Minotauros wrap up Showcase in style

After dropping its opening game at the North American Hockey League Showcase Event, the Minot Minotauros wrapped up three straight wins with a 5-1 decision against the Corpus Christi Stingrays, Saturday (Sept. 26), at the Schwan Super rinks at Blaine, MN.

Meanwhile, in other Showcase games involving Midwest-based teams: Topeka Roadrunners shutout the winless Wilkes Barre/Scranton Knights 5-0; Springfield Blues fell to the Odessa Jackalopes 5-1; Coulee Region Chill doubled the Bismarck  Bobcats 4-2; Aberdeen Wings got by the Minnesota Wilderness 2-1 in overtime; Janesville Jets shutout the Minnesota Magicians 2-0; Fairbanks Ice Dogs stayed perfect with a 3-1 win against the Brookings Blizzard and Austin Bruins doubled the Kenai River Brown Bears 8-4.

Minotauros 5 Stingrays 1

The Minotauros went to work right away, grabbing a 2-0 first period lead and piling on three more in the third frame before Corpus Christi gained some consolation, shattering the shutout bid of Jon Flakne, 19, from Maple Plain, MN just six seconds from the final buzzer. Flakne previously turned aside 22 shots and settled for a comfortable win.

Johnny Walker, 19, from Arizona scored twice for the Minotauros, Troy Degler, 20, from Florida adding a goal and assist and other goals scored by Zack Bross, 19, from Weldon Spring, MO and Chase Springman, 19, from Zimmerman, MN. Max Mettler, 20, from North Mankato, MN and Austin Martinsen, 18, from Farmington MN added two assists apiece.

Adam Canepa, 20, from California scored the late goal for the Stingrays and Dryden McKay, 18, from Downer’s Grove, IL made 25 saves in goal.

While the Minotauros finished the event with a 3-1 record and a three-game winning streak, the Stingrays droped to 1-3.

Minotauros will be back in action next Saturday (Oct 3) at Bismarck.

Roadrunners 5 Knights 0

Tyler Johnson, 17, from New York made 18 saves to nail down the shutout in goal for the Roadrunners and Cam Strong, 20, from Montana, paced the offense with a hatrick as the Roadrunners wrapped up a .500 showing at the Showcase and dropped Wilkes Barre/Scranton Knights to 0-4.

Quinn Preston, 18, from Trenton, MI and John O’Connor, 20, from Moorhead, MN scored the other Roadrunner goals and Marcus Russell, 19, from Traverse City, MI set up a pair.

Anthony Yamnitsky, 18, from North Royalton, OH and Andrey Svistunov, 18, from Russia combined to stop 36 shots in goal for the Knights.

Next up for the Roadrunners is a home game Friday (Oct. 2) against the Texas Brahmas.

Jackalopes 5 Blues 1

The Springfield Blues trailed 3-0 after a period and 5-0 in the third before Joe Immormino, 19, from Cleveland, OH managed to pot the lone goal against Odessa Jackalopes goaltender Gunner Rivers, 20, from Georgia with just 5:52 to play.

Zach Zech, 19, from South Lyon, MI scored twice for the Jackalopes with others for Ryan MacKellar, 19, from Indianapolis, IN; Eric Carreras, 20, from Pennsylvania and Hampus Sjodahl, 20, from Sweden.

Rivers stopped 22 shots to pick up the win and Niko Della Maggiore, 20, from California turned aside 29 for the Blues.

Next action for the Blues will be Friday (Oct. 2) when they host the Coulee Region Chill.

Bobcats 2 Chill 4

The Coulee Region Chill wraped up a .500 record for the Showcase with a 4-2 win in on the final day against the Bismarck Bobcats who fell to 0-4.

Bismarck scored first, but the Chill carried a 2-1 lead out of the opening period and extended it early in the second. The Bobcats pulled one back later in the second but the Chill wrapped up the win with its fourth goal, just 2:38 from the final buzzer.

Isaac Theisen, 19, from Monroe, MI scored twice for the Chill, Michael Wilson, 20, from Fond du Lac, WI adding a goal and an assist and the other goal scored by Phil Erickson, 18, from Eau-Claire, WI. Hunter Vorva, 20, from Kalamazoo, MI stopped 32 shots to pick up the win in goal.

Alex Strand, 20, from Roseau, MN and Luke Picek, 19, from La Grange Park, IL scored the Bobcat goals and Hunter Shepard, 20, from Cohasset, MN made 21 saves in goal.

The Chill will be on the road Friday (Oct. 2) traveling to Springfield and the Bobcats will be home to the Minot Minotauros the following night.

Wings 2 Wilderness 1 (ot)

Ryan Cook, 20, from New York sank the game winner 27 seconds into to overtime lifting the Aberdeen Wings to a 3-1 record at the showcase while the Wilderness fell to 2-1-1-0 during the tourney.

Both of the regulation goals came in the third period, Tucker DeYoung, 19, from Lake Bluff, IL getting the Wings on the board in the fourth minute of the period and Koby Bender, 18, from Cloquet, MN firing the equalizer with just over three minutes to go.

Peter Thome, 18, from Minneapolis stopped 30 shots to pick up the win in goal and Chase Munroe, 20, from Naperville, stopped 14 for the Wilderness.

The Wings will head back into league play Friday (Oct 2) on the road against the Minnesota Magicians and the Wilderness will play host to the Kenai River Brown Bears on the same night.

Jets 2 Magicians 0

Janesville Jets picked up its second win of the Showcase, thanks to a great defensive effort that included an eight save shutout for Blake Weyrick, 19, from California.

Kevin Dineen, 19, from Fairbault, MN and Vaclav Krudenc, 20, from Czech Republic scored the Jets goals and Will Ulrich, 19, from Bloomfield Hills, MI made 32 saves in goal for the Magicians who fell to 1-3 at the Showcase with the loss.

The Jets will return to league action Friday, Oct. when they host the undefeated Fairbanks Ice Dogs and the Magicians will also be on home ice against the Aberdeen Wings.

Blizzard 1 Ice Dogs 3

Facing the undefeated Ice Dogs, the Blizzard showed no fear and actually carried a 1-0 lead into the third thanks to a second period goal by Kane Durment, 20, from Kildeer, IL.

But the Ice Dogs rallied in the third, Cayden Cahill, 19, from Alaska tying the game 38 seconds in and then notching the game winner on a penalty shot just 54 seconds later. Ryner Gorowsky, 19, from Lino Lakes, MN added some insurance with his powerplay marker just past the halfway mark of the period.

Gavin Nieto, 19, from California made 14 stops to pick up the win for the Ice Dogs and Josh Kuehmichel, 19, from Hopkins, MN turned aside 33 in goal for the Blizzard.

Brookings will be back in action Friday (Oct. 2) at home against the Austin Bruins.

Bruins 8 Brown Bears 4

The Austin Bruins exploded for eight goals in an 8-4 win against the Kenai River Brown Bears, boosting its own record at the Showcase to 3-1 while the Brown Bears fell to 0-4.

It was the Brown Bears up 2-0 after a period and 4-2 late in the second. However the Bruins pulled one more back before the end of the middle frame and fired five unanswered third period goals — the final pair into an empty net.

Zach Kennedy, 19, from Eagle River, WI fired two goals and assisted on another with Dawson DiPietro, 20, from Medina, OH adding a goal and two helpers and Jade Miller, 20, from Minot, ND also scoring a pair for the Bruins.

Justin Misiak, 19, from St. Clair Shores, MI notched a goal and an assist and other Bruins goals came from Luke Forfar, 19, from Darien, IL and Austin Rueschhoff, 18, from Wentzville, MO. Austin Smith, 18, from Orland Park, IL made 19 saves to pick up the win in goal.

Sam Carlson, 20, from Alaska, scored twice and assisted on another for the Brown Bears, Cameron Cook, 18, from New York adding a goal and assist and the other goal scored by Ezekiel Estrada, 17, from Alaska. Brian Baker, 20, from Pennsvylvania made 27 saves in goal for the Brown Bears.

Next up for the Austin Bruins is a Friday night (Oct.2) contest at Brookings.