MyParkTeam

Saturday, 2/9/08 @ SLP Rec Ctr
JV vs. Cooper

Park turned the Cooper Hawks every which way but loose, outshooting them 33-3, and outscoring them 8-0.

Alex Smith started the fun with a goal early in the first, assisted by Dean Speicher, and that’s all Park would get in the period, despite 10 shots; Cooper had three shots—all they would collect in the game.

Park completely dominated the second period. Speicher scored (assisted by Jesse Solstad and Ethan Bohn), Dallas Koller scored off a rebound (assisted by Gage Larsen and Jerry Hills), Speicher scored again (assisted by Hills and Mike Yaeger), and Mike Nimmo scored (assisted by Smith).

Leading 5-0 at the second intermission, Park didn’t let up, and added three more. Speicher got his hat trick through the five-hole (assisted by Yeager and Josh Wagner), Koller scored his second goal (assisted by Larsen and Nelson Kivimaki), and Hills scored the final goal (assisted by Wagner and Smith).

Park’ goalie, Mickey Hills, was perfect and bored.

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Thursday, 2/7/08 @ SLP Rec Ctr
Jr. Varsity vs. Spring Lake Park

Park’s JVs beat Spring Lake Park, 6-2, Thursday night.

Park’s goals came from Jerry Hills, Ethan Bohn, Matt Saabye, Randy Cunningham, and two from Jesse Solstad. One of Solstad’s goals was a beautiful back-hander, and Cunningham’s goal came when Park was playing two men short!

“That was a snipe!” commented one Park player.

Park goalie, Mickey Hills, was excellent, stopping all but two shots.

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Thursday, January 3, 2008 @ SLP Rec. Center
Jr. Varsity vs. Blake

Park’s JV team lost a heart-breaker Thursday night, falling to Blake in overtime, 4-3.

If you googled “hockey game, frustrating way to lose, missed opportunites,” this game would pop up.

Park had a great first period, scoring 1:57 in on a goal by Case Ritzman, assisted by Jerry Hills. Dean Speicher scored a few minutes later on a deflection, assisted by Mike Nimmo and Nelson Kivimaki.

Leading 2-0 into the second, Park had all the momentum. Blake scored on a rebound at the 10:26 mark, but Park answered back when Hills scored less than a minute later, assisted by Jeff Howes, for a 3-1 lead.

The momentum seemed to shift when, with 37 seconds left in the period, Blake scored on a blast from the point. Blake thought they tied the game with seven seconds left, but a goal was waved off because the goal had come loose from the posts.

In the opening minutes of the third period, Park caught a break when, what appeared to be a Blake goal, was waved off when the referee had a bad angle on the play.

With under seven minutes to play, Blake won a face-off in their own end, then went coast-to-coast for a game-tying goal.
Park’s Nick Spencer saved a possible goal a minute later, poking the puck away from behind on a Blake breakaway.

Blake took two penalties within a few seconds of each other, and Park played almost two full minutes with two extra skaters, but couldn’t put the puck in the net, and the game went to a five minute overtime.

In overtime, Blake again took two penalties, and Park couldn’t get a shot on goal despite playing five-on-three for a minute and half.

After Blake got back to full strength, Park took a penalty, and Blake scored a power play goal off a deflection with 1:09 left in the game.

Park’s goalie, Mickey Hills, played a solid game, stopping 22 of 26 shots. Blake’s goalie stopped 27 of 30.

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Saturday, December 15, 2007 @ SLP Rec. Center
St. Louis Park Boys Jr. Varsity vs. Hopkins Royals

Hopkins jumped to an early lead, and Park just could never mount a comeback, falling 4-1.

Hopkins got on the scoreboard 5:24 into the first period, scoring on a rebound to go up 1-0.
Park had a few decent scoring opportunities in the period, with Randy Cunningham missing wide and Alex Smith having a point-blank shot stopped on a nice save. In all, Park had 7 shots to 12 for Hopkins, but just couldn’t light the lamp.

In the second period, Hopkins showed off their speed, and even when Park was at full-strength, it felt like they were a man down! Sean Robb, Gage Larson and Case Ritzman did a nice job on defense at the beginning of the period, thwarting a few Hopkins threats, but 4:03 in a Hopkins wing blasted a shot from the point passed Park goalie Mickey Hills to go up 2-0, then added another with 47 seconds left in the period to go up 3-0.

Park used so much energy in the first period, and first part of the second, that when they had a power-play midway through the period, they couldn’t muster a single shot on goal.

The game got physical during the second period, with Nick Spencer getting a roughing on what appeared to be a clean but hard check; Nelson Kivimaki and Josh Wagner also spent time in stir.

Hopkins continued their fine play in the third, but Park’s defense, having caught their wind, kept them scoreless through the first eight and a half minutes.

With 6:37 remaining, Jerry Hills found the net for Park on a nice move and quick wrist shot into the corner of the net, assisted by Dallas Koller.

Hopkins was a bit peaved at losing their shut-out, and took out their frustrations by sandwiching Park’s Kivimaki with a check from both sides.

With under four minutes to play, Hopkins was called for a penalty, and on the ensuing face-off, Hopkins won the face-off, skated down the ice unchecked, and blasted one past Hills to put Park up 4-1, which would be the final score.

Park goalie Mickey Hills was under great pressure the entire game, yet stopped 24 of 28 Hopkins shots for a .857 save%. Hopkins goalie stopped 14 of Park’s 15 shots (.933).

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Thursday, November 29, 2007 @ St. Louis Park Rec. Center
St. Louis Park Boys Junior Varsity vs. Eagan

Park ran out of gas in the third period Thursday night, losing to Eagan in their first game of the season.

Though the score wouldn’t seem to indicate it, Park played tough against a strong Eagan team. Eagan scored 4:06 into the first period, and added another with about 10 minutes remaining, but Park’s goalie, Mickey Hills, and his defense kept the home team in the game.

Jerry Hills, Ethan Bohn, Tucker Carlson and Dallas Koller played standout defense during most of the period, limiting Eagan’s high-powered offense to only seven shots. Eagan was equally impressive on defense, limiting Park to six shots, and hammering the Orioles with several solid checks. Park’s Josh Wagner was the recipient of one of these checks, getting his bell rung and being knocked to the ice.

With 5:15 left in the period, Park had a power play, but couldn’t capitalize, and the period ended with a 2-0 Eagan lead.

Park played with great energy in the second period. “If we can regularly play like we did in that second period, we’ll be fine,” said Park assistant coach Aaron McEchran.

Four minutes into the period, Alex Smith had Park’s best scoring opportunity of the game to that point when he blasted a slap-shot on goal, but Eagan’s goalie gloved the puck to his left.

Case Ritzman ripped a shot wide seconds later, and Mike Nimmo’s shot on a breakaway was also gloved. With 9:00 left in the period, Ritzman deflected a shot in front of the goal, barely missing wide, then Eagan skated down and scored their only goal of the period, giving them a 3-0 lead.

Park had a power play with 6:25 left in the period, but couldn’t get a decent shot off as Eagan hunkered down. Hills made a great save with 2:40 left to keep the Eagan scoring at bay, and the period ended.

Park was completely spent after the furious pace of the second period, and Eagan scored five unanswered goals in the third to make the final score Eagan 8, Park 0.

Park’s goalie was a sitting duck all period, with Eagan getting 15 shots, many of them wide open ones, while Park managed only one shot.

“[Park’s goalie Mickey Hills] didn’t have a chance,” said Coach McEachran. “We had one defender picking up five Eagan guys. They were getting great shots, and they were cranking up, pirouetting, and picking where they wanted to shoot.”

Park’s Smith and Jerry Hills were both hurt during the period after taking hard checks.

The only highlight of the third period was the check of the game, a bone-shaking hit by Park’s Nelson Kivimaki.

Park’s goalie Mickey Hills stopped 26 of 34 (.765), while Eagan’s goalie stopped all 12 of Park’s shots.
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District Playoffs
Squirt C-Orange:District 1 Champs!
Sat. and Sunday, Feb. 16-17, ‘08
(reported by Tobi Duffy)

Having finished the regular season with 15 wins, 5 losses and 2 ties, the Squirt C Orange team entered district playoffs knowing they’d have to play their best to have fun and bring home a trophy.

The first game matched them up against friends and former teammates, Storm Squirt C Purple. They took turns leading the game, but Orange emerged victorious with a 4-on-4 overtime goal.

Next up was Highland Blue. Having lost and tied them during the season, our skaters hit the ice determined to leave it all on the ice, winning 3-2 in regulation.

And finally, Highland Red, another formidable opponent, saw firsthand our perseverance, grit, and character as Squirt C Orange shut them out for a 2-0 Championship win!

 

Storm Squirt-C Orange–District 1 Champs!!!

(courtesy Tobi Duffy)
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Saturday, 2/16/08 @ St. Paul
Squirt-C Purple vs. Irondale
District Playoffs

After a tough playoff loss to the Storm’s Orange team in overtime, the Purple Storm beat a tough Irondale club, 1-0.

In the closing minutes of the first period, Patrick Duffy scored a pretty goal, beating the Irondale goalie top shelf to his stick side.

With a 1-0 lead, the Storm’s defense and goal-tending took over and led the team to a do-or-die victory.

Storm goalie, Jonah Anderson, had a fantastic game, stopping 16 of 16 shots, 9 in the third period with the pressure on.
The Purple Storm will continue in the double-elimination district playoffs on Sunday morning.

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Thursday, 2/14/08 @ St. Paul
Squirt C Purple vs. Squirt C Orange

I’m not sure why the two Storm Squirt C teams had to face each other in the first game of the district playoffs, or why this classic battle was waged in St. Paul, but it was, and it was a humdinger!

The last time both Storm Squirt C teams faced each other, on November 17th (my 40th birthday!), the game ended in a 4-4 tie. For three periods tonight there still was not a whit of difference between the two clubs.

The score was tied at the end of the first period at 1-1, at the end of the second at 2-2, and 4-4 at the end of regulation.

In regulation, the Purple had goals from Reilly Patrick, Patrick Bordewick, and two by Adam Belzer. The Orange answered with goals by Riley Simonetti, Mike Eiden, and two by Alec Gaitán-Gaitán.

In overtime, Gaitán-Gaitán ended the game, 5-4, with his third goal of the game!

For the Purple, goalie Max Miller had an incredible game, and, according to one witness, “it might have been 18-4 if Max hadn’t had the game of his life!” Miller made more than a dozen improbable saves, and the Orange goalie, William Graves, also stood on his head!

If these two teams played 100 times, each would win 50, and I’d run out of clichés.
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Saturday, 2/9/08 @ St. Paul
Squirt-C Purple vs. St. Paul Langford

The Purple Storm made a valiant comeback, but fell short, losing to Langford, 7-5.

The Storm trailed 1-0 after one period, but rallied to take the lead in the second. Adam Belzer scored, Aaron Goodman scored, and Belzer scored again to give the Storm a 3-2 lead as the second period ended, and Langford scored four unanswered goals to start the third.

Trailing 6-3, Patrick Bordewick scored twice to pull the Storm within a goal, 6-5, and Bordewick almost tied the game in the final minutes when his shot just missed.

The Storm pulled their goalie with a minute left in the game, and Langford tacked on an open-net goal for a 7-5 final.

Storm goalie, Jonah Anderson, did a fine job, especially considering the barrage of shots he faced.

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Monday, 2/11/08 @ Parade Ice Arena
Squirt Purple Storm vs. Highland Park

The Storm ran into a great Highland team, and fell, 8-4.

1:20 into the game, Highland struck first, scoring past the Storm’s hot goaltender, Jonah Anderson. Another Highland shot hit the left pipe with minutes remaining, and with under a minute left in the period Anderson had a great stick save, and Kevin Ahn did a great job breaking up a Highland break.

In the second period, both teams played great defense through the first seven minutes before Highland connected for a 2-0 lead.

Patrick Bordewick ripped a shot of the Highland goalie’s helmet on a breakaway, but two minute later, Anil hit Trebor Eberle with a nice leading pass, and Eberle buried the shot to put the Storm on the board (click for video).

Highland quickly struck back, scoring with 1:31 left in the period, and the Capitals led at the second intermission, 3-1.
In the opening minutes of the third, Highland scored two quick goals for a 5-1 lead.

With 3:44 left in the game, Adam Belzer scored to cut the lead to three, 5-2, but Highland scored twice in the next minute and a half to push the lead back to five, 7-2.

With 1:36 left, Belzer hit Eberle with a pass to cut the lead to 7-3, and Bordewick ripped one off the roof of the goal seconds later to cut the lead to 7-4.

In the final seconds, Highland added their last goal, and when the final buzzer sounded, Highland had won, 8-4.

The rumor in the stands was that Highland had yet to be beaten in district play, which isn’t surprising, as their passes were crisp, and they had several incredible skaters.

Storm goalie, Anderson, must have felt like he was in a shooting gallery, as most of Highland’s shots came with no Storm defenders in sight. To beat a team like Highland, the Purple Storm would have to play error-free, and on this night they fell a bit short.
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Sunday, 2/10/08 @ St. Paul
Squirt Purple Storm vs. Edgcumb White

The Purple Storm stayed hot, beating Edgcumb, 3-1, Sunday afternoon.

Patrick Duffy, Aaron Goodman, and Anil Ramtahal each scored, and goalie Max Miller had a terrific game letting only one biscuit in the basket.

Ramtahal is one of the Storm’s hottest players right now, having scored goals in three games in the last week and a half.

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Saturday, 2/9/08 @ SLP Rec Ctr.
Storm Squirt B vs. Armstrong-Cooper

The Squirt Bs continued their incredible season, and thumped Cooper-Armstrong, 6-1, Saturday.

The Storm’s offense was clicking early, and a minute after Teddy Hoppman’s slapshot was stopped by a nice save, Phoebe Warner connected for a 1-0 lead.

Midway through the period, TJ Rempfer scored, assisted by Hoppman, and with 3:35 left in the period Jake Barton scored, assisted by Hoppman.

In the second, Nate Monga scored (click here to watch video) to give the Storm a 4-0 lead, and Hoppman made it 5-0 with a snipe into the upper right corner of the goal off a breakaway. Henry Feldman just missed on a break in the period’s closing seconds, and the Storm had to settle for a 5-0 lead at the second intermission.

Seconds into the third, the Storm took a penalty, and Armstrong-Cooper broke the shutout with a powerplay goal, but later in the period the Storm did a great job of killing another penalty, with Sean Cork and Rempfer doing a great job of keeping the puck out of the Storm’s zone.

Midway through the period, the Storm scored their last goal, a short-handed beauty by Hoppman, who nailed one into the upper left corner of the net on the break.

Lexi Robello just missed scoring another short-handed goal seconds later, but the Armstrong-Cooper goalie made a nice save.

With under a minute to play, Warner just missed wide on a wrist-shot, and the game ended 6-1.

Storm goalie, Benny Burke, had a heck of a game, stopping 10 of 11 shots.

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Saturday, 2/2/08 @ Edgecumb
Squirt-C Purple vs. Edgecumb Black

The Purple Storm continued their excellent play, and beat another squad from Edgecumb, the second win against an Edgecumb club in three days.

The Purple won, 4-1, in a well-played game, with the Storm’s goals coming from Reilly Patrick, Trebor Eberle, Joey Sorenson, and Patrick Bordewick.

Storm goalie, Max Miller, had one of his best games of the season, stopping all but one shot during the game.
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Thursday, 1/31/08 @ SLP Rec. Ctr.
Squirt-C Purple Storm vs. Edgecumb

The Purple Storm stayed red hot, and whalloped Edgecumb, 7-2, Thursday night.

Reed Goldstein got the Purple in the scoring column early in the first period when he beat the Edgecumb goalie for a 1-0 lead, then Patrick Bordewick ripped a shot on goal that the Edgecumb goalie got a piece of, but when the puck wasn’t cleared, Trebor Eberle stuffed it in for a 2-0 Storm lead.

Edgecumb scored to cut the lead to two, 3-1, but Jeff Rounds answered with a beautiful goal late in the first, and the score was 3-0 at the first intermission.

In the second period, Bordewick ripped another shot on goal, and again the goalie couldn’t clear it or cover it up, and Kevin Ahn tipped it in for a 4-1 Storm lead.

Adam Belzer ripped a wrist shot through the five hole to put the Storm up, 5-1, and Goldstein scored his second goal of the game to give the Storm a 6-1 lead at the second intermission.

Edgecumb scored their last goal in the third period, but, again the Storm answered, this time on a great goal by Rounds, his second of the game, and the contest ended, 7-2.

Storm goalie Jonah Anderson was his usual steady self in goal, stopping all but two shots, and the Storm defense was superb.
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Thursday, 1/31/08 @ SLP Rec. Ctr.
Squirt-C Orange Storm vs. St. Paul-Johnson

As when former Minnesota Twins pitcher Terry Felton used to take the mound, this was a “pad the stats” game.

The Orange Storm scored early, late and often, rolling to a 11-0 win.

Fifty seconds into the game, Will Czachor scored, assisted by Eric Hendricks, followed by goals by Alec Gaitan-Gaitan (assisted by Michael Eiden), Eiden (unassisted), Hendricks (assisted by Luke Peterson), and Josh Steinbach (assisted by Colin Monicatti), for a 5-0 lead at the first intermission.

The Storm didn’t slow down in the second period, scoring four times: Peterson scored unassisted, Hendricks scored again, assisted by Monicatti, Peterson scored, assisted by Max Stark, and Eiden scored, assisted by Ryan Lawler.

In the third period, Jack Breyak joined the fun, scoring a goal, assisted by Steinbach for a 10-0 Storm lead.

Storm goalie, William Graves, was flawless the entire game, and was hungry for a shutout when Johnson had a breakaway with five minutes remaining. Graves was equal to the task, though, and stopped a nice slap-shot from point-blank range.
With a few minutes remaining, Jacob Duffy scored, assisted by Czachor, to end the scoring and put the finishing touches on an 11-0 win.

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Saturday, 1/26/08 @ SLP Rec. Ctr.
Squirt-C Purple vs. Irondale

The Squirt Purple Storm (have those three words ever appeared together in print?) thrashed Irondale, 10-4, Saturday, with one of their best offensive showings of the year.

Patrick Bordewick and Jeff Rounds each had hat tricks, Jonah Anderson scored two goals, Adam Belzer one, and Anil Ramtahal scored a goal in his second straight game.

Meanwhile, Storm goalie, Max Miller, played a fine game in goal, making several tough saves, and the defense stymied the Irondale attack.

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Crow River Shiver Tourney
Saturday, 1/19/08 @ Delano
Squirt C Purple vs. M-A-M
First Round Game

The Storm opened the Crow River Tournament Saturday morning by throttling the hyphenated juggernaut of Monticello-Albertville-Maple Lake, 7-1.

The game had many stars, with Jeff Rounds leading the offensive charge with three goals—that’s what we call a Hat Trick, folks. Adam Belzer scored twice, and Kevin Ahn and Reed Goldstein each tickled the twine once.

Storm goalie, Jonah Anderson, was his usual solid self, stopping 17 of 18 shots for a .944 save percentage. The Storm took 45 shots and each player will be icing down all night.

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Crow River Shiver Tourney
Saturday, 1/19/08 @ Delano
Squirt C Purple vs. N. Branch-S. Francis
Second Round Game

The Storm Squirt Purple squad stayed hot, and blasted a tough North Branch-St. Francis team, 6-1, and will play Sunday for first place!

1:49 into the game, Jeff Rounds scored on a nice wrist shot, and he repeated the play four seconds later, and the Storm led 2-0!

A little over a minute later, Aaron Goodman scored the Storm’s third goal, Jevan Rasmusson scored with under three minutes left in the period, and Adam Belzer scored 31 seconds before the first intermission.

1:50 into the second period, North Branch-St. Francis scored their only goal, and Rasmusson got the goal back with a beauty with 5:02 remaining in the period.

Neither team scored in the third period, and the Storm’s defense, and goal-tending of Max Miller was outstanding.
The Storm will play in the championship game Sunday morning.

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Crow River Shiver Tourney
Saturday, 1/19/08 @ Delano
Squirt C Purple vs. St. Cloud
Championship Game

The Storm ran into a buzz saw, and lost to St. Cloud, 7-1, in the championship game.

Storm goalie, Jonah Anderson, played a great game, making more than 20 great saves, but the Storm had trouble scoring against the tough granite city defense.

St. Cloud scored one goal in the first, three in the second, and three in the third.

The highlight of the game for the Purple occurred in the second period when Patrick Bordewick ripped a vicious shot on goal, and Anil Ramtahal stuffed in the rebound for his first goal of the season!

Congratulations to the Squirt Purple club on their great second place showing!

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Tuesday, Jan. 15, 2008 @ SLP Rec Ctr.
Storm Squirt A vs. Washburn

The Storm never trailed, but had to hang on to win a nail-biter, 4-3.

The Storm went in front early in the first period when Jack Stellon scored, assisted by Connor Fulco, the only goal of the period.

In the second, Washburn scored midway through the period to tie the game at 1-1, but Cade Gleekel put the Storm back in front when he faked right, broke left, and backhanded the puck into the corner of the net; assist to Casey Plender.

Zach Newton scored on a great move to put the Storm up 3-1 (CLICK HERE TO WATCH A VIDEO OF THE GOAL).

With 2:12 left in the period, Washburn scored to cut the lead to 3-2. Washburn nearly tied the game on a breakaway with a minute left, but Storm goalie, Duncan McIntyre, made a great save.

Gleekel, who skates like he has rockets in his skates, just missed on his own breakaway, and the period ended 3-2.

Only nine seconds into the third period, Washburn tied the score, 3-3, but 48 seconds later the Storm went back in front when Connor Fulco scored, assisted by Stellon.

The last eight minutes of the game were full of drama, as each team had several shots on goal, but both goalies were excellent.

McIntyre was tested on a breakaway, when the Washburn wing tried forcing one through the five-hole, but there would be no Bill Buckner moment on this night!

A bouncing puck had the fans on the edge of their seats, but McIntyre took care of that one too!

With time running out, Zack Newton just missed scoring on an open goal when the Washburn goalie was pulled. Washburn had one last chance when they carried the puck into the Storm zone, but Fulco deflected a point-blank shot, losing his stick in the process, and the game ended 4-3 Storm.

The defense was outstanding throughout, with Robert Pajor, Adam Petit, Graham Larson, and Jacko Gonsalez leading the way.

The Storm out-shot Washburn 25-17, with Storm goalie, Duncan McIntyre, stopping 14 of 17 for an outstanding .824 save percentage!

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Thurs., Jan. 10, 2008 @ SLP Rec. Ctr.
Squirt B vs. Maple Grove

The Storm beat up on Maple Grove Thursday, holding the visitors scoreless until late in the third period.

The first period belonged to the Storm as they built up a 3-0 lead. Rhett Piper got the Storm on the board early on a wrist shot into past the Maple Grove goalie, then Claudio Garcia and Phoebe Warner followed with nice breakaway goals.

In the second period, speedster Lexi Robello scored his third goal of the year, followed by a goal by Teddy Hoppman, assisted by Christian Doss.

The Storm added its last goal late in the second period when Doss lifted the puck over the Maple Grove goalie, sending him to the showers.

Maple Grove switched goalies during the second intermission, and the new guy did a nice job.

The Storm’s defense was excellent throughout the game, with Simon Bergford, Carsten Ingvoldstad, TJ Rempfer, and Jake Barton leading the way.

The Storm’s goalie, Benny Burke, was a rock, stopping 15 of 16 shots, and he didn’t allow a goal until there was 3:41 left in the game.

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Thursday, Jan. 3, 2008 @ SLP Rec.
Squirt C-Orange Storm vs. Edgcumb

Park’s Squirt Orange team just keeps rolling up wins!

In a great game Thursday night, Park beat St. Paul-Edgcumbe, 4-1.

Park took an early lead in the first period when William Graves scored a beauty, but Edgcumb answered back with a nice goal of their own, and the period ended in a 2-2 tie.

Park dominated the second period, with two goals and tough defense. Max Stark scored, assisted by Alec Gaitan-Gaitan, and Jimmy Arms scored unassisted to give Park a 3-1 lead.

The defense of Luke Peterson, Arms, Mike Eiden, Ryan Lawler, Eric Hendricks, Ryan Casey, Ryan Lawler, Will Czachor, Jack Breyak, Josh Steinbach, Riley Simonetti, and the Palmer boys, Isaac and Dominic, was awesome in the period, and the visitors got off only two shots all period.

Graves scored again in the third, assisted by Dominic Palmer, for a 4-1 Park lead, and the game ended in an Orange win!

Park’s goalie, Danny Brodersen, was excellent, stopping 7 of 8.

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Saturday, December 22, 2007 @ Parade Ice Arena
MPLS-St. Louis Park Squirt C-Purple Storm vs. Washburn

The Storm never trailed, but still had to sweat out a tough win Saturday afternoon, 4-3.

After a scoreless first period, the Storm went ahead when Joey Sorenson scored, and Patrick Bordewick scored a few minutes later to give his team a 2-0 lead going into the third period.

Patrick Duffy scored to make it 3-0, then Washburn pulled within two with a goal midway through the period.

The Storm responded when Sorenson scored again for a 4-1 lead. It almost wasn’t enough!

Washburn snuck two goals past Storm goalie Max Miller to make it 4-3 with five mintues remaining. Miller and the defense came up big down the stretch, though, and held on to win.

Besides the great offensive outburst by the Storm, the key to the game was the excellent goal-tending by Miller, who completely stymied Washburn for 2-1/2 periods.

The Storm has the luxury of two goalies, Miller and Jonah Anderson, who are as good as exists in the league.

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Saturday, December 15, 2007 @ St. Louis Park Rec Center
Squirt C-Purple Storm vs. St. Paul Langford

The Purple Storm (I wonder what that would look like on Paul Douglas’s dopler!) built up a big lead, then held on to win, 4-3, against a strong Langford club.

Langford took an early lead, scoring on a rebound 4:15 into the first. The Langford defense stifled the Storm through most of the period, allowing only one shot through the first 11:02 of the period (12 minute periods).

With 58 seconds left, Giani Rincon broke free and ripped a shot on goal. The Langford goalie made a nice save, but when he couldn’t clear the puck, Pat Bordewick stuffed it in to tie the game. In the period, Langford out-shot the Storm 4-2.

Langford put the heat on early in the second, but the Storm defense played their best period of the season, allowing only one shot. Rincon broke up a two-on-one Langford break, and Trebor Eberle knocked the puck out of the zone while laying on his back.

Joe Sorenson, Kevin Ahn and Adam Belzer were also excellent on the defensive end.

Five minutes into the period, Bordewick tallied again, beating the Langford goalie with a wrist-shot into the top shelf to give the Storm a 2-1 lead. Down the stretch, Storm goalie Jonah Anderson stopped a point-blank slap-shot on an incredible save to his left.

With 45 seconds in the period, the Storm defense let up for an instant, and Langford had a breakaway, but shot wide of the goal as the clock ran out.

In the third period, Jeff Rounds missed on a wrist-shot in front of the net, but tapped in the rebound to put the Storm up 3-1, and with 4:30 left in the game, the Storm seemed to put the game away when Reed Goldstein scored on a rebound to make the score 4-1.

Then…Langford caught fire!

During a two-minute stretch, Langford had four quality shots, scoring twice, and with 30 seconds left the Storm clung to a one-goal lead!

Anderson made a great save with 20 seconds left, and when the Storm had the puck near center ice with a few seconds left the game looked to be over. Then…Langford stole the puck and, with two seconds left, made a beautiful pass in front of the Storm’s goal, but the pass just missed the mark and the buzzer sounded! Whew!

The Storm out-shot Langford 14-10, with goalie Jonah Anderson coming up big in the clutch.

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Saturday, November 23, 2007 @ St. Louis Park Rec. Center
Storm Squirt C-Orange vs. St. Michael-Albertville

The Storm ran into a buzz-saw Saturday, losing to a fine St. Michael-Albertville team, 6-0.

Storm goalie, William Graves, did a heck of a job stopping the puck all game, but a few bad bounces, and a little trouble either clearing or covering the puck, did the Storm in.

Storm winger Michael Eiden almost got the home team on the scoreboard first when he skated coast-to-coast like a knife through butter, but the St. Mike’s goalie made a terrific save.

With 7:00 left in the first period, the Storm was given a penalty when a sloppy shift change left them with too many players on the ice for about a half-second. But, the Storm did a great job killing the penalty, with Ryan Casey, Will Czachor, Eiden and Max Stark leading the defense.

With 2:19 left in the period, a St. Mike’s wing ripped a slap-slot from close range, and the Storm’s Graves made a great stop, the puck deflected 10 feet into the air, and somehow bounced into the goal for a 1-0 St. Mike’s lead.

Less than a minute later, St. Mike’s scored on a beautiful one-timer, and the period ended with the score 2-0.

The second period started sluggishly, with both teams missing passes, and having trouble moving the puck. The Storm’s Alec Gaitan-Gaitan broke free a few minutes in which was stopped on a great save, then Luke Peterson got a shot off from his back, just missing the net.

With 3:15 in the period, Graves made another great save, but the Storm couldn’t clear the puck, and three players and the puck fell into the net as the goal came loose, but the referees ruled it a goal, and the Storm trailed 3-0.

With 39 seconds left in the period, Graves made a terrific stop on a St. Mike’s wrist shot, then, with 13 second left, he stopped another but, again, the Storm couldn’t clear the puck and it was poked in for a 4-0 St. Mike’s advantage after two periods.

The Storm had two penalties midway through the third period, playing two men down for almost 20 seconds. The Storm killed one penalty, but a few seconds before killing the other, St. Mike’s struck for another goal, making the score 5-0 with 5:50 left.

St. Mike’s scored about a minute later at full strength on a deflection and the final score was 6-0.

Despite the final score, the Storm had many bright spots. Jimmy Arms played great defense, and dove all over the ice attempting to stop St. Mike’s shots, and the entire team used the boards very effectively.

Riley Simonetti, the Storm’s big strapping defenseman, played a fine game throughout, and Storm goalie, Graves, stopped 11 of 17, and all 17 were quality shots!

The Storm could only muster eight shots on goal, and only a handful were quality ones.

“The boys need to keep moving their feet,” explained Storm coach Jay Broderson. “We were standing still way too much.”

“We need to skate faster with the puck,” added Storm winger Jimmy Arms.

_______

Saturday, November 23, 2007 @ St. Louis Park Rec. Center
MPLS-St. Louis Park Storm Squirt C-Purple vs. Edina Hornets

The Storm will be seeing flying pucks and green jerseys in their sleep after a 9-2 loss to Edina.

The first period was very competitive, ending in a 1-0 Edina lead, with the Storm’s best scoring opportunity coming from Adam Belzer, who was denied on a great stop by the Edina goaltender.

It seemed as if the Storm was out of gas as the second period commenced from chasing the great Edina skaters around, and the Hornets stung the Storm with four goals in the period.

Park’s lone goal broke the monotony of Edina’s scoring when Patrick Duffy (not the guy on “Dallas”) lifted a wrist shot into the upper right corner of the Edina net.

Leading 5-1 going into the third period, Edina didn’t let up, and scored four straight goals to go up 9-1.

The Storm’s Duffy scored his second goal of the game with 4:00 left on another blistering wrist-shot, and the game ended 9-2 in favor of Edina.

Storm goalie, Jonah Anderson, did a great job considering the constant pressure he was under; he stopped 19 of 28 shots (68%), most of which were from point-blank range, and 10 of which were on breakaways.

The Storm could muster only nine shots themselves, and the Edina goaltender stopped seven (78%).

The Storm offense was constantly pressured by the speedy Edina skaters, but Duffy was fantastic, and Aaron Goodman made a beautiful pass from his knees to set up a Storm shot, which was barely knocked away by the Edina goalie.

The Storm really missed one of the top players, Pat Bordewick, who has been out of town for the holidays. Bordewick is not only a constant offensive threat, but is one of the bigger and faster defenders on the team.

_____

Saturday, November 17, 2007 @ Parade Ice Arena
Storm Squirt C-Purple vs. Squirt C-Orange

You’ve heard the saying, “these are two teams that don’t like each other!” Well, Saturday’s game was between two teams that did like each other, because they were both Storm teams, and most players were friends from school.

That being said, it’s probably appropriate that the teams ended up playing a great game, which ended in a 4-4 tie.

The Orange got on the board first on a goal by Alec Gaiten-Gaiten, and the Purple tied the game on a goal by Reilly Patrick as the first period came to a close.

The Orange’s Isaac Palmer ripped a wrist-shot past Purple goalie, Max Miller, to go ahead, 2-1, early in the second period, and then both teams’ defense and goal-tending turned up a notch.

The Purple’s Jeff Rounds poke-checked the puck away on a breakaway, and with 8:30 left in the 2nd period, Purple’s goalie, Miller, made two incredible saves in 30 seconds, each time doing the splits to knock shots away.

With under seven minutes in the period, Gaiten-Gaiten put a slapshot on goal that Miller again knocked away.

The Orange squad switched goalies mid-way through the second period, switching from Danny Broderson, who had done a wonderful job, to William Graves, who would also play great.

Adam Belzer, Purple winger, welcomed the new goalie into the game by blasting a point-blank slapshot at him, and the cool-headed goalie swatted it away like King Kong to an airplane.

With under 5:00 in the period, Orange’s Broderson, now a wing, took the puck in his own end and skated through three Purple players and was about to get a shot off when Purple defenseperson, Bridgid Duffy, came from behind and knocked the puck away!

A moment later, Purple committed a tripping penalty, but Pat Bordewick, Purple wing, skated out of a pack, then knocked one into the top left shelf for a short-handed goal, making the score 2-all.

“I shot the puck toward the goal,” explained Bordewick. “I was hoping it would go in. It was my first goal of the year.”

Orange answered with another goal by Gaiten-Gaiten and the score was 3-2 going into the second intermission.

Midway into the third period, the Purple’s Belzer scored the equalizer, blasting a slapshot from just inside the blue line, and both teams would have several opportunities stymied by the goalies over the next five minutes.

With three minutes remaining, Belzer was given two minutes in the bin for tripping, but the Orange couldn’t capitalize, and when Belzer returned to the ice he blasted in another goal from just inside the blue line, giving the Purple a 4-3 lead.

With :30 left, the Purple’s Bordewick was tripped by his pal, Jimmy Arms, sending him to the box for the rest of the game, but, with 14 seconds left in the game, the Orange’s Ryan Casey scored off his own rebound to tie the game at 4, and that’s how it would end.

The teams couldn’t have been more evenly matched, with each team’s goalie stopping 17 of 21 shots, each team passed well, and every kid showed hustle.

“It was a fun game,” said Purple coach Peter Ahn. “We need to work on positions and break outs, but I was very happy with how everyone played.”
______

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.

_____

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.

______

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.

______

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.
____

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.

_____

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?”

________

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.

_____

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.

__

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.
_____

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%).

_____

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.”

____

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.

____

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.”

_____

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

_____

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.

Saturday, 2/9/08 @ SLP Rec Ctr
Varsity vs. Cooper

This just wasn’t Cooper’s day. After the JVs whipped them 8-0, the Varsity piled on, winning 6-1.

Park outshot Cooper 12-5 in the first, and scored the period’s only goal, a beauty by Marcus Voss, assisted by Jake Schlegel and Jake Albersheim-Carter.

In the second, with both teams playing a man down, Schlegel connected, assisted by Kevin Bell and Dustin Brinkman.

[kml_flashembed movie="http://www.youtube.com/v/Fp-AZKhAaA8" width="425" height="350" wmode="transparent" /]

Cooper picked up their play in the second, getting off nine shots. Park goalie, Nick Smith, made a great save with 7:00 left in the period, and Ben Besasie cleared the puck just before Cooper could get to the rebound.With 3:00 left in the period, with Park on the power play, there was a flurry of shots and colliding bodies in front of the Cooper goal, and it appeared the puck crossed into the goal for a split second before the goalie could kick it back out. The referees conferred and a goal was given to Voss, assisted by Albersheim-Carter, giving Park a 3-0 lead.With 1:27 left, Colin Petit ripped a one-timer, got his own rebound, and stuffed the puck into the left corner for a 4-0 lead (assists to Bell and Mitchell Wynia).In the third period, Sean Robb scored assisted by Brinkman and Alex Smith, and Wynia scored the game’s last goal, unassisted, with 5:49 left.

The game was sloppy at times, with 16 penalties between both clubs. Park outshot Cooper 35-10, and Nick Smith collected his third shutout of the season, and second against Cooper.
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Thursday, 2/7/08 @ SLP Rec Ctr
Varsity vs. Spring Lake Park

Mitchell Wynia and Marcus Voss each scored two goals in leading St. Louis Park over Spring Lake Park, 6-2.

Spring Lake Park took an early lead, 1-0, on a goal 6:08 into the first period. With 55 seconds left in the period, Voss scored (assisted by Jake Albersheim-Carter and Jake Schlegel) to tie the game going into the first intermission.

By the way, during intermission, the Park Mites played a short game, and Willie Basil scored a beautiful goal for the game’s highlight.

Five minutes into the second period, Park had several shots on goal in front of the net, and Colin Petit stuffed in a rebound (assist to Jacob Wood) to put the Orioles up 2-1. 3:22 later, Wynia scored, assisted by Petit, to push the lead to two goals, 3-1.

Park started to dominate offensively, and scored twice more in the last three minutes of the period: Wynia scored, assisted by Schlegel; and Jeff Howes scored, assisted by Sean Robb and Kevin Bell. Park led 5-1 at the second intermission.

The third period was more of the same, with Park controlling the puck, and constantly putting pressure on Spring Lake Park. 3:37 into the period, though, Spring Lake Park scored a powerplay goal to cut the lead to 5-2, but Park took back control and didn’t let it go.

With 10 minutes remaining in the game, Park took two simultaneous penalties, but Spring Lake Park couldn’t score even when they were up two skaters. The defense of Voss, Wynia, Dustin Brinkman, Wood, Bell, and Schlegel helped Park kill both penalties without allowing a quality shot.

With 48 seconds left in the game, Voss scored an unassisted goal to end the scoring and seal the win.

Park out-shot Spring Lake Park 29-27, and Park goalie, Nick Smith, played an outstanding game, stopping 25 of 27 shots (.926 save%).
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