The Dells Ducks Junior Hockey team finally hit the win column and made a little history on Saturday night at the Poppy Waterman Ice Arena in Lake Delton.
After seeing a 2-0 lead slip away Friday night and settling for a single point with a 3-2 overtime loss to the visiting Steele County Blades from Owatonna, MN, the Ducks made it a three-point weekend, taking the getaway game on Saturday night 5-1.
The win was the first career win as a Head Coach for new Ducks’ coach Josh Dallman and the first as an assistant for Austin Phillips, former Ducks player.
The local team seems to have a few more Wisconsin players each season and now boasts and all-Wisconsin Coaching staff as Dallman is originally from Merrill and played junior hockey in Stevens Point while Phillips was born in Texas but played most of his hockey in the Milwaukee area.
Goals have been hard to come by early in the season for the Ducks who scored just five total through its first three games, so a five-goal explosion in the fourth game was a welcome sight. Even better was the fact five different shooters hit the game sheet.
On Friday night, Chicago native Adam Brown scored the lone goal of the opening period to put the Ducks up 1-0 and Milwaukee’s Connor Aguilar doubled the margin with his goal 8:10 into the second.
Newly added goaltender, Tyler Szturm, from Thunder Bay, ON enjoyed a nice debut in the Dells, allowing just three goals in six periods plus, the first coming just under two minutes after Aguilar’s tally and it was a 2-1 game with 20 minutes to go.
The tying goal came with 8:16 to play and the Blades grabbed its first and only lead of the game 2:32 into the overtime session. All three Blades’ goals came from Danila Besedin, from Moscow, Russia.
Unsatisfied with Friday’s effort, the Ducks came out determined to right the ship on Saturday. After a scoreless first period, the Ducks grabbed control with three unanswered middle period markers and another in the third before the visiting Blades gained some consolation with Besedin stepping up one more time to shatter the shutout bid of Szturm inside of the final five minutes.
Another goal into an empty cage wrapped it up for the Ducks. Brown had the empty netter, his third of the season and others came from: Noe Ben Salem (Aaigle, Switzerland); Jason Heard (Atlanta, Ga.); Jacob Richardson (Chicago, Ill) and Dylan Buttner (Wausau, Wis.).
The Ducks will enjoy a weekend off coming up as they prepare for a big rivalry match Oct. 4 against the Wisconsin Rapids Riverkings. Monk’s at the Wilderness will once again hold its annual Tailgate event at the Picnic Area by the Poppy Waterman Ice Arena. Monk’s will be offering its all you can eat slider buffet again at the 5th Annual event and the price has never changed. Plus, Monk’s will donate all the $6 fee to local hockey — $5 to the Ducks and $1 to the Youth Cyclones. The Tailgate event will run from 5-6:30 p.m. followed by puck drop at 7 p.m. against the Riverkings.