Ducks’ three game streak ends in slugfest in Lake Delton

By Jim den Hollander

Editor/Publisher

Saukhockey.info

Riding a wave of success started a week prior in Minnesota, the Dells Ducks earned a split on home ice against the Steele County Blades this past weekend.

The team stretched its winning streak to three games and collected at least a point in the opener of a home series for a third straight time as well with a 6-5 overtime thriller on Saturday night at Lake Delton Ice Arena.

Unfortunately, the streak came to an end the following afternoon as the Ducks continued another trend, dropping the second game of a third straight home set.

As a result of the weekend, the Ducks are a more competitive 3-3 dating back to the start of the Blaine (MN) Showcase tournament. Other teams from the bottom of the Midwest-West Division have collected points as well though the Ducks continue to battle to escape the bottom floor of the nine-team division.

Ducks 6 Blades 5 (ot)

It’s difficult to find a better played game for the Ducks of the 17 played so far this season.

Anthony Falzone went to the crease for a third straight and delivered another solid effort between the pipes. The team continues to struggle getting out of the gate in the opening period. But after Falzone got the team through the opening minutes, things settled in and the Ducks rolled to an 11-9 edge in shots. Almost certainly the first time the Ducks held the edge in shots after 20 minutes this season.

Not only did the locals lead on the shot clock, Jack Kopfstein and Ashot Davtyan both scored second half goals to lift the Ducks into a 2-1 lead after 20.

Kopfstein, the team’s leading scoring also set up the second goal with other assists coming from Lucas Epperson, Quinten Clausen and Keynan Miller.

Owen Plumert made it a two-goal cushion in the first minute of the second period, from Braydan Kirchmann and Reece Atkins, but the visitors rallied back with three goals in the next eight minutes, the second and hird scored just seven seconds apart.

As a result, the Blades owned a 4-3 cushion, but Owen Plumert and Alic Schuster both notched goals before the end off the period as teams entered the third even at 5-5. Assists went to John Scott, Austin Holmberg, Kirchmann and Kopfstein.

With a crazy second period in the rearview mirror, goalies stepped up down the stretch, Falzone and Bence Gaspar of the Blades combined to stop all 31 shots fired in the final frame. For Falzone, his 21 third period saves wrapped up a 45 shot total for the night.

Overtime belonged to the Ducks who fired three shots before Austin Plumert found the mark from Scott and Holmberg.

The Ducks took full advantage of their chances, scoring twice on five powerplays and the Blades also collected one with an exrra attacker on a night that saw teams combine for 54 minutes in the sin bin. Apparently, they were just getting warmed up.

Blades 5 Ducks 1

The Ducks looked to stretch the streak to four Sunday but got sidetracked as discipline was thrown out the window by both teams.

Frustration at some questionable calls in the game played a part, but things went south in the second period with the game very much still up for grabs.

Five misconducts and a major helped the teams combine for 89 minutes in penalties. Both teams were guilty, but a brawl with just over five minutes to play in the second period completely changed the focus of the Ducks who trailed just 2-0 at the time.

This one stayed close until the final minutes.

Owen Plumert scored the lone Ducks goal, from Gabe Krueger and Atkins with 3:44 to play, cutting into a 3-0 Blades lead, but an empty neter with 64 seconds to go and another goal 24 seconds later made the score more lopsided than the game actually was.

Falzone was in goal again and provided his team with another 40 saves as he is delivering what he hoped to bring to the team this season now.

The weekend split leaves the team at 4-11-1-0 so far, sitting in an eighth-place tie with the Minnesota Mullets who also have played 17 games.

The Ducks have played six of the other eight teams in their division and will cross another team off that list with a Friday-Saturday pair at South Wood County Recreation Center in Wisconsin Rapids agaisnt the Riverkings (9-3-0-2).

The Riverkings will be the final team to play on home ice after starting out with six weeks on the road. The rivalry with the Riverkings has built over the past decade primiarily as they are the closest team to the Dells geographically.

Game time for both contests is 7 p.m. and the Riverkings generally draw some big crowds for home games.

Ducks will head to Motown for their second and final Showcase event the following week and will not play on home ice again until Dec. 14 when they begin a stretch of six straight games at the Lake Delton, Ice Arena.

Duck Quacks – Congratulations to Colin Trulock who began this season as the Dells Ducks Assistant Coach, specifically responsible for the Defense corps.

Trulock recently accepted the head coaching position with the Sauk Prairie Eagles varsity hockey team as Head Coach David Lohrei has resigned from the position. Pracitces for varsity teams began Monday in Wisconsin.

Recently Dan Smolen who has transitioned nicely from player to coach this season also announced he will be leaving after the Christmas break as he will attend college.

Head Coach Anthony Rohde forged a solid relationship with both assistants as well as Jeramy Greenwood who helps out with the Ducks whenever he is not needed with the RWD vasity hockey team where he is also an assistant coach.

To help, team owner Shaun Falzone stepped behind the bench with Rohde this past weekend along with local hockey talent Derek Tylka.

As a junior player, Tylka played much of his youth hockey with the Madison Capitols and started his junior career as a 18-year-old with the Dubuque Thunderbirds of the former CSHL. The following season he played Tier 2 in the Superior International Junior Hockey League and spent his age out season as the first captain with the Minot Minotauros in the NAHL.

Tylka moved on to play three seasons of ACHA Division 1 hockey with the University of Oklahoma Sooners.

Best of luck to Trulock and Smolen in the months ahead, welcome back to the bench Shaun and a big welcome to Tylka who gives the Ducks yet another strong local presence.

Falzone brilliant in helping Ducks shake off skid

By Jim den Hollander

Editor/Publisher

Saukhockey.info

Improvements in every area of the game partnered with the best day of his four-season junior career for goaltender Anthony Falzone allowed the Dells Ducks junior hockey team to not only bring an 11-game losing skid to a screeching halt, but begin the team’s first winning streak as well.

There have been plenty of promising signs and games but until Friday (Oct. 27), they had all ended in diappointment.

Falzone did it in a big way, kicking out every one of the 42 shots he faced, leading the Ducks to a 4-0 shutout win agianst the Steele County Blades Friday morning, despite being outshot by a 42-24 margin.

He followed it up with a return to the blue paint a few hours later backstopping the Ducks to its second win of the day, 2-1 in overtime against the Decatur Blaze.

Those wins came in the final two games for the Ducks at the Midwest Showcase Tournament at Fogerty Ice Arena in Blaine, MN. The Ducks had another close but no cigar game against the Isanti Outlaws Wedesday, an empty netter clinching a 3-1 win against the team that has found more ways to escape that Houdini against the Ducks in the past two seasons.

The most disappointing contest was Thursday against the Chicago Cougars who pulled away to a comfortable 6-1 win.

Following is a closer look at each of the four games

Wednesday Oct. 25 – Ducks 1 Outlaws 3

Jack Freiburger gave an indication of the goaltending the Ducks could expect at the event, making the most of his first start in goal for the team after being added to the roster recently.

Tyler Schmitt was the only Outlaws player able to find a way past thedid it twice in the opening period. His goals came 3:21 apart allowing the Isanti squad to build a 2-0 first period lead. The opening 20 has been torturous for the Ducks all season long and this one stayed true to the course as the Outlaws slammed 15 shots at Freiburger in the frame.

Freiburger was flawless the rest of the way stopping all 13 shots he faced in the second and third periods before Easton Parnell sank the clincher with Freiburger sitting on the Ducks bench in favor of an extra attacker.

Ducks turned the tables in the second period, peppering Zach White with a 14-4 shots margin but the only one to elude White came from the blueline as Austin Holmberg’s wrister took a trick arc into the top part of the mesh. Assists on his first goal of the season went to his former Amery High School teammate Reece Atkins and his defense partner, Jack Kopstein.

The Ducks have played Outlaws close in almost every match through the past two seasons but in three games this year, all they have to show for it is one shootout point.

Thursday Oct. 26 – Ducks 2 Cougars 7

Thursday’s game saw another goaltender looking to impress as Juan Aguilar made his first start since taking the Outlaws to a shootout in September.

The Cougars simply wore down the goaltender, carrying a 2-0 lead out of the opening period with a 15-6 edge on the shot clock. This time though, the trend continued through the next 40 minutes as well as the Ducks were pounded by an overall shot margin of 51-16.

John Scott gave his team some hope with his goal, cutting the lead in half in the opening minute of the second period, from Braydan Kirchmann and Owen Plumert, but the Cougars snatched that hope away, scoring the next four before Scott struck again with his third of the season on a feed from Kopstein.

The game was all but over after 40 but the Cougs made sure with one more in the final frame.

Arthur Pawlik fired three for Chicago with others added by Aidan Canady, Liam Norton, Ryan Johnson and TJ Haas.

Friday, Oct. 27 Ducks 4 Blades 0

Falzone showed the best way to get through the horrendous first periods for the Ducks was to simply weather the storm and kick out everything he saw. The rest of the team responded though, the defense limiting the Blades to 13 mostly outside shots in the period while the offense triggered 10 the other way.

Anthony Falzone celebrates at the buzzer after his 42-save shutout against the Steele County Blades at Fogerty Ice Arena in Blaine, MN Friday (Oct 26) morning. The four year goaltender for the Ducks has had some big moments but this was easily the best day of his junior career. Photo Courtesy Midwest PIx

All things considered; this was the Ducks’ best opening period of the season so far. Alic Schuster’s goal late in the opening segment gave the Ducks its first lead since the second game of the season when they defeated the Minnesota Moose. Holmberg and Ashot Davtyan collected assists on the Schuster goal.

Despite facing another 15 shots through the midtams werew dle frame, Falzone kept the 1-0 cushion in tact and in the final 20 minutes, the Ducks found the mark three more times, the first from Quinten Clausen with his first junior goal.

Owen Plumert notched his fifth and Damien Calzada wrapped it up with his fourth while also collecting an assist. Other helpers went to Davtyan, Scott, Atkins, Kopstein and Lucas Andruskiewicz.

Falzone made them all stand up though with his 42-save performance coming in his first game back from a bruised sternum suffered the previous weekend agianst the Minnesota Moose.

Ducks 2 Blaze 1 (ot)

Falzone returned to the crease for the team’s final game in Blaine and helped them rally from behind for the overtime win.

Clearly inspired by the previous game, the Ducks oushot on opponent for the first time through the opening period, but despite a 13-12 margin, the Ducks and Blaze remained scoreless heading to the second

Before the halftime break, Connor Wilson put the Blaze on the board. Teams returned with 10 minutes to play in the second and Zach Halling responded for the Ducks with his first career junior goal, with help from Andy Gonzalez and Lucas Epperson.

Teams entered and exited the third period in the 1-1 deadlock and Kirchmann’s solo effort 77 seconds into the overtime segment lifted the Ducks to its second win of the day.

Falzone put up a goose egg after the second period goal, stopping 24 of 25 in the contest and 66 of 67 on an unreal day at the office.

Duck Quacks — The two wins bring an awesome finish to a rough month with a record of 2-7-1-1. The eight points has the Ducks sitting eighth overall in the nine-team division ahead of only the 3-10-0-0 Minnesota Mullets. However, the Ducks sit just three behind both the Blades and Outlaws currently tied for sixth. The Blades will be in Lake Delton Saturday and Sunday for a pair of games against the Ducks.

— November will be another busy month for the Ducks who will play nine times, the Nov. 4-5 contests the only ones on home ice. They will pay a visit to Wisconsin Rapids to play the Riverkings the following weekend, then attend the Detroit Showcase Tournament for four games Nov. 17-19, wrapping up in Owatonna Nov. 26 against the Blades.

–Jack Kopstein is inching closer to some major milestones for the Ducks. With the games in Blaine, the smooth skating defender is now 14 away from becoming the ninth player in team history to play 100 games for the Ducks. Currently Kopstein’s 86 leaves him in a three-way tie with John Urgo and Ian Harris.

Points-wise, Kopstein has a career total of 22 goals and 59 points, good enough for fourth all time among Ducks defenders. His next point will move him into a tie with Sean Teske for third. Jake Stima remains the leader among Ducks’ blue liners with 51 goals and 121 points. Bradley Hefner scored 20 goals and 84 points and

Ducks overcome horrific start, but fall just short to Mullets

By JIm den Hollander
Editor/Publisher
Saukhockey.info
The Dells Ducks kicked off a second straight weekend trying to rally back from a horrific period of play at Augsburg University Friday (Sept. 29) night.

The Ducks made the trip to Augsburg in the Twin Cities to take on the Minnesota Mullets, a team it dominated last season, winning all four regular season meetings, but the team didn’t realize the game was underway until the end of the opening peirod . Despite a frantic third period rally, an empty netter carried the Mullets to an 8-6 win.
The Mullets took full advantage of a lackadaisical start to the contest for the Ducks, scoring its first goal 5:15 into the contest and piling on another four by the end of the opening period despite a slim 16-10 edge on the shot clock.

A more inspired Ducks team showed up for the team period but it was the Mullets adding another before Braydan Kirchmann (’04/Waterloo, IA) finally got the visitors on the with 6:53 to play in the middle period.
Alic Schuster (’04/Menomonie Falls, WI) notched a second a little over four minutes later and the Ducks, who outshot their host 18-11 in the period carried some momentum into the final 20 minutes.
Again, it was the home team on the board first in the final period, making it a 7-2 game in the second minute.
But the Ducks never surrendered, beginning the long road back with a goal from Damien Calzada (’06/Plainfield, IL ) 5:32 into the frame.
Jack Kopfstein (’05/Vista, CA) scored what seemed a meaningless goal with 7:10 to play but then the Plumert twins — first defenseman Austin (’05/Hudsonville, MI) with 5:56 to go and another from forward Owen with 2:10 to go had the Ducks within a shot of tying the score.
The Ducks had an extra attacker on the ice and goaltender Anthony Falzone (’03/St. Charles, IL) on the bench looking to complete the amazing comeback, but Caden Sutter (’03/Eau Claire, WI) slid his second of the game into an empty Ducks’ goal with less than a minute to play, ending the threat.
The slow start was shocking, but the Ducks’ rally was inspiring and its hoped the team can follow it up with a win for a split in the weekend series, as it did the previous weekend in Blaine, MN against the Minnesota Moose, battling back from a 7-1 loss in the opener with a 4-2 win the following night.

The Ducks held a 42-35 edge on the shot clock and outscored its host 6-3 through the final 40 minutes.

Falzone came into the game to mop up with the Ducks trailing 4-0 in the first period, Michael Carden (’05/Colorado Springs, CO) getting his second straight start.

Game time at Augsburg University Ice Arena will be 7 p.m. tonight (Saturday, Sept. 30).

Jones first tally is Ducks’ game winner

By Jim den Hollander

Editor/Publisher

Saukhockey.info

Jackson Jones (‘04/Bloomer, Wis.) couldn’t have picked a better time to score his first goal for the Dells Ducks.

The defenseman’s shot from the blue line went off a Mullets player and gave the Ducks its first and only lead on the way to a 3-1 win for the visitors at Augsburg University Ice Arena Thursday night.

The goal was the middle tally of a three-goal second period for the Ducks, charging back from a 1-0 deficit and snapping a three-game losing streak.

The team started December coming off its best month of hockey in three seasons though and picked up right where the boys left off before Thanksgiving Break.

Ethan Matthews (‘02/Granger, IN) had the first Ducks’ goal tying the game in the fifth minute of the middle frame, from Mikel Ferran Cobo (‘02/Mexico City) and Adam Brown (‘02/Westmont, IL) setting the stage for Jones who got help from Logan Potts (‘03/Allen, TX) and Gabe Krueger (‘03/Blaine, MN).

Jones scored with 4:44 to play in the period and Kai Neumaier (‘03/St. Charles, IL) added an insurance tally a little over three minutes later from Brown and Braydan Kirchmann (‘04/Waterloo, IA).

The lone Mullies goal was scored by Ben Willcoxson (’03/Scottsdale, AZ) with 7:11 to play in the opening period.

From there it was up to the goaltenders as Chris Mazurek (‘03/Batavia, IL) collected his second win with 25 stops and Alex Falkenhagen (02/Thornhill, ON), one of the league’s busiest goaltenders stopped 35 shots for the Mullets.

The Ducks outshot their host in all three periods, including a 16-9 margin out of the gate and 15-8 through the three goal second frame.

After a busy November that saw three and four-game weekends before the norm, the Ducks enjoy a rare weekend off after this Thursday night contest that boosted the team’s record to 5-16-2-1 for 13 points, already four points more than they collected in 2021-22.

More importantly, they widened the gap between them in eighth place and the ninth place (4-15-0-1) to four points while creeping to within four of the seventh place Minnesota Blue Ox. Both teams have played fewer games (the Ox several fewer) but the Mullets will make up a couple this weekend with other games in Isanti against the Outlaws Saturday and Owatonna Sunday against the Steele County Blades

The Ducks can prepare a little more for a rematch with the Mullets back at Augsburg next Thursday night – the first of a three-game weekend and seven games in nine days carrying the Ducks to the Christmas Break.

Numbers – The three goals on Thursday run the team’s total to 57 on the season so far with 20 games to play. That’s just 37 shy of last season’s 94 goal total. At the other end, Ducks allowed 333 goals last season compared to 118 so far this season. The team is on pace to shave a large number off the total.

Individually, Matthew leads the team in points with 20 while Jack Kopfstein has the most goals with eight, one more than Matthews and Potts.

In goal, Jadon Mammen (‘04/Wheaton, IL) and Mazurek both have two wins and Mammen leads the way in Save with a .900 showing so far. Mazurek leads in minutes with 498 and shots against with 346.