Brahmas end Wilderness run

At the halfway mark of the annual North American Hockey League Showcase Tournament at the Schwan Super Rink at Blaine, MN only one Midwest based team remained undefeated.

The defending Robertson Cup Champion Minnesota Wilderness was knocked off of that perch of perfection though on Friday (Sept. 25) with a 3-2 defeat against the Lone Star Brahmas in one of 11 games as the entire league went back at it on the third of four days of play.

In other games involving Midwest teams: Springfield Blues downed Corpus Christi IceRays 3-1; Brookings Blizzard doubled the Wilke-Barre/Scranton Knights 4-2; Topeka Roadrunners came up just short in a 3-2 loss against the New Jersey Titans; Minot put up a half dozen in a 6-3 win against the Amarillo Bulls; the Minnesota Magicians were downed 6-2 by the still undefeated Fairbanks Ice Dogs; Austin Bruins got by the Aston Rebels 4-2; Coulee Region Chill was edged 3-2 by the Johnstown Tomahawks; Aberdeen Wings scored the lone goal in a 1-0 decision against the Janesville Jets and Bismarck Bobcats were defeated 3-2 by the Odessa Jackalopes.

Wilderness 2 vs. Brahmas 3

The Brahmas appeared on its way to an easy win with a 3-0 cushion by the end of the first period, but instead the Wilderness tried to get back into the contest, putting up one in the second and then another near the halfway mark of the third. However, the defending champs could not net the equalizer and dropped its first game of the Showcase event.

Tomas Brejcha, 20, from Czech Republic; Peter Kessel, 19, from Detroit, MI and Alex Berarinelli, 20, from Pennsylvania scored the Texas goals before Alex Toscano, 20, from Duluth, MN struck back for the second period goal and Mitch Slattery, 19, from Lino Lakes added the third period tally for the Wilderness.

Dyllan Lubbesmayer, 19, from Burnsville Minnesota played the first period for the Wilderness, making eight saves and Chase Munroe, 20, from Naperville, IL, handled all of the 14 shots he saw through the final two frames. Corbin Kaczperski, 19, from Detroit, MI handled 20 of 22 in goal for the Brahmas.

With the win, the Brahmas boosted it Showcase record to 2-1

Springfield Blues 3 vs. Corpus Christi IceRays 1

Three goals in the final 20 minutes erased a 1-0 deficit and lifted the Blues to a 3-1 margin against the Ice Rays, giving the Blues back-to-back wins after dropping its opener at the Showcase.

Teams were scoreless after a period and Brad LeLievre, 20, from Washington scored the lone goal of the middle frame with 8:07 to play, putting the IceRays in front.

Trevor Stone, 19, from Pleasant Plains, IL, scored the equalizer 5:13 into the third period and Anthony Scarsella, 19, from White Lake, MI gave the Blues its first lead a little over a minute later on a powerplay. Brady Tomlak, 19, from Oakland, MI set up Stone’s goal earlier and then sank the clincher himself on another Blues’ powerplay with 2:38 to play.

Tommy Nappier, 17, from St. Louis, MO turned aside 14 shots to pick up the win for the Blues and Graham Hunt, 20, from Massachusetts made 30 saves in goal for the IceRays.

The loss dropped the Ice Rays to 1-2 at the Showcase

Knights 2 at Blizzard 4 

Brookings Blizzard carried a 3-1 cushion out of the first period and following a scoreless middle stanza, extended its lead early in the final frame. The Wilkes Barre/Scranton Knights managed one more with under four minutes to go but could get no closer.

T.J. Samec, 20, from St. Paul, MN collected a goal and assist in the game while Connor Spetz, 19, from St. Michael, MN; Mikael Hakkarainen, 17, from Finland and Kane Durment, 20, from Kildeer, IL added two assists apiece. Other goals came from Connor Hutchins, 20, from Texas; Blake Busch, 20, from Prior Lake, MN and Garrett Elmore, 19, from Tennessee.

Paul Maust, 17, from Pennsylvania and Steven Kelly, 20, from Columbus, IN scored the Knights goals.

Josh Keuhmichel, 19, from Hopkins, MN picked up the win in goal with a 17-save effort for the Blizzard and Grant Valentine, 18, from Medina, OH made 24 saves in goal for the Knights.

The Blizzard boosted its Showcase record to 2-1 with the win while the Knights will enter the final day at 0-3.

Titans 3 vs. Roadrunners 2

The Roadrunners fell to 1-2 at the Showcase with a tough loss against the Titans.

Tyler Hayes, 20, from Brighton, MI scored both of the Roadrunners goals including the lone third period marker to get his team within one with 7:52 to play. Yu Hikosaka, 20, from Japan, assisted on both of Hayes’ goals.

Anthony Cusanelli, 19, from New Jersey; Jesse Farabee, 19, from New York and Darren Brady, 19, from Clarkson, MI scored the Titans goals while Josh Creelman, 19, from New Jersey put together a 24 save effort to collect the win in goal.

Vladimir Cibulka, 18, from Slovakia stopped 12 shots in goal for the Roadrunners.

The win gave the Titans a perfect 3-0 record to carry into the final day of play at the Showcase.

Minotauros 6 vs. Bulls 3

Even at 1-1 after a period, the Minot Minotauros erupted for three in the final 12 minutes of the second to carry a 4-2 into the third against the Amarillo Bulls.

The Texas team got to within a goal 6:20 into the third but the Minotauros put it away with two more in the final four minutes, the last one into an empty Bulls’ cage.

Jack Murphy, 19, from Prior Lake, MN scored a pair to lead the Minotauros, Johnny Walker, 19 from Arizona and James LaDouce, 20, from Freeland, MI both adding a goal and an assist. Grayson Gavin, 18, from Mankato, MN and Austin Martinsen, 18, from Farmington, MN scored the other goals.

Jacob Nitsche, 19, from Chicago; George Mika, 19, from Florida and Joey Molinaro, 19, from Ontario scored one each for the Bulls.

Lucas Murray, 19, from Virginia, MN made 15 saves to pick up the win in goal for the Minotauros and Jacob Weatherly, 19, from Colorado stopped 33 in goal for the Bulls.

Minotauros boosted its record to 2-1 at the Showcase while the Bulls enter the final day still winless.

Ice Dogs 6 vs. Magicians 2 

Minnesota Magicians battled the undefeated Fairbanks Ice Dogs through a scoreless opening period but found itself down 3-0 by the 11 minute mark of the second.

Eric Shaw, 19, from Massachusetts pulled one back in the final five minutes of the second period and Casey Jerry, 20, from River Falls, WI pulled another back 5:31 into the third, but the Magicians would get no further and the Ice Dogs piled on three more through the game’s final eight minutes.

Cayden Cahill, 19, from Alaska scored two for the Ice Dogs with others added by Marc Sullivan, 18, from Eden Prairie, MN; Liam Stirtzinger, 20, from California; Alex Mehnert, 18, from Moorhead, MN and Todd Burgess, 19, from Arizona.

CJ Boothe, 17, from Florida made 26 saves to pick up the win in goal for the Ice Dogs and Andrew Lindgren, 19, from Minneapolis, MN turned aside 39 in goal for the Magicians.

The Fairbanks already owned a 4-0 record in league games coming into the Showcase and have now added three more wins while the Magicians fell to 1-2 at the Showcase with the loss.

Rebels 2 Bruins 4

The Aston Rebels carried a 2-1 lead out of the opening segment but three unanswered middle period markers had the Bruins up 4-2 heading into what turned out to be a scoreless third.

Jade Miller, 20, from Minot, ND scored two for the Bruins with others coming from Jacob Paganelli, 18, from New Jersey and AJ Drobot, 17, from Pennsylvania. Guy Roby, 19, from Pennsylvania and Evgeny Yakovlev, 18, from Russia scored the Rebels goals.

Kristofer Carlson, 18, from Virginia turned aside 34 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Bruins and Trevor Micucci, 18, from New York had 28 saves for the Rebels

Tomahawks 3 Chill 2

The Johnstown Tomahawks and Coulee Region Chill were even at 1-1 after a period and Tomahawks went up 3-2 in the second before a scoreless final frame.

Kelly O’Brien, 20, from Southgate, MI picked up a goal and assist to lead the Tomahawks with other goals from Luke Lynch, 19, from Pennsylvania and Casey Linkenheld, 20, from Bartlett, IL.

Isaac Theisen, 19, from Monroe, MI and Oleg Khalemin, 17, from Russia, scored the Chill goals while Matiss Kivlenieks, 19, from Latvia made 21 saves in goal.

Camden Burggrabe, 18, from Marquette, MI stopped 24 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Tomahawks.

Johnstown enters the final day of the Showcase sporting a 3-0 record while the Chill fell to 1-2 with the loss.

Jets 0 vs. Wings 1

Gavin Payne, 19, from Minnetonka, MN scored the game’s only goal in the final minute of the first period and Gavin Paczosa, 19, from Colorado stopped all of the 24 shots he faced to lead the Aberdeen Wings to a 1-0 win against the Janesville Jets.

JackLaFontaine, 17, from Ontario,  absorbed the loss despite a great effort that saw him handle 26 of 27 shots in goal for the Jets.

Aberdeen boosted its Showcase mark to 2-1 while the Jets fell to 1-2.

Bobcats 3 at Jackalopes 2

Odessa Jackalopes went up 1-0 in the opening period and then matched the Jets the rest of the way, both teams adding single markers in both the second and third periods.

Eric Carerras, 20, from Pennsylvania scored the first goal for Odessa and the other two both came from Brandon Tucker, 19, from Colorado. Dean Shatzer, 19, from Colorado made 33 saves to pick up the win in goal.

Aaron Herdt, 20, from Moorhead, MN and Willie Brown, 19, from South St. Paul, MN scored the Bobcat goals while David Fessendon, 17, from Colorado made 24 saves in goal. Odessa boosted its Showcase record to 2-1 and the Bobcats enter the final day still searching for a win.