Bruins still unbeaten at NAHL Showcase tournament

By Jim den Hollander

Editor/Publisher

Saukhockey.info

With one day to go in the North American Hockey League (NAHL) Showcase tournament at the National Sports Center Super Rinks in Blaine, MN, the Austin Bruins were the lone remaining Midwest entry without a loss.

The only other undefeated team heading into the final day is the New Mexico Ice Wolves with a 3-1 edge against the Minot Minotauros. Both teams sit at 3-0 so far.

The Bruins stayed perfect with a 4-1 win against the New Jersey Titans Friday (September 17). Single unanswered first and second period goals and another early in the third had the Bruins up 3-0 before the Titans fired the only shot of 13 to get by Nick Goich (‘04/Homer Glen, IL) near the halfway mark of the final frame.

Dylan Gajewski (‘01/Woodhaven, MI); Braiden Simmons-Fischer; Carson Riddle (‘01/Holly, MI) and Jens Richards (‘02/Calloway, MN) fired the Austin goals.

New Mexico Ice Wolves 3 Minot Minotauros 1

The Minotauros couldn’t stop the Ice Wolves who rallied back from a 1-0 deficit after a period with two in the second and one more in the final minute into an empty Minotauros’ goal.

Logan Anderson (‘01/Rochester Hills, MI) scored the lone Minot marker and the Minotauros fell to 1-2 on the weekend and the season with the loss.

Johnstown Tomahawks 4 Minnesota Wilderness 1

At the opposite end of the spectrum is the Wilderness who dropped all three contests so far at the Showcase tournament, including Friday’s loss to the Tomahawks.

Riku Brown (‘02/Eden Prairie, MN) put the Wilderness up with 4:03 to go in the opening period. The Tomahawks tied it before the end of the period and grabbed the lead for goal with a second period goal, adding two more in the third, the final one into an empty net.

Chippewa Falls Steel 3 El Paso Rhinos 1

The Steel snapped a brief two-game slide with single unanswered goals in the first and second periods and a clincher with 6:28 to play.

Marc Fletemeyer (‘02/Colorado Springs, CO); Joseph Grainda (‘02/Carmel, IN) and Barak Braslavski (‘01/San Jose, CA) fired the Steel goals and Croix Kochendorfer (‘03/St. Paul, MN) stopped 26 of 27 shots in goal.

Janesville Jets 6 Shreveport Mudbugs 4

After dropping a pair on home-ice the previous weekend, the Jets finally got off the shnide with an impressive win against the defending Robertson Cup champions.

Jets fired the lone first period goal, but teams were even at 3-3 heading to the final 20 minutes. Teams were even again at 4-4 before the Jets counted a pair in the game’s final 2:27, the clincher into an empty cage with 14 seconds to spare.

Mack Keryluk (‘02/Verona, WI) led the charge with a hat trick and an assist with other Jets’ goals for: Will Troutwine (‘02/Eleveth, MN); William Gustavsson (‘01/Kungsbacka, Sweden) and Grayden Daul (‘03/Chicago, IL).

Minnesota Magicians 5 Northeast Generals 4

This back-and-forth contest saw the Gens carrying early leads of 2-0 and 3-1 before the Magicians scored four straight in the second and third periods.

Hunter Longhi (’02/Colinsville, IL) scored twice in the win with others for: Patrick Czarnecki (‘04/Bloomfield Hills, MI); Colin Tushie (‘02/Prior Lake, MN) and Nicholas Babbie (‘03/Sterling Heights, MI).

North Iowa Bulls 4 Amarillo Wranglers 1

The Bulls moved to 2-1 on the weekend while handing the Wranglers its first loss of the young season.

Bulls led 2-0 after a period and 3-0 heading to the final 20 before the only shot of 34 to beat Max Gutjahr (‘01/Appleton, WI) in goal for the Bulls.

Logan Dombrowsky (‘02/Stevens Point, WI) fired a pair in the win with others for Luka Sucovic (‘03/Lincolnshire, IL) and Sean Vlasich (‘01/Upper Saddle River, NJ)

Aberdeen Wings 6 Springfield Blues 3

The Wings shook off a tough loss against Shreveport in a Robertson Cup rematch and snapped a four-game season opening winning streak for the Jr. Blues with this win.

Blues led 2-1 after a period but trailed 3-2 heading to the third.

Hugo Gustafsson (‘01/Ostervala, Sweden) and Seamus Campbell (‘02/Kirkwood, MO) both scored twice for the Wings with others for Cade Neilson (‘01/Nottinghham, England) and Kyle Gaffney (‘01/Plymouth, MI).

For the Blues, Coby Weber (‘02/St. Louis, MO); Cole Schneider (‘02/Long Grove, IL) and James Callahan (‘02/Minneapolis, MN) scored the goals.

St. Cloud Norsemen 7 US National Development Program 17U 3

After sitting out the second day of action at the Showcase, the Norsemen came back to play the National Development Program squad which rounded out a 30-team roster as a guest squad on Friday and Saturday.

USNDP scored first but the Norsemen scored the next two and never trailed again. Up 2-1 after a period, the Norsemen widened the gap to 5-2 in the second and outscored its guest 2-1 again in the third.

Seven different goal scorers stepped up for the Norsemen including: Nick Young (‘01/Raleigh, NC); Brandon Lajoie (‘01/Eagle River, AK); Ryan O’Neill (‘01/Roseville, MN); Kade Peterson (‘03/Fargo, ND); John Opilka (‘02/Effingham, IL); Evan Murr (‘03/Stillwater, MN) and Blake Perbix (‘02/Princeton, MN).

The National Development squad, out of Ann Arbor, Mich, got goals from Carter Slaggert (‘05/South Bend, IN); Gabe Perreault (‘05/Hinsdale, IL) and Paul Fischer (‘05/River Forest, IL).

Corpus Christi IceRays 4 Bismarck Bobcats 2

Bobcats dropped its third straight, a pair of third period goals cutting into a 3-0 IceRays’ lead before a clinching goal inside the final 90 seconds of the contest.

Adam Pietila (‘03/Howell, MI) and Eddie Shepler (‘03/Livonia, MI) both scored the Tabbie goals.