significant factors to the Thunder’s recent streak has been the PP, and tonight it would strike again as Ryan Smith, who’s been red hot, got his stick on a shot from Jeff Taylor for his fifth goal in four games to give the Thunder a commanding 3-0 lead late in the second, “I think they’re just learning you don’t have to be fancy on the PP, just keep it simple, we give them directive that they have to make first and their doing that and then everything else just opens up” said Pete MacArthur when talking about the powerplay. Worcester would get back in the game with two quick goals as Billy Butler, and Blake Christensen would score 4:42 seconds apart to make it a one-goal game heading into the third. Adirondack would regain their two-goal lead as Ryan Da Silva hit the empty net. Worcester would keep it interesting as they would get a six on 4 as Anthony Repaci would get one past Theut to make it 4-3, but that’s as close as the Railers would come as Theut would finish the night with 34 saves for his sixth win of the season.
Thunder Stay Hot as Turcotte Finds New Role
It was the final game of the calendar year for the Thunder, who came into tonight winning three of their last four games. Tonight in front of 5,012 fans, they would get the fans into the game early as Garrett Van Wyhe got a wrap-around for Adirondack’s first shot on goal that would find the back of the net and give them the lead just 3:20 into the opening frame. The opening frame was dominated by the Thunder as they would double up the Lions in the shots category 14-7. In the second, it was all Adirondack as Travis Broughman fed Grant Jozefek in front as he finished off as the Parent-Broughman-Jozefek line continued to stay hot just 52 seconds after the Jozefek goal, it would be Patrick Grasso who got a stick on a shot from the point from Ryan Orgel for his 15th of the season. Trois-Rivieres got on the board courtesy of a Louis Leblanc goal, but Travis Broughman responded just 53 seconds later to regain the Thunder’s three goal lead. “Ya, we’re creeping back in the race, we’re being more competitive, and their confidence and more than the wins, I want guys to have confidence with the opportunity they had,” said Head Coach Pete MacArthur when asked about the Thunder winning four out of their last five.
Yanick Turcotte returned from yet another suspension and has caught the eyes of Pete MacArthur, “Turcs might be our smartest forward. People will probably laugh when I say that, but watch the video and tell me he’s not. He’s gonna kill, and he’s earned himself a nice role here”. Turcotte has yet to find the back of the net, but whenever he’s on the ice, his presence is felt.
