Thunderbirds, Cheavers, Flyers and Monkeys schedules

By Jim den Hollander

Editor/Publisher

Saukhockey.info

Baraboo/Portage Thunderbirds bantam youth hockey teams will open their Wisconsin Amateur Hockey Association (WAHA) regular seasons this weekend creating a busy weekend for all three local organizations. Below is a look at all of the action taking place this weekend.

BARABOO/PORTAGE THUNDERBIRDS/BADGER LIGHTNING

Bantam — The oldest group of Thunderbirds will play twice on the weekend, starting out with a 9:30 a.m. game Saturday at the Lake Delton Ice Arena against the Waunakee ‘B’ Wildcats, then moving to Pierce Park Pavilion in Baraboo for a 10 a.m. contest against the Sauk Prairie bantam ‘B’ Flyers.

RWD CHEAVERS

Bantam – The Bantams were the only team not in action for RWD last weekend, but they make up for it with a full four-game weekend coming up. First up, the Cheavers will entertain the Black River Falls Tigers twice on Saturday, facing off at 9:15 p.m. at Reedsburg Area Community Arena (RACA) and lining up for a rematch at 12:30 p.m. On Sunday, the bantams will entertain the Tomah ‘A’ Timberwolves at 11:30 a.m. and stay close for another game at RACA against Onalaska bantam Tornados at 4:15 p.m.

Peewee A/B — The Peewee ‘A’ Cheavers will play another three games this weekend all on home ice at RACA. On Saturday, the team will face Sauk Prairie Flyers ‘A’ Peewees in a 5:15 p.m. tilt and the Dubuque Fighting Saints Peewee ‘A’ team will pay a visit Sunday for 10 a.m. and 1:15 p.m. contests.

The Peewee ‘B’ Cheavers, will hit the ice four times at RACA including three on Saturday. After opening with an 11 a.m. game against Waunakee ‘C’ Black, the Cheavers will be right back on at 3:45 p.m. against Sauk Prairie Flyers and wrap up a busy day at 6:45 p.m. against the Dodgeville Ice Wolves. On Sunday, the ‘B’ squad will make a return trip to Dodgeville for a 9:45 a.m. contest against the same Ice Wolves.

Squirt A/B — The Squirt ‘A’ Cheavers will get its first look at the Sauk Prairie ‘A’ Flyers in an 11 a.m. game at RACA Saturday morning and return for a pair Sunday against the Middleton ‘C’ Cardinals at 8:45 a.m. and the Waunakee ‘C’ Wildcats at 3:30 p.m.

The ‘B’ Squirts will play host to the Verona ‘C’ Wildcats 2:15 p.m. Saturday at RACA and play host to Sauk Prairie ‘B’ Flyers on Sunday at 2:45 p.m.

SAUK PRAIRIE FLYERS/MONKEYS

Bantam A/B — After opening on the road the previous weekend, the Bantam ‘A’ Flyers will play its first home game Saturday at 9:30 a.m. against the Janesville Bluebirds at 9:30 a.m. at Sauk Prairie Area Recreation Center (SPARC). On Sunday, the bantams will host the Elmbrook Eagles at 9:15 a.m. and 12:15 p.m.

The Bantam ‘B’ squad will hit the road Saturday morning for a 10:15 a.m. game at the Naga-Waukee Ice Arena in Delafield against the Waukesha Warhawks and return home in time for a 3:15 p.m. match at SPARC against Waunakee. On Sunday, the bantams will be at Pierce Park Pavilion in Baraboo for a 10 a.m. match against the host Thunderbirds.

14U A/B — The Monkeys 14U ‘A’ team will open its regular season with a pair of games at SPARC against the Beaver Dam Wildfire at 10:45 a.m. and 1:45 p.m.

The 14U ‘B’ Monkeys have a 12:15 p.m. contest scheduled for SPARC on Saturday against a still to be determined opponent and on Sunday they will play a home-and-away set with the Rock County Fury, at Janesville Ice Arena at 9:30 a.m. and then back at SPARC at 3:15 p.m.

Peewee A/B — The Peewee ‘A’ Flyers will have some short trips, playing at RACA in Reedsburg against the RWD ‘A’ Cheavers Saturday at 5:15 p.m. and then taking on the Middleton ‘A’ Cardinals Sunday at 3 p.m. at Pierce Park Pavilion in Baraboo.

The ‘B’ Flyers team is scheduled to open its regular season Friday with an 8:15 p.m. faceoff against the Verona ‘C2’ Wildcats at SPARC and will travel to RACA in Reedsburg to meet the Peewee ‘B’ Cheavers at 3:45 p.m. Sunday.

12U A/B Red/ B White – The 12U ‘A’ Monkeys will hit the road for a pair of games Saturday against the Wisconsin Valley Union at Ice Hawks Arena in Stevens Point. The first game will faceoff at noon and the second at 5 p.m.

The ‘B-Red’ Monkeys will go head-to-head with the ‘B-White’ Monkeys at SPARC at 1:45 p.m. on Saturday to kick off their respective seasons and the B-White Monkeys will stay busy, entertaining the Rock County Fury at Baraboo’s Pierce Park Pavilion at 4:30 p.m. The following day, the same two teams will meet in Janesville at 8 a.m.

Squirt A/B — The Squirt ‘A’ Flyers will open its season at RACA in Reedsburg against the RWD ‘A’ Cheavers at 11 a.m. Saturday and plays its first home game at 8 a.m. Sunday at SPARC against the Verona ‘B’ Squirts. At 4:45 p.m. they will wrap up a three-game opening weekend at SPARC against the Waunakee Wildcats.

The ‘B’ Flyers will play a pair of home games Saturday, taking on the Waunakee ‘C’ Wildcats at 8:15 a.m. at SPARC followed by an 11 a.m. contest against the Verona ‘C’ Wildcats. On Sunday the Flyers will make the trek to Reedsburg’s RACA to play the ‘B’ Cheavers at 2:45 p.m.

10U A/B — The 10U ‘A’ Monkeys will be at the Ponds of Brookfield Saturday for 3:55 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. games against the Elmbrook 10U Eagles.

The 10U ‘B’ Monkeys will also start on the road, playing a pair at the Kettle Moraine Ice Center in West Bend against the Washington County Ice at 11 a.m. and 1:45 p.m. On Sunday the Monkeys will hit the road again for an 8:15 a.m. tilt at Hartmeyer Ice Arena in East Madison against the host Patriots.

Argall, Kirk pace Flyers to pair of road wins

By Jim den Hollander

Editor/Publisher

Saukhockey.info

The Sauk Prairie Peewee ‘A’ Flyers opened its Wisconsin Amateur Hockey Association (WAHA) regular season with a road trip and a pair of contests in Beaver Dam this past weekend.

Third period goals lifted the Flyers to a pair of one-goal wins at the Beaver Dam Family Center Ice Arena Saturday. The first game went to the Flyers by a 4-3 margin and the getaway game was a 5-4 decision against the host squad.

The opening game saw the Flyers blasting out of the gate and grabbing a 3-0 first period lead but the home team struck back with a pair of unanswered middle period goals, both teams adding one more in the third.

Caden Argall scored twice, including the game winner for the Flyers with other goals added by Ryker Hovland and Michael Jolicoeur. Logan Harrington and Braden Schlough had set ups and Jameson Ballweg collected the win in goal with 21 saves.

Xavier Wagner fired a pair for Beaver Dam and Zander Statz counted the other. Tyce Moreau kicked out 17 shots in goal for the home side.

The second game saw the Flyers getting off to a quick start again, this time a 3-1 cushion after a period and up 4-3 heading to the third.

Alexander Kirk opened the scoring for the Flyers and added a powerplay goal with just under six minutes to play to clinch the win. Beaver Dam pulled back late in the contest but Kirk’s second stood up as the game winner.

Argall, Hovland and Jolicoeur notched the other Flyers’ goals with help from Kirk, Logan Harrington and Ben Freeman. Ballweg notched his second win of the day in goal with a 19-save effort.

Wagner scored another and Statz notched a pair to wrap up three-goal days for Beaver Dam, the other goal added by Isiah Olds. Moreau stopped another 23 shots in goal.

Riverkings, Havoc next challenge for Ducks

By Jim den Hollander

Editor/Publisher

Saukhockey.info

The Dells Ducks will return home for its third straight weekend of three or more games with visits from the Wisconsin Rapids Riverkings on Friday and the Hudson Havoc Saturday and Sunday.

After this weekend, the Ducks, who enter with a 1-14 record will have played all seven of its USPHL Premier Midwest-West Division opponents at least once. While a core group of players are enjoying stellar individual campaigns, the young team has found it difficult to find the win column.

After a thrilling overtime win against the Chicago Cougars in the third game of the season, September 24, the Ducks dropped a dozen straight.

Making things a bit more difficult, the team has played short-staffed the past couple weeks, but the defense corps got a needed boost at the Midwest-West Showcase with the addition of Evan Haddeman (‘04/Hudson, IA), who came to the Ducks after starting the season with the Lake Tahoe Lakers in the Premier Pacific Division.

Also in the lineup was Zachary Windom, an ‘05 defenseman from Allen, TX who has been with the team since opening day but recovering from an ankle injury. Easily the youngest defense corps in the division if not the league, the Ducks enter the weekend with two ‘05’s (Windom and Jack Kopfstein) and three ‘04’s (Haddeman, Thomas Howell and Lucas Taylor).

Once again, the upcoming tests will be difficult as the Riverkings and Havoc are perennial top-four finishers although a quick look at the division history books shows a Havoc team that made its own way up from rock bottom about five seasons ago.

Since 2018, the Ducks have won just twice in 14 starts against the Riverkings and both – a 1-0 win in 2019 that saw Emil Norrman kicking out all 47 shots he faced, and a 4-3 edge in 2020 that saw Jason Heard scoring a pair of goals. Heard has returned to the Ducks on a part time basis whenever his job commitments in Chicago allow.

Last season, the Ducks squared off with the Riverkings five times and scored just one goal….total. The Riverkings meanwhile hit double digits on the scoreboard in three of the games. Needless to say, the Riverkings have had the Ducks’ number in recent seasons.

The Ducks have posted a 2-9-2-0 record against the Havoc since 2018 but the Havoc has claimed the last 11. The Ducks last win came Nov. 3, 2018.

Game time on both Friday and Saturday will be 7:30 p.m. with a 1:30 p.m. Matinee contest on Sunday.