The Dells Ducks started the second phase of training camp Tuesday (Aug. 31) with it’s first regular practice.
The team tested the ice and ran a light session the previous night, but ran a full practice Tuesday. Coach Falzone said the team would continue off ice activities, alternating day to day with yoga and fitness sessions run away from the Lake Delton Ice Arena.
Record breaking month
Thanks in part to a huge boost from Wisconsinprephockey.net, this website has enjoyed its best month ever in terms of views and it’s not even a hockey month.
The story looking back on the Badger North Conference that RWD, Baraboo/Portage and Sauk Prairie all played in, until this season, had almost 800 views as it was carried by Wisconsin’s best varsity website. But daily updates, like this one have seen consistently decent numbers leading to the overall top total that set the new standard set last September.
This is just the start. The plan here is to have blanket coverage on all Sauk County Hockey and hockey players from the county playing elsewhere. Thanks for the support of the hockey fans so far and get ready for a great 2021-22 season.
The TW 12U Girls Hockey team, including Hailey Dietl, a Reedsburg resident and RWD peewee, travelled to the National Sports Center Super Rinks in Blaine, Minn., to compete in the huge Summer Finale Tournament.
Playing in the eight-team 12U Atlantic Division, TW started slow, dropping a heartbreaker 3-2 against NoName Hockey on Friday night before bouncing back with a 4-1 edge against Under Armour (Berenguer) Saturday.
A 6-2 decision against Tommy Chicago Elite on Sunday, sent the girls to the Consolation final and they wrapped up a fifth-place finish with a 6-3 win against EuroAmerican.
Unfortunately, scoring details were unavailable in the tournament results.
Dietl and the TW 12U squad will enjoy a weekend off for Labor Day before heading back to action with a three-game weekend in Chicago, playing the Chicago Mission and Chicago Young Americans.
The TW u-16 squad, including Luke Mast from the Sauk Prairie Eagles varsity hockey team, picked up a tie and a loss in a return to Chicago this past weekend.
The Windy City Storm played host at the Orbit Ice Arena in Palatine, Ill., where teams battled to a 3-3 draw in the first game before the Storm sent the Wisconsin crew disappointed with a 2-1 loss in the getaway contest.
In the opening match, Team Wisconsin battled back from deficits of 2-0 and 3-1, a pair of goals by Adam Timm (Rice Lake Warriors) in the final seven minutes of the contest sending it to overtime.
HThe Storm was up 2-0 after the first period, Brody Dietz (Hudson Raiders) notching the lone goal of the middle period to get TW on the board.
An early third period goal for the home team set the stage for Timm’s heroics and teams played through 10-minutes of overtime without a goal scored.
Hayden Rising (St. Mary’s Springs Ledgers) stopped 29 of 32 shots faced, including three in the overtime frame.
The second game saw teams battling through a scoreless first period before Kyle Rohrer (Oregon Panthers) opened the scoring for TW in the 11th minute of the middle period. A late second period goal tied it for the Storm and the game winner came with 4:49 to go in the final period.
Devin Schutt (Arrowhead Warhawks) stopped 19 of 21 in goal for the Wisconsin squad.
Mast contributed on the ice but didn’t pick up a point in the low scoring contests.
The holiday weekend will see the U-16 squad making the trip to the St. Louis area for a busy weekend of contests at the Centene Community Ice Center, beginning Saturday with a third straight meeting with the Windy City Storm. On Sunday, TW will take on the Phoenix Jr. Coyotes, wrapping up Monday against Carshield, the host team.
The U-18 Team Wisconsin squad, including forward Erik Peterson from the Sauk Prairie Eagles returned to Chicago for a second straight weekend and split a pair of contests with the Windy City Storm at Orbit Ice Arena in Palatine, Ill. this past weekend.
TW played the same Storm squad the previous weekend, taking a 5-2 decision in one of three straight wins.
This time around, the Storm came up with some better defensive efforts. The Wisconsin crew collected a 2-1 win in the first game before the Storm put up a 3-0 shutout to hand TW its first defeat of the season.
In the opener both teams scored in the opening period setting the stage for Tyler Dale (Waukesha Wings) who fired the game winner in the second.
Windy City Storm
Cody Menzel (Edgewood Crusaders) fired the other TW goal and Adam Prokop (Wausau West Warriors) stopped all but one of the 16 shots he saw in goal.
In the second game, Ryan Diaz in goal for the Storm was unbeaten on 34 shots as the host Storm finally found a way past TW.
Bridger Fixmer (Chippewa Falls Cardinals) was beaten once in each of the first two periods, the final goal slid into an empty TW cage.
The 4-1 Wisconsin crew will get Labor Day weekend off, heading west this time with its first of two consecutive three game weekends in New Hope, Minn., kicking off play in the Upper Midwest High School Elite Hockey League.
The Wisconsin Elite Hockey League, set up as a way for keen hockey players to prepare for their respective fall seasons, is underway.
Regional teams have been selected and the South-Central Region is well-represented by players from the RWD, Baraboo and Sauk Prairie youth and varsity programs.
South Central U-16
Local organizations are well represented on a pair of u-16 teams with the Brandt twins, Caden and Carsen, incoming juniors with RWD and Carson Zick from the Baraboo/Portage Thunderbirds all teammates on the U-16 Blue team.
Thor Peterson, a member of the Sauk Prairie Eagles varsity squad is playing on the U-16 Teal team roster.
The Blue team has been the busiest so far, playing a half dozen contests in the second half of August and compiling a record of 5-1.
On August 15, the South-Central squad played a pair of games at the Verona Eagles Nest against the North Central region collecting a 5-2 win in the first before surrendering a 4-3 decision in the second game.
The following weekend in Ozaukee, the South-Central squad took a pair from Southeast Kelly squad by 5-2 and 9-2 scores.
On Sunday, the team was back in Verona, collecting two more wins, starting with a third straight against Southeast Kelly, 8-1, followed up with a 10-2 decision against Northeast.
The team carries a 40-13 edge on the scoresheet into September, getting the Labor Day weekend off before heading to Rice Lake Sept. 12 for a pair against the Western Wisconsin squad.
The U-16 Teal team made the trek to Chippewa Falls for its first two games, Aug. 15, dropping the first but putting in a solid effort to battle the same Western Wisconsin team for a 4-4 draw later.
The team has played four more games – two in Verona against Southeast Grey August 22 and another pair in Stevens Point against Northcentral Sunday but details on those games were not available.
The Teal squad will be on home ice in Verona against Sept. 12 to play both the Southeast Kelly team and Northeast.
South Central U-18
Hakon Peterson, an incoming senior defenseman with the Sauk Prairie Eagles is the lone Sauk County participant on this team which has played three games so far.
Details are so far unavailable on the results of a pair of games played in Verona Aug. 21 against the Southeast Region team and the following day at Verona again, one game against the Northcentral Region team.
The Southcentral squad has another trio of games scheduled to be played at the Champion Center in Appleton Sept. 11-12.
South Central U-18 Girls
Three members of the Badger Lightning are competing with the South Central 18U squad including defenders Signe Begalske and Katelyn Allen from Sauk Prairie and Mallory Ruhland from Elroy.
The team opened its season splitting a pair of games against Southeast in Beaver Dam Aug. 22. After dropping a 3-1 decision in the first game, the team grabbed a 2-1 win in the getaway game.
The U-18’s were scheduled to travel to Baldwin to play Western Wisconsin Sunday, but details on that contest are not yet available.
South Central U-14
There are two South Central teams at this age level, U-14 Teal and U-14 Blue. There are four Sauk County players and all four play on the Sauk County Teal squad.
Three players, Landon Froese, Brock Hill, and Rylan Burch are from Sauk Prairie while RJ Manley plays for RWD.
The team opened its competitive schedule Sunday with a pair of contests at the Omni Center in Onalaska, tying the Western Region team in the first game 3-3 but no details are available for the second contest against the Southwest region entry.
The team will next be in action Sept. 12, playing host to both the Northeast Region team and getting a rematch with the Southwest region squad.
South Central U-14 Girls
The South-Central U-14 Girls are well represented by Sauk County skaters.
Forward Tahni Barger and defense Sarah Hash both split time between the Sauk Prairie Flyers and Sauk Prairie Monkeys while Paige Othmer was a defender for RWD Cheavers as well as the Badger Lightning. Reese Olson played for the Baraboo T-Birds as well as the Badger Lightning.
Paige Othmer of the South-Central U14 girls squad blocks a shot from a Western Wisconsin player in action at the Verona Eagles Nest Sunday. The team will next be in action Sept. 12 at the Lake Delton Ice Arena. Photo Courtesy Jessica Othmer.
The South-Central team opened its season with a pair of home games in Verona Sunday, dropping the first 3-1 against Western Wisconsin. More details will be coming soon on those first two games.
Next up for the South-Central squad will be a pair of games at the Lake Delton Ice Arena Sept. 12, both against the Southeast with faceoffs at 10 a.m. and 1 p.m.
After a somewhat relaxed weekend that included an overnight stay at the Lake Delton Ice Arena Sunday, the Dells Ducks hit the ice for the first time Monday afternoon, taking training camp to the next phase.
Dells Ducks
Dryland workouts have played a part in getting the team in shape for the start of the season, but the on-ice sessions are imperative for preparations, figuring out lines and starting to work on team systems heading into the season opening weekend Sept. 17-18 when the Rum River Mallards pay a visit.
The Ducks will get a tune-up the previous weekend when they head to Detroit for three exhibition matches – two against the Detroit Fighting Irish with on in between against the Metro Jets.
Thanks Billets
For the opening few weeks of the season, the Dells Ducks billets, including Penny Lobentstein, Sharon Fiske, the Morris family the Wilcox family and the Barney family who already provide an essential service for the Ducks family throughout the season, have stepped up, taking a few extra players in during a crisis situation for the team.
While the Ducks are working toward their season, varsity and youth hockey players of all levels are on the ice early as well with Before and After teams and tournaments well underway.
Stories on a few of those players have already appeared on Saukhockey.info and more are on the way as early as tonight.
The Ducks wrap up first week of training camp and for the first time, didn’t have to make their way to the rink for an early morning workout.
Dells Ducks
Originally, the players were scheduled to report at 5 p.m. for an all-night session at the Lake Delton Ice Arena but that was changed to Sunday so it appears the players will get a rare day off to wrap up the first week.
Among the events planned for Sunday evening is an NHL hockey video game tournament while the players take turns doing several floods of the ice surface at the Lake Delton Ice Arena.
The team will begin preparations on ice Monday and will play in anger for the first time Sept. 10-12 when they travel to Detroit for a trio of exhibition contests. The USPHL regular season will open the following weekend when the Rum River Mallards pay a visit to the Lake Delton Ice Arena.
Video footage from Sunday will be done live from the Lake Delton Ice Arena.
Jacob Cameron
Happy Birthday — Jacob Cameron
Jacob Cameron played all 44 games of the 2017-18 season for the Ducks, collecting give goals and 15 points. The Oregon, Wis. native played with the Wisconsin Whalers of the NA3HL the following season in his home town but was limited to four games.
Team Wisconsin U16’s, including Luke Mast, a junior with the Sauk Prairie Eagles, opened its season taking two of three games on a road trip to the Chicago area Aug. 20-22.
All three games were played at the Arctic Ice Rink in Orland Park, Ill., starting with a 7-5 loss to the Florida Alliance Friday before bouncing back with a 6-4 win against Minnesota Blizzard Saturday and wrapping up Sunday with a 5-4 overtime edge against the Chicago Fury.
In the first game, TW fell behind 2-0 in the first period before rallying to tie it with two in the second. The southern squad regrouped and scored four before the end of the second period and never looked back.
Team Wisconsin goals came from Kyle Rohrer (Oregon Panthers); Mason Keller (Stevens Point Panthers); Jackson Lord (Homestead Highlanders); Carsen Gause (Wisconsin Rapids Lincoln Red Raiders) and Zachary Howard (St. Thomas Academy Cadets – Minn.) and Keller added an assist.
In the middle contest, TW carried a 3-1 margin out of the opening period and was up 6-3 heading to the third.
Reece Cordray (Verona Wildcats) scored a pair in the win, including a shorthanded tally to open the scoring. Jack McGregor (University School of Milwaukee Wildcats) and Rohrer both collected a goal and assist with other goals scored by Brenden Gruber (Notre Dame Academy Tritons) and Brady Engelkes (Middleton Cardinals).
In the third game, TW saw a 4-1 lead slip away as the Fury fired three goals in the game’s final seven minutes, but Gruber’s goal clinched it 98 seconds into the overtime segment.
Adam Timm (Rice Lake Warriors) paced TW with two goals and others were scored by Rohrer and Gause.
The U-16 squad was scheduled to head back to the Chicago area this weekend for a pair of games against the Windy City Storm at the Orbit Ice Arena in Palatine, Saturday and Sunday.
Luke Mast played a role in the weekend contest but didn’t hit the scoresheet in the first games of the before and after schedule.
Team Wisconsin U18’s opened its season this past weekend, sweeping three games on a Chicago area road trip winning three games in three different arenas.
Included on Team Wisconsin is Sauk Prairie Eagles senior forward Erik Peterson as well as defenseman Hakon Peterson, although Hakon did not play this past weekend.
TW started out the weekend with a 4-1-win Friday (Aug. 20) at Canlan Rink 2 in Romeoville against the Chicago Fury, then brushed the Windy City Storm aside Saturday at the Seven Bridges Rinks by a 5-2 margin. Wrapping up the weekend, TW moved by the Minnesota Blizzard 7-3 at the Arctic Ice Arena in Orland Park.
In the first game, Team Wisconsin grabbed a 4-0 lead through the first two periods with goals from Cody Menzel (Sr., Edgewood); Callan Budinger (Notre Dame Sr.); Bryce Strand (Bay Port Sr.) and Hunter Bill (Notre Dame Jr.) while Adam Prokop (Wausau West Sr.) carried a shutout into the final period and stopped 19 of 20 shots faced in goal.
Against the Storm, TW rallied back from a 2-0 first period deficit with five straight unanswered goals, three in the middle period and two more down the stretch.
Tyler Dale (Waukesha Sr.) opened the scoring with a shorthanded marker and added the game winner later in the second period. Dayne Deanovich (St. Mary’s Springs Sr.) added a goal and two assists, Josh Austin (St. Mary’s Springs Jr.) adding a goal and assist, and the other goal fired by Kade Smigaj (Stevens Point Jr.).
Bridger Fixmer (Chippewa Falls Sr.) kicked out 12 of 14 to pick up the win in goal
In the final game, Blizzard scored first 6:06 into the contest, TW tying it 50 seconds later and piling on another half dozen before surrendering the final two meaningless goals in the third.
Austin and Menzel paced the attack with two goals apiece, Smigaj adding a goal and assist with other goals for Deanovich and Peyton Platter (Eau Claire Memorial Sr.).
Fixmer and Prokop shared the work in goal, combining to handle 55 of 58 Blizzards shots.
Peterson didn’t collect a point on the weekend but played a role in the team’s season opening sweep. He and the team will be back in action with two more against the Windy City Storm, this time at the Orbit Ice Arena in Palatine, Ill.
The Ducks will wrap up its first week of pre-season play tomorrow with an all-nighter at the Lake Delton Ice Arena. Today, they continued dryland workouts and helped with the most creative day of ice preparation.
Off the ice, the Ducks went through another morning workout focusing on upper body, played some handball and helped Lake Delton Ice Arena owner Aaron Kirby putting in the lines and faceoff circles.
The team gets a good portion of Saturday off, coming in at 5 p.m. for an overnighter as they put the finishing touches on the ice. The reward will be some time on the ice, helping Kirby detect cracks and weak spots in that overnight session and the first on-ice practice for the team will be on Sunday.
Happy Birthday – Andrew Schulenburg, Duncan Adams, Matt Millendorf and Chris Pelisek
Andrew Schulenburg turns 25 today. He started at Reedsburg Area High School the same season the RWD hockey team was formed. In four seasons with the club, Schulenburg appeared in 95 games behind only Austin Schyvinck and Zach Clisch who both played 96.
Andrew Schulenburg
Schulenburg is ranked ninth in scoring with RWD, potting 36 goals and collecting 73 points along with 60 PIM.
Following his graduation from RAHS, Schulenburg spent four seasons at UW-Oshkosh and continued his hockey career there with another four seasons of ACHA Division 2 play. He racked up another 94 games played and totalled 24 goals and 56 points along with 54 PIM and a +3 rating.
Duncan Adams, a native of Rochester, Minn., is celebrating his 23rd birthday today. Adams signed on with the Ducks for the 2017-18 season under Head Coach Jeff Worlton, playing 23 games patrolling the team’s blue line before moving on to play for his home town Rochester Ice Hawks in the NA3HL for the latter part of the campaign.
Duncan Adams
Adams chipped in a goal and a couple assists with the Ducks and returned to the USPHL the following season, remaining close to home with the Kasson Vipers.
Matt Millendorf turns 26 today. The Stamford, CT. honors student played in goal for the Ducks in 2014-15. He appeared in just four games and was part of what is likely the best single season goaltending staff in the team’s history with Sandro Aeschlimann, Jared Young and Tyler ‘Arne’ Arneson also battling for time in the blue paint.
Millendorf turned in awesome numbers in his four games, with an 0.77 Goals Against Average and a Save Percentage of .948. Millendorf played a few games with Breezy Point in the NA3HL at the end of the campaign and moved on to play a couple seasons with Trinity College in Hartford, Conn.
Matt Millendorf
Also celebrating a birthday today is longtime Ducks game day worker and super fan, Chris Pelisek. Pelisek has worked in the penalty box and been a goal judge and always has a kind word for the players before and after their games at the Lake Delton Ice Arena.
Chris Pelisek looks on from the best seat in the house as Ducks forward Wyatt Mikkelson carries the puck in action from the 2017-18 season.
Saukhockey.info would like to wish Matt, Duncan, Andrew and Chris a Happy Birthday today and thanks for some great hockey memories.
Sauk Hockey 