The Nickel City U13 AAA Sons were feeling pretty confident in their ability to at least secure a top four playoff spot this week at the All-Ontario U13 AAA Hockey Championships this week in Thunder Bay.

Game one likely only added to that level of confidence.

The Sons scored five times in the first period, including three goals in a span of 37 seconds, thumping the Kenora Thistles 10-0 to open play at the seven team event.

Seth Verbiwski, Preston Hebert and Dacey Dupuis scored two goals apiece for the winners, with Cooper Niquet, Owen Angus, Greyson Hnatiuk and Jackson Mead all finding the back of the net once each in the lopsided victory.

Ty IMbeau recorded the shutout in a game in which the Sons outshot the Thistles 44-9.

In other day one action, the Markham Majors racked up a pair of victories, blanking the host Thunder Bay Kings 9-0 and doubling the Ottawa Valley Titans 6-3 while the Whitby Wildcats came from behind to upend the Sun County Panthers 5-3.

The results were not quite so encouraging, from a local perspective, over in Sault Ste Marie as the Sudbury U15 AAA Nickel Capitals opened their provincial tournament with a 6-0 loss at the hands of the York Simcoe Express.

Trailing 1-0 at the end of the first period, the Nickel Caps would see six different players hit paydirt for the Express as Sudbury now prepares to face the Soo Jr Greyhounds on Wednesday night at 7:00 p.m.

York Simcoe made it back to back wins later in the day, stopping the Elgin-Middlesex Canucks by a final score of 3-1, while the Vaughan Kings tripled the Upper Canada Cyclones 6-2 and the host Greyhounds blanked the Thunder Bay Kings 3-0 on goals from Ryker Young, Nikolas Rossetto and Gavin Killoran.