Friday, Jan. 25-Sunday Jan. 27, 2008 @ Cloquet
Cloquet Tournament
Reported by guest reporter by Dr. Steve Hallfin
Friday’s game, in Cloquet, was one of the coldest areas in the state, if not North America! The water was frozen the second it came out of the Zamboni!
The Storm PeeWee B1’s handled the hometown Cloquet team, 5-0, with 2 goals from Keegan Johnson leading the way.
The second game on Saturday was not the B1’s best effort, as they fell, 7-1, to St. Cloud.
In the 3rd place game at 8:45 Sunday morning, against a very talented Eden Prairie team, the Storm took a 3-2 lead into the 3rd period and held the charging Eden Prairie team off until there was just one second remaining on the clock. Unfortunately, for our team, that was when Eden Prairie scored the game-tying goal.
In overtime, Eden Prairie won in the second minute.
TJ Hallfin had a goal and an assist in the most heart-breaking game of these young player’s hockey lives. TJ Mosley got the shut-out in the first game, and kept the Storm in the Eden Prairie game until literally the very last second.
TJ Mosley was the MVP of the tournament in the eyes of this amateur reporter.
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Wed., 1-23-08 @ Parade Ice Arena
Peewee A vs. St. Paul Johnson
The Storm out-shot Johnson, 32-3, Wednesday night, and beat the East-Siders, 5-0.
The Storm’s Zach Hale scored early in the first period, assisted by Peter Hacker, to put his team up, 1-0. Meanwhile, the Storm defense wasn’t allowing Johnson almost anything. In the period, Johnson got off two shots, both of which goalie Nicholas Bither stopped, but going into the first intermission the Storm only led by a single goal.
Any ideas Johnson had of possibly beating the Storm disappeared quickly in the second period as the Storm allowed a single Johnson shot (to 18 of their own), and scored three times. Midway through the period, Keegan Iverson scored a power play goal, assisted by Katy Fuller, and three minutes and some change later Hacker scored unassisted to put the Storm up, 3-0. Near the end of the period, Hacker tallied again, assisted by Hale and Ben Gleekel for a 4-0 Storm lead as the period ended.
In the third, the Storm didn’t allow a Johnson shot, and Iverson scored, assisted by Nelson and Fuller to end the scoring.
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Tues., Jan. 15, 2008 @ SLP Rec Ctr.
Storm Pee-Wee C vs. Brooklyn Pk.
Storm goalie, Evan Winter, was outstanding, stopping 26 of 28 shots (.929 save%), but the Storm only got off six shots, and fell to Brooklyn Park, 2-0.
Brooklyn Park scored a power play goal 3:08 into the first to go up 1-0. With time running out in the period, Brooklyn Park had another breakaway, but Charlie M. did a great job of hustling back and back-checking before Brooklyn Park could get off a shot.
With :15 left in the period, Evan sprawled on the ice to knock away a great Brooklyn Park shot, but, when the Storm couldn’t clear the puck, Brooklyn Park got a second chance and snuck a goal in with three seconds left for a 2-0 lead going into the first intermission.
Over the next two periods, the Storm got off two shots, while the visitors tallied 25, but Evan was awesome, stopping everything!
Despite the final score, there were several Storm highlights: Carlos S., Isaac F., Andy H., and Ben S. each had nice checks; Andy H. poked the puck away from behind on a Brooklyn Park break; Jesse K. had a great shot on goal, and Carl V. just missed on the rebound; and the Storm defense did a great job of killing two penalties in the third period, keeping the team within striking distance.
With under two minutes to play, a Brooklyn Park wing went down hard after a check and stayed down for almost five minutes. Thankfully, the young man walked off the ice under his own power, and it was great to hear the cheers given to the player by the Storm players, coaches, and fans.
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Sunday, January 6, 2008
Pee-Wee B1 vs. Irondale
The Storm lost a tough one Sunday, as Irondale scored two late goals to win, 4-3.
Things looked great for the Storm in the first period when Thomas Blease scored twice, both times assisted by Charlie Welter and TJ Hallfin.
Irondale tied the game in the second period, but the Storm went ahead again, this time on a goal by Danny Murray on a nice back-handed shot.
Leading 3-2, Irondale scored two quick goals, and held on to win, 4-3.
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Thursday, Jan. 10, 2008 @ SLP Rec. Ctr.
MPLS-St. Louis Park Pee-Wee A vs. Hopkins
In a see-saw game, luckily the Storm had the last “see.” Or was it the last “saw?”
In the first period, Hopkins scored to go up 1-0, and the Storm quickly tied the game on a goal by T Nelson. Less than 20 seconds later, the Storm went up 2-1 on a goal by Zach Hale, assisted by Ben Gleekel.
With 1:27 left in the first, Hopkins tied the score, but the tie lasted only 36 seconds, as the Storm’s Hale scored again with 51 seconds left in the period.
In the second, the Storm started out strong and had chances to add to their lead. Hale had a shot at a hat trick, but his back-hander was stopped on a nice kick save by the Hopkins goalie.
With 10 minutes left in the second, Hopkins tied the score 3-3, and when both teams went scoreless the rest of the period, the stage was set for a great third period.
Marshall Tema put the Storm in front 4:36 into the period, but Hopkins ripped a goal into the top corner to tie game with under six minutes left in the game.
With 2:33 left in the game, Jack Jablonski scored in traffic for a 5-4 lead, and the Storm defense played strong down the stretch to seal the win.
Katy Fuller was especially tough in the closing minutes, playing physical while clearing the puck out of the Storm’s end.
The Storm’s goalie, Nicholas Bither, had lots of action, and came through when it counted. In all, he stopped 22 of 26 shots.
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Thur., Jan. 3, 2008 @ SLP Rec. Ctr.
Storm Pee Wee B1 vs. St. Paul-Como
Poor Como!
Park’s Pee Wee B1s weren’t very nice hosts, as they thumped the east-siders, 13-0. The fact is, they could have scored more, but Park’s coaches called off the dogs after the first period.
In the first period, Park took 7 shots, and scored……..7 times!
Curtis Greenbush scored Park’s first two goals, followed by goals by Joe Kramer, Thomas Blease, Daniel Murry (assist to Tanner Ahlborn), TJ Hallfin, and Noah Fortmeyer.
In the second period, Kramer tallied again, Hallfin scored on a breakaway for his second goal, Charlie Welter scored (assist to Kramer) for a 10-0 lead, then Ahlborn scored his second goal of the game, and the second period ended 11-0.
In the third, Hallfin got the hat trick, and the scoring ended, finally, on another goal by Murray (assist to Welter).
Accoring to the official scorer, Park had 25 shots to 8 by Como.
Park’s goalie, TJ Mosley, though bored much of the game, stopped all 8 Como shots.
After the game, Hallfin wanted to talk about his hat trick!
“They were my first goals of the season,” said Hallfin. “It was my first hat trick since I scored five in mites pond hockey. Or did I score seven?”
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Wed., Jan. 2, 2008 @ SLP Rec. Ctr.
Storm Pee Wee C vs. Orono
Though the final score was 3-1 in favor of the Storm, the game wasn’t really that close. The Storm dominated in every phase of the game, beating Orono to the puck, using the boards, defending, passing, and goaltending.
After a scoreless first period, the Storm scored twice in the second. Jesse scored, assisted by Carlos for a 1-0 lead; Jake scored the second goal, assisted by Charlie, and the period ended 2-0.
Charlie had two great shots in the third, one on a nice wrap-around that was stonewalled by the Orono goalie. Carlos and Mitchell each had nice checks that brought the Storm fans to their feet, and Jesse had a beautiful deflection that just missed the goal.
Midway through the period, Orono finally scored, but the Storm defense wouldn’t allow another quality shot the rest of the game. Defenders Charlie, Logan, Jake, Blake, Isaac, Carl and Johnny were especially tough down the stretch.
With 5:02 left in the game, the Storm finished the game’s scoring when Mitchell scored a beauty, beating the Orono goalie with a wrist-shot.
The Storm’s Evan was terrific in goal, stopping 10 of 11 shots.
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Tuesday, December 11, 2007 @ SLP Rec Center
Storm Pee Wee B2 vs. Armstrong-Cooper
The Storm started out like world-beaters, but had to settle for a tie, 2-2, Tuesday night.
The Storm played awesome the first period, scoring early on a beauty by Austin Bosely, then again with a minute left in the period when Emett Bongaarts stuffed in a rebound, giving the Storm a 2-0 lead and tons of momentum.
Meanwhile, Eric Speicher, Storm goalie, stopped all five Armstrong-Cooper shots.
The Storm defense was excellent throughout the period, with Colin O’Neil, Josh Scal, and Zach Nusman leading the way. Nusman, but the way, about a head taller and 20 pounds heavier than every other player on the ice, seemed to be checking Armstrong-Cooper players into the boards by merely flexing his eyebrows! The kids is strong!
The second period started out strong for the Storm, with Thomas Stone blasting a shot on goal on a breakaway that was stopped by the opposing goalie, then, a moment later, Bosely had another breakaway but his shot went wide. A few minutes later, Bosely would have another breakaway, but his blast from the point hit the opposing goalie in the breadbasket.
In all, the Storm had 10 shots in the period, Cooper-Armstrong had only two. Guess what? Both Cooper-Armstrong shots went it—and the score was tied at two going to the third period.
The third period was a bit sloppy on both sides, with passes missing their mark, and the Storm, especially, seemed worn out.
The bad news: Armstrong-Cooper out-shot the Storm 5-2 in the period. The good news: the Storm defense and goalie Speicher prevented any scoring, and the game ended in a tie.
Jake Lukasavage broke up a 2-1 Cooper-Armstrong break with under six minutes left, Speicher made a great kick-save to his right with four minutes left, and Sean Gordon did a great job of beraking up a scoring opportunity with two minutes left. In the last minute, a bouncing puck brought a few gasps from the crowd, but Speicher knocked it away to preserve the tie.
The Storm out-shot their opponents 21-12.
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Sunday, November 25, 2007 @ Parade Ice Arena
Storm Pee-Wee B1 vs. Wayzata
”We were a step behind skating,” said Storm Coach Jim Smith. “We need to skate hard with and without the puck, and need to learn to give and take body checks. Wayzata is a very good all-around team, but our two-on-ones turned quickly into two-on-twos because we couldn’t skate with them.”
Obviously, those don’t sound like the words from the winning team’s coach, and they weren’t. The Storm got out-shot 21-7 by Wayzata, and lost 4-1.
Just two minutes into the first period, Wayzata knocked in a rebound, but that’s all the Storm would allow, and the period ended 1-0.
Wayzata scored three and a half minutes into the second period, to make the score 2-0, and it looked like the Storm would answer back when winger Tanner Ahlborn broke free, made a nice move, and back-handed a shot that was stopped on a terrific save.
With 4:50 in the period, TJ Hallfin found Thomas Blease with a beautiful pass, but again the Wayzata goalie was equal to the task.
The Storm finally dented the scoreboard with under four minutes to play in the period when Curtis Greenbush found Daniel Levin, who blasted one past the Wayzata goalie and the period ended with the Storm trailing 2-1.
The third period was marked by great Storm defense, especially by Hallfin, Keegan Johnson and Noah Fortmeyer, but chasing around the faster Wayzata skaters wore down the Storm, and with under seven minutes to play Wayzata snuck in a goal, then tallied again on a beautiful wrap-around number, bulging the lead to 4-1.
The Storm’s last gasp was a great steal by Levin, who took the puck coast-to-coast, only to be denied by the outstanding Wayzata goalie, who stopped six of the seven shots he faced (86%).
Storm goalie Will Jarvis was no slouch, himself, stopping 17 of 21 (81%), most of the difficult variety.
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Sunday, November 25, 2007 @ Parade Ice Arena
Storm Pee-Wee B2 vs. Highland Capitals
Consolation Championship Game
The game couldn’t have started out any better! The opening face-off was controlled by the Storm, and Sean Gordon scored nine seconds later, putting the good guys up 1-0.
The Storm played great defense for the next 10 minutes, with Zach Nusman leading the way. With 9:30 left in the period, the Storm killed a penalty, and had two quality shots, but couldn’t convert.
With 4:21 left, Storm goalie Eric Speicher made a great save on a point blank slap-shot, and two minutes later, he made another save, deflecting the puck off the puck, and out of harm’s way.
th under two minutes left, Highland tied the game on a nice back-hander, and the period ended in a 1-1 tie; Highland out-shot the Storm 9-5 in the period.
Highland dominated the second period shot-wise, getting off 14 to the Storm’s four, but the Storm’s defense played its heart out, and Speicher stood on his head and the score stayed at 1-1 into the second intermission.
Yosi Sela played great defense throughout the period, and the Storm’s immovable object, Zach Nusman, check a Highland player into next week while standing still.
The Storm could only muster two shots in the third period to Highland’s 10, but one of those was a rocket from Austin Bosley with 7:01 in regulation to put the Storm ahead!
Jake Lukasavage was great on defense down the stretch for the Storm, and Speicher made a glove save with five minutes and some change left, and it looked like the Consolation Trophy would be riding home with Coach Dittrich. But, with 4:28 left, Wayzata tied the score when the Storm had trouble clearing the puck.
Over the last four minutes, neither team had a good chance to score, and we headed for overtime.
The Storm’s Thomas Stone looked like he ended the game in over-time, but his shot came a half-second after the play was whistled dead. With a little over two minutes left, and the prospect of a shoot-out looming, Highland snuck one past Speicher on a breakaway to end the game 3-2.
Speicher was magnificent in goal in the game, stopping 32 of 35 Highland shots (91%), while the Highland goalie stopped 10 of 12 Storm shots (83%).
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Minneapolis Cup Thanksgiving Tournament
Friday, November 23, 2007 @ St. Louis Park Rec. Center
Storm Pee Wee C vs. Monticello-Annandale-Maple Lake Stars
I can’t find Monticello, Annandale, or Maple Lake on a map, but they found the goal six times in a 6-1 win over the Storm.
The theme of the game for the Stars was: shots, shot and more shots. The Storm’s goalie, Evan Winter, did a wonderful job, but his defense just allowed too many quality shots—25 to be exact, to the Storm’s six.
Of the Stars’ six goals, four were on breakaways and one off a deflection.
The game was physical, with each team having to remove injured players after brutal checks.
At the end of the first period, the Storm trailed 1-0, but the Stars out-shot the Storm 10-1 in the second, and their fast players wore down the bigger, more physical Storm squad, leading 3-0 at the second intermission.
In the third period, the Stars had a flurry of shots with eight minutes remaining, with Winter stopping five shots in a row before he could cover the puck. A minute later, the Stars scored on a breakaway, then again, off a deflection with five minutes left in the game.
With four minutes left, the Storm did a great job of killing a penalty, seemingly using every bit of gas they had left. However, with two minutes remaining, Blake Smith broke free from a pack of Stars, and whipped a wrist shot past the goalie. The goal gave the Storm a shot of adrenalin, and they shut down the Stars the rest of the way.
Storm coach, Ron Smith, had nothing but praise for his star goalie, Evan Winter.
“He was very good,” he said. “[The Stars] had lots of shots. Lots of good shots! Our defensemen need to get in better shape. I keep telling them, you have to be in shape to skate for three periods.”
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Tuesday, November 20, 2007 @ St. Louis Park Rec. Center
Storm Pee Wee A vs. St. Paul Marshall
The Storm played a great game Tuesday night and beat St. Paul Marshall, Storm goalie Nicholas Bither pitching a shutout, 1-0.
The first period was a defensive struggle, with both goalies playing great. Keegan Iverson had the Storm’s best scoring opportunity when he ripped a wrister that was stopped with 4:02 left.
With under two minutes left, Marshall came down and had a great shot of their own that was stopped by Bither, and when things got physical when he covered the puck, he took exception and the Storm was penalized, and played the end of the period a man short.
As time ran out in the period, the Storm’s defense played well, passing precisely, and Marshall couldn’t get a whiff of a shot off.
In the second period, the Storm’s Jack Jablonski beat Marshall’s goalie, and it looked like the game might open up a bit. But, instead, both team’s defenses took over.
The Storm had a few more chances to score in the second and third, with Jablonski stopped on a point blank shot, and Jake Baer missing just wide after faking Marshall’s goalie out of position.
The Storm’s defense, though undersized compared to Marshall, was faster and a bit tougher throughout. In the third period, Zach Hale lost his stick when he was checked into the boards, but stayed on the puck and, literally, dribbled it like a soccer ball with his skates out of the Storm’s zone.
With under 2:00 remaining in the game, The Storm’s Jake Omodt found himself fighting for the puck against Marshall’s wing, who was at least a foot taller and 50 pounds heavier.
“He was tall, but he wasn’t a very good skater,” said Omodt.
Needless to say, Omodt won the battle for the puck and spoiled Marshall’s last scoring chance (would Omodt have been talking if Godzilla had out-skated him?).
With under a minute, Marshall pulled their goalie, and the Storm just missed hitting the open net as time ran out.
In all, theStorm took 28 shots to only four for Marshall, though the four Marshall took would have penetrated the majority of Pee Wee goalies.
Props to Bither and the defense.
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Saturday, November 17, 2007 @ Parade Ice Arena
PeeWee B1 vs. St. Paul Highland
Park lost a physical game Saturday, falling to St. Paul Highland, 4-2.
Park’s TJ Mosley played a great game in goal, and Park had 24 shots on goal to St. Paul’s 23, but it was the quality of Park’s shots that were lacking, not the quantity.
St. Paul scored the first goal, on a breakaway, with 4:37 left in the first period, and the Storm answered back 45 seconds later when Tanner Ahlborn blasted one into the corner of the net.
Park couldn’t get a decent shot on goal the rest of the period, but its defense kept the game a tie with Olivia Hardacker, TJ Hallfin and Noah Fortmeyer leading the way.
After one period, the score was tied, but Park had only had three shots, two of which were of the mediocre variety.
A minute into the second period, St. Paul had a break away, but Mosley made a great glove save, and a minute later the Storm had a breakaway, but St. Paul’s goalie made a great save, and stopped a shot on the rebound, too.
Park piled up shot after shot during the second period, twice as many as St. Paul, but most were as weak as Nick Punto ground balls back to the pitcher (when he bats left-handed).
After two St. Paul penalties gave Park a two-man advantage, Charlie Hills blasted a slapshot past the East-Sider’s goalie for a 2-1 lead, and the momentum seemed firmly in the Storm’s favor…..of course, we have to play three periods.
St. Paul dominated the Storm in the third period, scoring with 9:34 left with a shot to the upper-right shelf, and again three minutes later off a blast just inside the blue line. The Storm seemed tired and frustrated with St. Paul’s suffocating defense, and the game ended without the Storm getting off a quality shot in the last five minutes.
Despite the loss, there were many bright spots for the Storm, including 15 checks, five bone-jarring numbers by Charlie Welter, and excellent goal-tending by Mosley.
”The checking is new to these kids,” commented a Park parent. “But they got the hang of it today.”
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Thursday, November 15, 2007 @ St. Louis Park Rec. Center
Pee Wee “B2” Boys vs. Armstrong-Cooper
How can you lose when you don’t give up a goal? You can’t! Thanks to a stingy defense, and the incredible goal-tending of Sam Smogard, the Storm won their second game in a row to start the ’07-’08 season, this one a 2-0 thriller over Armstrong-Cooper.
Smogard, doing his best Plastic Man imitation, did the splits, dove left, dove right, stopped point blank slapshots, wristshots, a couple rebounds—there might even have been a sky hook thrown in! He stopped shots from every conceivable angle. Smogard stopped four shots in the first period, eight in the second, and five in the third.
“That was my best game in goal in a year,” said Smogard. “I worked hard in the off-season and I went to Goalie Crease Training which helped. My defense really helped me. They played great.”
It should be noted that, though Smogard was great, the Armstrong-Cooper goalie wasn’t chopped liver himself. He stopped 15 of 17 shots, and gave his team a great chance to win.
After a physical scoreless first period, the Storm finally got on the scoreboard in the 2nd. With nine minutes left in the period, the Storm peppered the goal on shots by Alison Ahn, Tom Stone and Sean Gordon, before Emmett Bongaarts knocked one in the corner before Armstrong-Cooper could clear the puck.
A minute later, Stone set up Austin Bosley for a slick one-timer to put the Storm up 2-0.
“It was a great pass by Tom,” said Bosley. “I’m glad I put it in.”
The third period got a bit sloppy, with both teams spending time in the penalty box, but neither team could capitalize, and the game ended 2-0.
“We’re playing well, but we need to stop getting penalties,” said Bosley
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11-13-07 @ SLP Rec. Center
PeeWee-A vs. Brooklyn Park
Park’s Pee Wee A’s lost their first game of the year to a tough Brooklyn Park squad, 5-3.
Only two words are needed to explain Park’s loss: Connor Dahlberg. Dahlberg, the awesome Brooklyn Park goalie, stopped 17 of 20 Park shots in leading his team to victory.
The Storm goalie, Nicholas Bicker, was also impressive, stopping 20 of 25 shots.
Brooklyn Park got on the score board on a short-handed goal just into the first period, and Keegan Iverson tied the scored with 3:50 left in the first on a wrist shot in the corner of the goal.
In the second period, Brooklyn Park scored two goals in 90 seconds, both on rebounds after Bicker made nice saves, but the Storm couldn’t clear the puck.
When Brooklyn Park scored again on a breakaway with five minutes left in the second period, it looked like it might become a blowout as the score stood 4-1.
The Storm got back into the game, though, when Zach Hale broke away from a crowd, then passed to Peter Hacker, who buried a shot into the upper left corner of the goal with 10 seconds left in the period. A questionable penalty call on the ensuing face-off put the Storm in the penalty box to open the third period, and it would cost them.
Brooklyn Park scored a short-handed goal a minute into the period, to make the score 5-2, and only two tremendous saves by the Storm’s Bither kept the score at bay until the home team returned to full strength.
With 12:26 left in the game, Hacker scored again on a rebound when Brooklyn Park’s goalie didn’t cover up the puck after a nice save.
Unfortunately, the last 12 minutes of the game was a clinic on defense and goal-tending, as neither team could put the puck in the net. the Storm pulled their goalie with a minute left, but Brooklyn Park’s defense was just to good on this night.
As this is the first time I’ve seen the Storm Pee Wee A team this season, I wasn’t quite familiar with many of the players, but I was especially impressed by Katy Fuller, the Storm only girl player, who not only looked like she could skate with the boys, but took and dished out some nice checks during the game.
Team roster: Marshall Tema, Ben Gleekel, Joe Oesterle, Keegan Iverson, Jake Omodt, Tony Chapple, Zach Hale, Jack Larson, Jake Baer, Katy Fuller, Trevor Nelson, Pete Nester, Jack Jablonski, Peter Hacker, Nicholas Bither, Head Coach Justin Magnuson.
