Tuesday, 2/19/08 @ St. Paul
Storm B1s vs. St. Paul Johnson
District Playoffs
Reported by Sam Dudovitz
Park scored two early goals, and held on to beat a tough Johnson team, 3-0, in playoff action.
A few minutes into the game, Gabe McDonald had a one-timer, but the Johnson goalie had knocked the net off its moorings, and no goal was awarded.
With under nine minutes left in the period, Johnson had a breakaway, but Anders Jecha made a great save and the Storm breathed a sigh of relief.
With 7:25 left, Mack Saunders hit Alex Brask with a great pass, and Brask buried it for a 1-0 Storm lead.
With 5:05 left, McDonald broke free and ripped one past the Johnson goalie, and the Storm carried a 2-0 lead into the first intermission.
1:39 into the second period, Jecha made another amazing save on a breakaway, and he repeated the feat about three minutes later.
Tyler Anderson had a great shot from the point, but just missed. With 6:05 left in the period, the Storm took a penalty, but Saunders scored a great short-handed goal for 3-0 lead.
With a minute and change in the period, Jecha made a great diving save, and the period ended with the shutout intact.
In the third period, the Storm played physical, with Tyler Anderson and Saunders administering some great checks. David Petit got off a great shot from the top of the circle, Karl Conroy had a great move and shot, and Justin Brown just missed in the game’s final seconds, but the Storm had to be satisfied (and they were!) with a 3-0 shutout win!
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Thursday, 2/7/08 @ St. Thomas Academy
Storm Bantam B1s vs. St. Thomas Cadets
Reported by Sam Dudovitz & Brookes Patterson
The Storm trailed early, but came back to beat St. Thomas, 4-1.
The first period was a defensive battle, with few scoring chances on either side. Anthony Brask had a bone-crunching check early in the period, and the defense of Mack Saunders (back-check), and Justin Brown (saved a breakaway), kept St. Thomas scoreless through the first 5+ minutes.
St. Thomas finally scored at the 7:16 mark, and led at the first intermission, 1-0.
In the opening seconds of the second period, Mack Saunders had a breakaway, but was hooked from behind and Park went on the powerplay. The Storm controlled the faceoff, Nick Omodt ripped a shot on goal that was stopped, and Seth Lacey missed on the rebound.
Midway through the period, the Storm tied the game, and a minute and change later Justin Brown knocked in a rebound to put the Storm up, 2-1.
Anders Jecha had a great stretch in the period in which he made several amazing saves to hold the lead.
With 2:02 left in the period, the Storm took a penalty, but Brown scored a short-handed goal when he snuck a shot through the five-hole, and the Storm led 3-1 at the end of two periods.
The third period was ugly, with penalties galore—St. Thomas had five, and the Storm had three. The Storm scored a power play goal to end the scoring, and Jecha shut down the Cadets the rest of the way to preserve the 4-1 win.
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Sunday, 2/3/08 @ Minnehaha
Bantam B1 Storm vs. Minnehaha
Reported by Sam Dudovitz & Brookes Patterson
The Storm’s B1s beat Minnehaha, 6-0, Sunday, with a steady game from offense and defense alike.
2:48 into the first period, Gabe McDonald gave the Storm a 1-0 lead when he beat the Minnehaha goalie. Midway through the period, goalie Anders Jecha made a great save to preserve the lead, and he made another with under a minute to play.
Karl Conroy hit Nick Omodt with a nice pass, but the Storm couldn’t connect, but with 20 seconds left in the period, Justin Brown sniped one into the bottom right corner of the goal, and the Storm led 2-0 at the first intermission.
Early in the second, Minnehaha took an interference penalty, and the Storm made them pay with a nice wrap-around goal by Anthony Brask.
Midway through the period, David Petit took a roughing penalty, and McDonald just missed scoring a shorthanded goal when his shot hit the crossbar.
With 2:09 left in the period, Jech again made a great save to preserve his shutout, and again the Storm scored in the final seconds of the period, when Seth Lacey ripped the puck into the upper right corner, and the Storm led 4-0 at the second intermission.
In the third, the Brask brotherly competetiveness flared, as Al Brask scored to give each Brask a goal, but that wasn’t enough, so he knocked in a rebound three minutes later temporary Brask bragging rights.
Midway through the period, Tyler Anderson had the check of the game, and a minute later he overdid it a bit, and was called for roughing.
The combination of the Storm’s physical play, and the 6-0 score, sapped what was left of the Minnehaha spirit, and the game ended with Jecha pitching a 6-0 shutout.
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Tuesday, 1/22/08 @ Highland
Bantam B1 vs. Highland
Reported by Sam Dudovitz
The Storm finally was put to the test by a St. Paul team (the East-Siders have been a bit weak this year), but they still won, 4-2, Wednesday night on the road.
1:08 into the first period, Gabe McDonald scored to put the Storm up, 1-0, but Highland answered back a little more than a minute later. The Storm had a power play with 6:46 left in the period, but couldn’t connect. Highland put pressure on the Storm in the final minutes of the period, but Anders Jecha made several nice saves, and McDonald did a great job of clearing the puck out of the Storm zone, and the period ended in a 1-1 tie.
1:37 into the second, Jecha made a great save when, according to our crack reporter, he “stuffed the gravy with a beautiful kick of the leg!” And I thought I’d heard every bit of sports lingo! I can’t even imagine what that looked like!
Nick Omodt had a great defensive play to stop a Highland shot, and Jecha made another great save, but, apparently, there was no gravy involved.
With 7:09 left in the period, Highland took a penalty, and, as the penalty ran out, Seth Lacey had a breakaway shot that was stopped on a nice save by the Highland goalie. With :49 left in the period, Justin Brown scored, and the Storm led 2-1 going into the third.
In the opening seconds of the third period, Omodt made another big defensive play, and Tyler Anderson had the check of the night when a monster hit that left a Highland player seeing gravy (okay, enough with the gravy).
Both teams took a penalty midway through the period, and during four-on-four action Lacey scored on an amazing backhand shot to the top corner of the net to put the Storm up, 3-1.
With 3:23 left in the game, McDonald scored to put the Storm up 4-1, then things got a big chippy. The Storm had an interference penalty, a roughing penalty, and a delay of game penalty.
With a minute left in the game, Highland pulled their goalie, and with a 7 on 5 advantage scored to make the final score 4-2.
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Thursday, 1/17/08
Storm Bantam-B1 vs. Richfield
Reported by Sam Dudovitz
The Storm may or may not have lost to Richfield on Thursday. How’s that for going out on a limb?
Less than a minute into the game, Storm goalie Anders Jecha made an outstanding save, giving a preview of his great play to come. At the 3:45 mark, Jecha made a great save off a one-timer, but when the Storm had trouble clearing the puck out of the zone Richfield scored from the point to go up, 1-0.
Thirty seconds later, the Storm nearly tied the game when Gabe McDonald just missed after a great pass from Steven Karl. The Storm didn’t threaten the rest of the period, and after Nick Fortmeyer delivered a bone-crushing check the first intermission came with Richfield still up, 1-0.
The second period started to look like a wasted effort when the Storm spent much of the period back on their heels, and couldn’t control the puck at all; meanwhile Richfield seemed firmly in control.
With 2:40 left in the period, McDonald broke the cold streak with a great goal in front of the net off a great assist by Seth Lacey. When Jecha made a great save with 1:40 left, and the period ended in a 1-1 tie, the momentum seemed to have shifted in the Storm’s direction.
Four seconds into the third, Tyler Anderson hit Karl with a saucer pass, but he couldn’t connect, but Nick Omodt scored 1:02 later to put the Storm up 2-1!
The next five minutes were full of nice Jecha saves, and plenty of penalties on both squads. With 2:23 left, Richfield pulled their goalie, and it paid off when they scored 20 seconds later to tie the game 2-2.
With 30 seconds to play, Richfield hit Jecha with a flurry of shots, but the goalie warmed to the task and stopped everything…until…The clock ran out, the buzzer started to sound, and Richfield slipped a goal in as Jecha stood up, thinking the game was over.
To most in the arena, it appeared that the goal should not have counted, but the refs ruled that the buzzer was still sounding and the goal counted. Storm coach Mike Sarazine, ever the class act, downplayed the last play, and emphasized that his team should have played better throughout the game, so they wouldn’t have to worry about any late goals.
Another Storm coach was videotaping the game, and after reviewing the tape and concluding that the goal in question went in after the buzzer, the Storm will file a protest, but for now the score stands Richfield 3, Storm 2.
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Breezy Point Ice Fest
January 11-13, 2008
Game 1
Storm B1 vs. River Lake Stars
Less than two minutes into the game, Gabe McDonald let River Lake know how we check in the city, making a Star….well, see stars!
Steven Karl and Karl Conroy each had shots from the point sail wide, and four minutes into the game the River Lake goalie skated far out of the net, and Alex Brask made a nice pass to Nick Omodt for a shot, but the goalie got back just in time to make a great save.
With 5:28 left in the period, Brookes Patterson scored off a nice pass from Anthony Brask to put the Storm up 1-0.
With 2:35 left, Seth Lacey ripped a shot into the top right corner of the net for a 2-0 lead, and a minute later Patterson scored again, and the period ended 3-0 Storm.
35 seconds into the second, Mac Saunders walked into the River Lake zone and scored, Conroy scored 3:44 in on a nice wrist-shot, and Anthony Brask flipped the puck over the River Lake goalie who was lying on the ground, pushing the score to 6-0.
Lacey nailed a Star against the glass, and the Storm was in complete control as the second period ended.
The third period was more of the same. Ty Erickson stole the puck in the Storm end, skated all the way down, and ripped a shot on goal, but the River Lake goalie made a great save.
Tyler Anderson scored 5:25 in, Anthony Brask scored 8:07 in, and the game ended with the Storm winning 8-0.
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Breezy Point Ice Fest
January 11-13, 2008
Game 2
Storm B1 vs. Woodbury
The Storm took the ice early Saturday morning, feeling a little apprehensive as Woodbury was one of the top-ranked teams in the state, and was expected to win the tournament.
2:50 into the game, Brookes Patterson got hit hard and leaves the game with a broken collar bone. A minute later, Woodbury scored off a rebound—the first goal Storm goalie Anders Jecha had allowed in several games.
With 6:00 left in the period, Jecha was tested again, but he makes a great save, and the momentum shifted in the Storm’s direction.
Nick Omodt had a nice check with 3:27 left, and 25 seconds later Mac Saunders carried the puck toward the Woodbury net, and Gabe McDonald crashed into the net and stuffed in the puck to tie the game 1-1.
With two minutes left in the period, the Storm took a penalty, and Woodbury scored an apparent power play goal with 23 seconds left. The goal was called off, however, because a Woodbury player was in the crease, and the Storm’s confidence was riding high going into the second.
In the opening minute of the second period, McDonald scored on a breakaway to give the Storm the lead, and a few minutes later the fans started grabbing their hats when McDonald just missed scoring for the third time.
Jecha makes a great save mid-way through the period to preserve the Storm lead, and with 5:45 left Nick Fortmeyer hustles back on a Woodbury breakaway and knocked the puck away before the shot.
With 5:03 left, McDonald tipped in an Omodt shot, getting his hat trick…..on his BIRTHDAY!
The period ended with the Storm up 3-1.
In this tournament, a Zamboni is not used between periods, so the third period was a bit slower as there wee piles of ice and snow all over.
Jecha was on his game, making several outstanding saves, and when Justin Brown scored off a rebound with 3:49 left, making the score 4-0, the heart went out of Woodbury.
In the closing seconds, Woodbury pulled their goalie, but the Storm held off six Woobury skaters, and the game ended 4-0, and the Storm moved on to the championship game!
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Breezy Point Ice Fest
January 11-13, 2008
Championship Game
Storm B1 vs. Burnsville
The Storm took the ice with high hopes, as their opponent, Burnsville, was ranked lower than Woodbury, the team they beat to get to the championship game.
58 seconds into the game, Burnsville had a breakaway, but Anders Jecha made a nice save. Throughout the period, both goalies were excellent, and the defense and checking took center stage. The closest the Storm came to scoring was on a shot that hit the post, and the period ended in a scoreless tie.
In the second period, the defense of both teams was still stifling. Jecha made a great surging save midway through the period, and the Storm had two decent scoring opportunities: one on a nice pass from Justin Brown to Seth Lacey; the other on a nice pass from Nick Omodt to David Petit.
With 2:36 left in the period, Burnsville scored to take a 1-0 lead.
Burnsville out-shot the Storm 18-1 in the period, but only led by a single goal going to the third period.
Two Storm penalties late in the second put Burnsville on the power play to open the third, and they scored to go up 2-0.
Burnsville continued to out-shoot the Storm, but Jecha kept his team in the game.
With 6:56 left in the game, Burnsville scored its third goal, and the Storm just couldn’t get enough shots off to make a run.
Though it was a frustrating way to lose, the Storm had a great tournament, taking home second place trophies from an impressive field of teams.
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Tuesday, Jan. 8, 2008
Storm Bantam B1 v. Johnson
Apparently, the Storm was tired from playing back-to-back days, and they only scored eight times.
Seriously, the Storm is on a roll, and goals are coming at a fevered pace.
2:25 into the first period, Anthony Brask scored on a rebound, and two minutes later Justin Brown also scored. Johnson took a roughing penalty, but the Storm couldn’t score. Of course, less than a minute after Johnson killed the penalty, Karl Conroy scored on a nice wrap-around.
Seth Lacey scored on a breakaway with a minute left in the period for a 4-0 lead. Nick Fortmeyer had the check of the period when he leveled a Johnson player 20 seconds into the game.
In the second period, Ty Erickson missed on a nice shot from the point, Lacey hit the post, and Steven Karl made a beautiful pass to David Petit, but the Storm didn’t score.
Johnson drew two penalties, and, up two skaters, the Storm scored on a nice Brookes Patterson goal. Johnson got one skater back, then was called for roughing, and again the Storm had a five-on-three advantage; Lacey scored, and the Storm led 6-0 into the second intermission.
In the third period, play got a bit sloppy as Johnson got frustrated and chippy, and Gabe McDonald scored a power play goal to give the Storm a 7-0 lead, and with 22 seconds left, Karl Conroy scored the Storms 8th goal.
Anders Jecha was tested only a few times, but he stopped every Johnson shot for another shutout.
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Monday, Jan. 7, 2008
Storm Bantam B1 v. Washburn
Ummmm, are we in the wrong league? I know we’re good, but c’mon!
The Storm beat Washburn 14-0 Monday, with everyone and their brother scoring, and goalie Anders Jecha pitching a shutout.
The Storm had some early penalties, but Washburn didn’t capitalize on their power plays, and the Storm apparently didn’t feel sorry for them.
Karl Conroy started the scoring spree on nice goal midway through the period, Gabe McDonald backhanded a shot into the top left corner of the goal for a 2-0 lead, Mac Saunders tipped in a Nick Fortmeyer shot for a 3-0 lead, Karl scored again for a 4-0 lead, and McDonald scored again, off a nice pass from Seth Lacey, and the period ended 5-0.
Alex Brask scored 45 seconds into the second period, Justin Brown scored, Saunders scored his second goal, David Petit scored on a rebound, and stream of hats filled the ice when Conroy connect again with a minute and half left in the period.
Before the third period, the Storm coaches institute the “Hoosiers” rule of passing several times before shooting, but we couldn’t help scoring four more times. Brown scored his second, Petit scored his second, Karl scored his fourth, and Lacey scored his first (what was the matter with him?)
Quite simply, the Storm controlled the puck almost the entire game.
Washburn looked like the old Washington Generals basketball team trying to get the ball away from Curly Neal (kids, ask your parents).
Jecha’s shutout was really only threatened once, when a Washburn player had a breakaway in the third period, and got off a nice shot, but not nice enough.
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Fri., Jan. 4, 2008 @ Parade
Bantam B1 v. Highland
After winning big in their previous game against Minnehaha, the Storm hoped for a more challenging game against Highland. They didn’t get it. The Storm scored early and often, rebounded like Moses Malone (look him up, kids) and won, 13-0.
1:24 into the game, Tyler Anderson hit Justin Brown with a pass as he crossed the blue line, and he beat the Highland goalie for a 1-0 lead. A minute later, Mac Saunders stuffed in a rebound for a 2-0 lead, and Seth Lacey scored off another rebound, this one off an Anderson shot, for a 3-0 lead. Midway through the period, Nick Fortmeyer ripped a shot from the point, but after a nice save, the Highland goalie couldn’t clear the puck and Gabe McDonald tipped it in for a 4-0 lead. Four goals, three off rebounds (get the Moses Malone reference?).
The second period was more of the same, with Omodt scoring the Storm’s fifth goal when the Highland goalie was momentarily screened, then 18 seconds later Saunders backhanded a shot into the top left corner of the goal for a 6-0 lead.
McDonald scored his second goal of the game for a 7-0 lead, David Petit scored on a power play after a 10-minute major on Highland for an 8-0 lead, then Anthony Brask committed a penalty before and after his brother, Alex, scored the Storm’s ninth goal.
Omodt put the Storm into double-digits when he scored 1:06 into the third period, McDonald got a hat trick with his third goal of the game at the 3:58 mark, Anderson scored again for a 12-0 lead, and Brown scored again, off a Saunders’ pass, to end the scoring. In all, eight Storm players scored.
The goaltending of Anders Jecha? For all I know, he may have been doing his homework in goal.
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Wed. Jan. 2, 2008 @ Parade
Bantam B1 v. Minnehaha
The Storm ate some home-cooking, then throttled Minnehaha 8-1.
Early in the first period, the Storm had a nice chance to score on the power play, but Mac Saunders just missed in front of the net off a great pass from Tyler Anderson.
A few seconds after Minnehaha went back to full-strength, Nick Omodt scored off a blast from the point, then Minnehaha had another penalty, and Gabe McDonald had a nice shot that was stopped on a nice save.
Storm goalie, Anders Jecha, was flushed out of the goal momentarily, and Minnehaha scored its only goal of the game to tie the game at 1-1.
With a shade under five minutes in the period, David Petit got off a nice shot that was stopped, and a Minnehaha player celebrated by vomiting on the ice. Ick.
With 1:30 left in the period, Anthony Brask scored a fantastic breakaway goal, and the Storm led 2-1 at the first intermission.
The second period was so lopsided in favor of the Storm, that the entire Minnehaha roster wanted to vomit.
Steven Karl scored on a beautiful back-hander into the upper corner, Anderson assisted on a goal in front of the net, Karl Conroy scored, Omodt scored again, etc., etc. When the dust cleared, the Storm led 8-1.
With a huge lead, the Storm played a bit sloppy in the third period, taking several penalties, and not expending a lot of energy on offense, in an effort not to run up the score. The highlight of the period was a behind the back shot by Seth Lacey that just missed.
Though the Storm dominated the game, Jecha didn’t lose his concentration, and was perfect after Minnehaha’s initial goal.
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Wed., December 19, 2007 @ St. Paul
Storm Bantam-B1 vs. St. Paul-Highland
Reported by Sam Dudovitz
The Storm started slowly, but ended up blowing out Highland, 6-0, Wednesday.
The first period was scoreless but had plenty of action. Gabe McDonald weaved through two Highland defensemen a few minutes in, and got off a nice shot that was stopped. Nick Omodt hit Alex Brask with a great pass from the top of the circle to the red line, but the Storm couldn’t convert, and with three minutes left, the Storm missed on a one-timer.
Meanwhile, the defense was excellent, keeping the puck in the offensive zone. Ty Erickson had the play of the period when he came up with a nice poke-check in the defensive zone on a Highland 2-on-1.
Storm goalie, Anders Jecha, preserved the tie with a great save on a blast from the point with 54.2 seconds left, and the period ended 0-0.
Three and a half minutes into the second period, Tyler Anderson hurt his knee, and missed a few shifts before returning. At the 4:30 mark, Steven Karl beat the Highland goalie for a 1-0 Storm lead, then David Petit did the same 44 seconds later.
Highland tried to get physical to slow down the Storm, but drew two penalties in the middle of the period, one a 10-minute major. The Storm did a nice job of working the puck around the zone on the power play, and Brookes Patterson scored to put his team up 3-0.
Erickson, in a repeat of this first period, made a great poke-check to break up a 2-on-1 Highland break, then had a great check at the blue line with 2:23 left. With a minute remaining, Erickson took the puck coast-to-coast and had a great shot that was stopped on a nice Highland save, and the period ended with the Storm up 3-0.
The third period was very physical, with penalties handed out like the refs were on commission. Patterson scored the Storm’s fourth goal of the game at the 6:08 mark, then was put in the box 10 seconds later for a check from behind.
With about five minutes to play, Highland got two roughing penalties and Alex Brask was penalized for cross-checking.
With just under three minutes to play, Erickson scored his first goal of the season for a 5-0 Storm lead, then, with 36 seconds left, the Storm tacked on one more on a power play for a 6-0 final.
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Sunday, December 16, 2007 @ SLP Rec Center
Storm B1 vs. St. Paul Highland
Reported by Sam Dudovitz
For two periods, the Storm and Highland played an incredibly tight game, but the Storm had an awesome third period and blew the competition away, 6-2.
Tyler Anderson welcomed Highland to the game by checking a St. Paul wing in front of the net; the Storm would continue to check well the entire game.
2:15 into the first, Seth Lacey took a shot from behind the net that bounced off a Highland defender, into the goal for a 1-0 Storm lead.
Two and a half minutes later, Highland tied the score with a beautiful lob over Storm goalie Anders Jecha. Jecha closed the goal the rest of the period, with a stick save midway through the period, and a tremendous glove save as time was winding down.
Meanwhile, the Storm had a few chances to take the lead. Karl Conroy got great position in front of the goal with five minutes remaining, but couldn’t close the deal, and a nice Steven Karl pass to Anthony Brask at the red line with a minute and a half remaining also wasn’t converted.
Two minutes into the second period, Karl had a great check near center ice that got the Storm fired up, but the home team was stopped on several nice scoring chances. Brookes Patterson just missed the left corner on a nice shot, and a 3 on 1 Storm break was broken up a minute later. Lacey had a nice shot off a face-off, but the Highland goalie made a great save.
Speaking of Lacey, he collided with a Highland player a few seconds later, and their helmets got stuck together! Way to use your head, Seth.
Anderson had another bone-crushing check midway through the period, but with under seven minutes left in the period, Highland scored on a breakaway to take a 2-1 lead.
Highland drew a penalty with 5:42 left, but the Storm missed a great one-timer opportunity, and Highland killed the penalty.
With 3:05 left in the period, Lacey made a great pass to Anthony Brask, who back-handed a shot into the top right shelf to tie the game at 2-2. The period ended with no additional scoring.
The third period was owned, lock-stock-and-barrel, by the Storm. David Petit knocked in a rebound five minutes in, Alex Brask scored 42 seconds later, then Brask assisted on a great Karl goal two minutes later!
Nick Fortmeyer undressed a Highland player with a nice check, and when Highland got frustrated as the game slipped away from them, they picked up a 10-minute major for a nasty check from behind. The Storm made them pay for it a minute later when Patterson passed to Fortmeyer on point, and he scored on a laser slapshot to the bottom left of the goal for the last goal in a 6-2 win.
The Storm had 25 shots during the game, and Highland only managed 12. Jecha was solid as usual, stopping 10 of 12, but the Storm defense was dominant during the game, and Highland shots were few and far between.
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Friday, December 6, 2007 @ Phalen Ice Arena
Storm Bantam B1 vs. St. Thomas Academy
Reported by Sam Dudovitz
The Storm won a tough game Friday night versus the Cadets of St. Thomas Academy, 4-2.
Park dug a hole for themselves early when, after goalie Anders Jecha was catching his breath from several nice saves, St. Thomas scored off a face-off, going up 1-0.
St. Thomas’s lead lasted exactly eight seconds, as Nick Fortmeyer snapped in a shot from the red line to tie the score. The Storm kept the heat on, and Karl Conroy just missed a wide open net a minute later. Don’t worry about Conroy. He’s get his revenge later!
The Cadets took the lead again with a little over five minutes left in the period, backhanding a shot into the top right corner of the goal to make it 2-1.
The Storm had two good chances to score toward the end of the period, with Anthony Brask stopped on a nice shot, and David Petit stopped after he took a perfect pass from Nick Omodt at the blue line
Seth Lacey scored for the Storm thirty seconds into the second period, tapping in a rebound to tie the score at two
Brookes Patterson had two incredible moves and shots, but the St. Thomas goalie was on his game, and knocked both away
The Storm put the pressure on in the middle of the period, with Gabe McDonald just missing in front of the net, Conroy hitting Omodt with a nice pass but Omodt’s shot missing the mark, and McDonald missing on a tip. With time running out in the period, Fortmeyer’s shot from the blue line was stopped, McDonald missed a one-timer on a nice pass from Justin Brown, and a Storm shot hit the back pipe and bounced out, but the refs waved the goal off
With two minutes in the period, the Storm scored on a power play when Patterson and the puck went sliding into the goal The period ended 3-2 Storm. The Storm’s defense and goaltending came up huge time and again in the third period. Tyler Erickson stopped a St. Thomas breakaway with a nice pick midway through the period, and Jecha made several tough saves down the stretch There was a stretch of four-on-four with four minutes left when both teams had one in the box, but neither team could capitalize
With just under 40 seconds left in the game, St. Thomas pulled their goalie, and Conroy (I said he’d get his revenge!) knocked one in from the top of the circle to end the scoring, 4-2
The Storm out-shot St. Thomas 35-18, with Jecha stopping 16 for an .889 save percentage
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Sunday, 2/3/08 @ Minnehaha
Bantam B1 Storm vs. Minnehaha
Reported by Sam Dudovitz & Brookes Patterson
The Storm’s B1s beat Minnehaha, 6-0, Sunday, with a steady game from offense and defense alike.
2:48 into the first period, Gabe McDonald gave the Storm a 1-0 lead when he beat the Minnehaha goalie.
Midway through the period, goalie Anders Jecha made a great save to preserve the lead, and he made another with under a minute to play.
Karl Conroy hit Nick Omodt with a nice pass, but the Storm couldn’t connect, but with 20 seconds left in the period, Justin Brown sniped one into the bottom right corner of the goal, and the Storm led 2-0 at the first intermission.
Early in the second, Minnehaha took an interference penalty, and the Storm made them pay with a nice wrap-around goal by Anthony Brask.
Midway through the period, David Petit took a roughing penalty, and McDonald just missed scoring a shorthanded goal when his shot hit the crossbar.
With 2:09 left in the period, Jech again made a great save to preserve his shutout, and again the Storm scored in the final seconds of the period, when Seth Lacey ripped the puck into the upper right corner, and the Storm led 4-0 at the second intermission.
In the third, the Brask brotherly competetiveness flared, as Al Brask scored to give each Brask a goal, but that wasn’t enough, so he knocked in a rebound three minutes later temporary Brask bragging rights.
Midway through the period, Tyler Anderson had the check of the game, and a minute later he overdid it a bit, and was called for roughing. The combination of the Storm’s physical play, and the 6-0 score, sapped what was left of the Minnehaha spirit, and the game ended with Jecha pitching a 6-0 shutout.
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Tuesday, December 4, 2007 @ Phalen Ice Arena, St. Paul
Bantam-B1 vs. St. Paul Johnson
Reported by Sam Dudovich
Ahhh, Minnesota. While Minnesota is known as the best state in the country at plowing snow, they couldn’t do it fast enough Tuesday night, which led to an interesting hockey game.
The game was scheduled for 6:30pm, but with the snow flying, and the traffic crawling, by 6:45 Park had only three players at the arena. When Park finally got seven players, they were forced to start the game and for the first period played with only one bench player.
When Steven Karl was shaken up for a few minutes with a minor injury, Park was down to “the Iron Six” for several minutes.
The first period was all about survival, and the team was dog-tired, but tied 0-0 at the first intermission. Park goalie, Anders Jecha, did a great job for the undermanned Orioles, stopping everything shot his way.
In the second period, Park struggled to get a shot on goal until there were under 10 minutes remaining, and Karl just missed on a tip off a Ty Erickson shot from the point. Park’s passing was a little off, with many passes missing the mark and being picked off.
With 7:53 left in the period, Gabe McDonald ripped a shot into the left corner of the goal for a 1-0 Park lead. Three minutes later, Park almost tallied again when Nick Omodt made a great pass to Justin Brown, but a Johnson defenseman got just enough of the puck to veer Brown’s shot wide of the net.
The passing picked up toward the end of the period, and with under two minutes left, Omodt took a shot from the point, and when the goalie couldn’t cover it up, Gabe McDonald tipped it through the five-hole to make the score 2-0. Before Park could get done patting themselves on the back, Johnson scored with 18 seconds left, but Park led 2-1 at the second intermission.
A minute into the third, McDonald fed Seth Lacey who chipped in a shot for a 3-1 Storm lead, and after killing two penalties, Park scored again, this time the culprit was Mac Saunders, who knocked one through the five-hole for a 4-1 lead.
With about six minutes left in the game, it was 4-on-4 when both teams took a penalty, and Saunders sniped one in to put Park up 5-1.
Down the stretch, Jecha made several nice saves, with an especially tough pad save. With a minute left, Johnson scored and the final scoreboard showed a 5-2 Storm win.
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Saturday, November 23, 2007
@ Parade Ice Arena
Storm Bantam B1 vs. Burnsville
Reported by Sam Dudovitz
This one wasn’t pretty. The Storm was overwhelmed by Burnsville, unbeaten on the season, and ranked #6 in the state by “Let’s Play Hockey.”
I’d like to say the game was close, but I’d also like to say I’m a good singer. Neither is true.
Burnsville won, 4-0, and out-shot the Storm 34-18. About 25 of Burnsville’s shots were excellent ones, while only a handful of the Storm’s were.
Some Storms fan felt that their team got the worst of the referees’ calls during the game, but no one could argue that the penalties we got, deserved or not, killed the Storm’s chance of winning. During the entire game, it seemed that the Storm was either trying to kill a penalty, or were trying to catch their breath after they had killed one! Against a lightening-quick team like Burnsville, that’s not a recipe for success.
The Storm had three penalties in the first period, all of which they killed without Burnsville scoring, but Burnsville sandwiched a goal between their first two power plays, then tallied again with 33 seconds in the period.
Nick Omodt, Ty Erickson and Mackenzie Saunders stood out on defense for the Storm, and Anthony Brask helped kill one penalty by kicking the puck out of the Storm end, a-la David Beckham (minus the tattoos).
Fifteen seconds into the second period, Burnsville struck on a breakaway off the opening face-off, and led 3-0. The Storm couldn’t muster much offense throughout the period, with the exception of Karl Conroy, who broke out of the pack twice and was stopped by the Burnsville brick wall of a goalie, and a shot off a rebound by Gabe MacDonald.
Meanwhile, the play of both teams got a bit chippy, and the penalty box attendants had company almost the entire period. The “Hit of the Game” was administered by Brookes Patterson who laid out a Burnsville player that earned him a ten minute penalty for roughing. “He’s not going to be feeling too good after that,” Patterson said after the hit.
In the third period, the Storm finished a penalty from the previous period, then was charged with a major penalty, checking from behind by Justin Brown, which led to Burnsville’s last goal, a blast from just inside the Storm’s blue line, making the final 4-0.
The Storm still had some spark left, and had a great breakout, by Omodt and Erickson, and a nice pass by Nick Fortmeyer. Truth be told, penalties killed the Storm, but Burnsville is a great team, and a team would have to play almost error-free to beat them, which the Storm didn’t do on this night.
The most inspiring thing about the game for the Storm was the decision of the players to wear pink mouth guards and tape on their socks in a sign of support for Storm winger David Petit’s parents, who are battling, and beating, cancer.
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