Havoc, Steele dominate Ducks in final three games

By Jim den Hollander

Editor/Publisher

Saukhockey.info

The Dells Ducks wrapped up the USPHL Premier regular season with a tough trio of games but some friendly faces on the finale on Sunday night.

Back-to-back losses (10-0, 6-1) in Hudson against the Havoc Friday and Saturday and a 7-0 loss in both its home and regular season finale at Lake Delton Ice Arena Sunday against the Steele County Blades wrapped up a stretch of 13 losses suffered by the team since returning from the Christmas Break.

Some trades in the past few weeks have seen the team’s top two scoring players – Caden Glamkowski (‘04/St. Charles, IL) to the Chicago Cougars for Francesco Addante (‘02/Glenview, IL) who scored the previous weekend in Wisconsin Rapids and Jayden Tkaczuk (‘02/Channahon, IL) traded to the Detroit Fighting Irish for Andrew Crawford (‘05/Seattle, WA) heading to teams with a shot at a long playoff run.

They would be eligible to return next season which could give them a chance to improve on some strong offensive seasons this time around. Glamkowski became just the third player in the 11-year history of the Ducks to hit the 30-goal plateau in a season, joining Aidan Verbeke (37) in the team’s first season and Ian Wood (36, 34) who accomplished it in both the 2014-15 and 2015-16 seasons.

Tkaczuk was the team’s leading scorer last season, and his 56 points (24g, 32a) ranks him 16^th all time, two points and one spot in front of Glamkowski.

Ducks 0, 1 @ Havoc 10, 6

Friday night was a tough one for the Ducks in Hudson, the home side scoring twice in the opening six minutes on its way to a 4-0 first period lead, a total it matched in the middle period before rounding it off with two more down the stretch.

Anthony Falzone (‘03/St. Charles, IL) and Drew Moseley (‘02/St. Louis, MO) were the busiest players on the ice, facing a combined 67 shots while the Ducks challenged Matthew Powell with 19 shots, and he kicked them all away.

While cutting down the shots against and improving its own shots total Saturday night, the goaltending of Moseley was tested once again. He stopped 47 of 53 shots including all 19 of the shots he faced in the first period.

The Havoc found a way past him in the second period though and scored four times before Ducks’ captain Bryce Jacobsen (‘02/DeForest, WI), notched his 12^th goal of the season, unassisted.

Hudson added one more in the final period to clinch the win.

Blades 7 @ Ducks 0

Sunday’s game saw the Ducks once again outshot by a wide margin on a night that saw the team struggle in all three periods to get the puck beyond its own blue line.

Falzone got the start and once again faced a barrage from the opening faceoff, the Blades topping 20 shots in each frame while the hosts couldn’t get to double digits. Overall, it was a 74-15 edge for the visitors who scored, three in the first and last periods and once in the middle.

The seventh goal came against Jadon Mammen (‘04/Grapevine, TX) who replaced an exhausted Falzone through the final few minutes and faced eight shots.

Playoffs ahead

The Ducks move on to the post season as a major underdog, the number eight seed in the Midwest-West Division, taking on the top seeded Minnesota Blue Ox who finished the regular season 66 points ahead of the Dells’ squad.

The Best of Three series will begin Friday at the Coon Rapids Ice Center at 7 p.m. and the second game will be played Saturday night at the same time and place.

If needed, a third game would be played on Monday at 2:30 p.m., also in Coon Rapids.

Winner of this series will advance to the second round of four, battling for one of two Midwest-West division berths at the league’s national championship tournament to be played in Hudson, NH March 24-29.

Falzone stands tall in goal against Riverkings

By Jim den Hollander

Editor/Publisher

Saukhockey.info

The Dells Ducks made the short trek to Wisconsin Rapids last weekend (Feb. 17-18) dropping a pair of decisions in the penultimate weekend of the USPHL regular season, 5-2 on the first night before the Riverkings handed them a lopsided 11-0 defeat the following night.

Looking to snap a long losing streak and gather some momentum heading into the post season.

The Ducks made some big moves in the time between games with top scorers Caden Glamkowski and Jayden Tkaczuk both wearing new jerseys as of last weekend, giving both a shot at making some post season noise with the Chicago Cougars and Detroit Fighting Irish respectively.

As they have all season, the Ducks relied heavily on the goaltending this past weekend and Anthony Falzone (‘03/St. Charles, IL) played a big role in keeping the first game close. Falzone faced close to 70 shots while the Ducks triggered just 11 at the opposite end, but Falzone stood tall throughout the 60-minute contest.

In fact, Francesco Addante (‘02/Glenview, IL) picked up days before in the Glamkowski trade, fired the lone goal of the first period three minutes into the game from Kai Neumaier (‘03/St. Charles, IL). That allowed the Ducks to carry a 1-0 lead into the middle period despite a massive 28-3 edge on the shots board for the home side.

The Riverkings finally found a way past Falzone near the halfway mark of the second period and that opened the floodgates for three more, giving the Rapids’ crew a 4-2 edge heading to the third period.

Luca Maislin (‘03/Montreal, QC) fired his fifth goal in nine games since joining the Ducks while Bryce Jacobsen (‘02/DeForest, WI), Ducks’ captain and now, team leading scorer, collected his 19^th assist and 30^th point.

Riverkings’ fourth goal was scored by Jeffrey Rebman (‘01/Libertyville, IL) a fifth-year junior who played both the 2017-18 and 2018-19 seasons with the Ducks.

The Riverkings held an 18-5 edge in shots in the middle period and pounded the Ducks with a 22-3 edge in the third, resulting in one final goal.

On Saturday, the Riverkings dominated the shot clock again but this time they found the net early and often on its way to an 11-0 whitewash, the 10^th consecutive loss for the Ducks who enter this weekend with three final chances – two in Hudson Friday and Saturday and back on home ice Sunday – to break into the win column.

The Riverkings were up 4-0 after a period and added another five in the middle period before putting it away with a couple goals down the stretch.

Drew Mosely (’02/St. Louis, MO), Jadon Mammen (’04/Grapevine, TX) and Falzone each took a turn in goal in this one, combining to kick out 57 in the contest.

Sunday’s game will give local fans one final chance to get a look at the Ducks this season as they take on the Steele County Blades in a 6:30 p.m. start at the Lake Delton Ice Arena.

The playoff match ups have been determined, at least for the Ducks who face a tough assignment, going into battle next weekend against the Minnesota Blue Ox. Dates and times for that Best-of-Three series are still to be announced.

Learning curve still steep for improving Ducks

By Jim den Hollander

Editor/Publisher

Saukhockey.info

The Dells Ducks have shown a marked improvement over the course of the season, but the Minnesota Moose showed them in games Saturday and Sunday, the road to the top half of the USPHL’s Premier Midwest-West Division still features several cutbacks up the side of a steep mountain.

Recent games against the fifth place Steele County Blades showed the Ducks who for a second season are by far the youngest team in the division are closing in on being more than competitive with mid pack teams.

But back-to-back 11-2 defeats at the Fogerty Icehouse in Blaine, MN against the Moose were a tough pill to swallow for the locals.

In the opener on Saturday night, the Moose fired nearly 80 shots at Anthony Falzone (‘03/St. Charles, IL) and Drew Moseley (‘02/St. Louis, MO).

Again, the Ducks showed promise, staying with the Moose through the opening 20, but a 2-1 Moose cushion turned into a 5-1 lead in the second period and the Moose exploded for a half dozen down the stretch.

There have been some bright spots and one is the play of Samuel Soltes (‘04/Trnava, Slovakia). He scored his third goal in six games since joining the Ducks on a feed from Justin Green (‘01/Fort Worth, TX). The other goal came from Ethan Matthews (‘02/South Bend, IN) making his debut with the Ducks.

On Sunday, the start was similar, the Moose carrying a 1-0 lead into the second period before Jayden Tkaczuk (‘02/Channahon, IL) tied it with his 12^th goal of the season early in the second period from Caden Glamkowski (‘02/St. Charles, IL) and Bryce Jacobsen (‘02/DeForest, WI).

The Moose responded with the next 10 goals, five in the second period and five more in the final 20 before Tkaczuk notched his 13^th, again with help from Glamkowski and Jacobsen 47 seconds from the final buzzer.

Falzone and Jadon Mammen (‘04/Grapevine, TX) shared the work in this one, sharing the workload against another 70-plus shots on goal.

The losses in Blaine extended the team’s current losing streak to eight games with five games to play.

The first four are on the road in Wisconsin with a pair at the South Wood County Recreation Center in Wisconsin Rapids Friday and Saturday (Feb. 18-19) against the second place Riverkings and a week later in Hudson against the third place Havoc. The Ducks will wrap up the campaign at the Lake Delton Ice Arena Feb. 27 with one last chance to get by the Steele County Blades before the playoffs start.

Glamkowski reaches milestone for Ducks in loss

By Jim den Hollander

Editor/Publisher

Saukhockey.info

The Dells Ducks opened a three-game weekend Friday (Feb. 4) night with a 6-3 loss to the Steele County Blades at the Four Seasons Center in Owatonna, MN.

Coming off a 3-2 loss on home ice to the Blades the previous Sunday at the Lake Delton Ice Arena. This time around the Blades grabbed a 2-0 first period lead, but saw it trimmed to 4-3 by the end of the second.

Two more unanswered down the stretch padded the lead for the Blades and extended the Ducks’ current losing streak to six games.

There was some reason to celebrate though as the Ducks’ first goal came off the stick of Caden Glamkowski (‘04/St. Charles, IL) for his 30^th goal of the season. He is only the third player in team history to record 30 goals in a season. The others were Ian Wood (twice) and Aidan Verbeke.

Assists on the Glamkowski goal went to Gage Senio (‘04/Red Deer, AB) and Alex Grove (‘02/Waldorf, MD).

The Blades scored the next two to go up 4-1 but the Ducks struck back with two in the final 5:05 of the period to get within a goal again.

Samuel Soltes (‘04/Trnava, Slovakia) fired his second goal since joining the Ducks a few weeks ago and another newcome, Luca Maislin (‘03/Montreal, QC) notched his fourth. Glamkowski had set ups on both goals, pushing his team leading points total to 52, Grove and Oliver Cabala (‘05/Kezmorok, Slovakia) adding the other assists.

Drew Moseley (‘02/St. Louis, MO) handled 38 of 44 shots in goal for the Ducks who were outshot by a margin of 44-17.

The team hit the road after the game for Saturday and Sunday games in Blaine, MN against the Minnesota Moose to wrap up the team’s final three-game weekend of the season.

More tough lessons for Ducks in Minnesota

By Jim den Hollander

Editor/Publisher

Saukhockey.info

The Dells Ducks junior hockey team hit the ice for the first time in three weeks with a three-game weekend Jan. 28-30.

After a pair of tough losses on the road against the USPHL Midwest-West Division’s top entry, the Ducks returned home Sunday afternoon to wrap it up with a narrow 3-2 loss to the visiting Steele County Blades.

Sunday’s game went past chippy, teams combining for more than 70 minutes in the sin bin – more than half of those in the third period.

The Ducks spent a large part of the third period shorthanded. The good news for the Ducks was it was able to successfully kill every second of the infractions in the final period and the bad news was it left no time for the team to mount a counterattack to tie the score.

There was no scoring in the third and the Ducks saw a 2-1 lead after a period taken away with two unanswered goals for the Blades in the middle 20.

Jacob Cartland (‘02/Mukwonago, WI) opened the scoring for the Ducks with a shorthanded tally after taking a feed from Justin Green (‘01/Fort Worth, TX) 8:01 into the contest but the Blades struck back less than a minute later on the same powerplay. Cartland’s goal was his 11^th of the season.

Kai Neumaier (‘03/St. Charles, IL) scored on a solo effort with 4:35 to play in the opening period to give the Ducks a lead at the break.

Blades scored before the end of the opening minute of the middle period to knot the score and fired the game winner 6:24 from the end of the frame. The tying goal was a shorthanded effort for Seva Bannikov (‘01/Minsk, Belarus) and the game winner came from Jake Miltko (‘03/Colorado Springs, CO).

Once again, Ducks’ goaltender Drew Moseley (‘02/St. Louis, MO) stepped up in a huge way, stopping all but three of 60 shots faced in goal for the Ducks.

Ducks 2, 3 @ Blue Ox 15, 9

The Blue Ox showed the Ducks on Friday and Saturday nights why they are not only the leaders in the Midwest-West Division but a legit threat at capturing the League’s National Championship in March.

The Ducks opened and closed the scoring in the opening period Friday but in between was five Blue Ox markers, the first three coming together in a span of 53 seconds.

That was the story of the two-game set as the Blue Ox frequently scored in bunches. With a number of new faces in the lineup, it was a tough assignment trying to work the chemistry in a game situation against a team that turned nearly every Ducks’ miscue into a goal.

Cartland started a solid weekend of play with the Ducks’ first goal, the other Ducks’ goal scored by Samuel Soltes (‘04/Trnava, Slovakia) in his first game in North America. Defenseman Gage Senio (‘04/Red Deer, AB) had an assist on both Ducks goals.

Saturday’s game saw a Ducks team determined to keep the game closer and they were successful through the first half of the game.

Down 2-0 after a period, the team went to work and pulled even with goals from Luca Maislin (‘03/Montreal, QC), his third in four games with the team since being acquired from the Florida Eels and defenseman Luke Taylor (‘04/Chandler, AZ).

Assists came from Cartland giving him a point in all three games and Caden Glamkowski (‘04/St. Charles, IL).

The tying goal came three minutes into the second period and stayed in place until the Ox fired four in the final seven minutes of the period and added three more in the third.

The Ducks could take the first two games in stride. Although the first game was its most lopsided loss of the season to date, it chalked up to learning against a solid team that has returned a huge number of players from last season’s team that reached the National Championship tournament.

The loss to the Blades was tough to take, Ducks facing some adversity in the contest with some tough calls on the ice.

They get an immediate shot at redemption though as the team kicks off another three-game weekend with a trip to the Four Seasons Center in Owatonna, MN to play the same Blades on Friday night (Feb. 4). Following that, the team will head north to Blaine for Saturday and Sunday matches against the Minnesota Moose.

The Ducks have eight games remaining in regular season play. This weekend will wrap up its season series with the Moose, leaving two-game weekends in both Wisconsin Rapids and Hudson before wrapping up the campaign on home ice against the Blades Feb. 27.

Below are interviews done before weekend series. For some reason, the preview story and photos did not upload.

Despite losses, bolstered lineup improves Ducks

By Jim den Hollander

Editor/Publisher

Saukhockey.info

The Dells Ducks returned from the Christmas Break and returned to the USPHL Premier Midwest-West regular season with a new sandpaper look.

Unfortunately, with several new players in the lineup, communication was off a bit, but the improvement was evident in a pair of games against the Minnesota Mullets, a team that has had the Ducks’ number in recent seasons.

The Mullets dominated the second half of what started out as a close game Friday, taking a 9-2 win in the opener at the Lake Delton Ice Arena. In the second game it was the Ducks rallying late but ultimately falling short by a 5-3 score.

The Mullets collected more than 50 shots on goal on both nights, but the Ducks trimmed the total by 15 – from 69 to 54 in the second game while putting 27 of their own at Mullets’ goal, a solid total against a team in the Midwest-West.

Mullets 9 @ Ducks 2

The visitors dominated the opening minutes Friday, jumping into a 10-0 lead on the shot clock, but a disciplined Ducks team took advantage of three powerplay opportunities to cut the margin to 21-15 by the end of the opening 20.

Mullets scored first, but defenseman Drake Johnson (‘01/Grand Rapids, MI) sank his first as a Duck 10-seconds from the first period buzzer and teams were even at 1-1 heading to the second.

Unfortunately, the Mullets snatched the momentum away in the middle frame with four unanswered goals and two more in the first two minutes of the third to widen the gap to 7-1. Luca Maislin (‘03/Montreal, QC), playing his first game with the Ducks, scored the game’s second goal with set ups for Johnson and team captain Bryce Jacobsen (‘02/DeForest, WI).

Between them, goaltenders Anthony Falzone (‘03/St. Charles, IL) and Drew Moseley (‘02/St. Louis, MO) kicked out 60 shots. Falzone turned in a heroic effort in the first period stopping all but one of 21.

Mullets 5 @ Ducks 3

The Saturday game started with a similar barrage from the Mullets but once again the Ducks played a more even second half of the opening period, the Mullets carrying a 1-0 lead into the second after a 20-10 edge on the shot counter.

The second period saw the Mullets pull away again with four goals, Maislin pulling one back with a well placed shot from a tough angle.

The most promising sign came in the final 20 as the Ducks battled both figuratively and literally through a physical period with another goal by Jayden Tkaczuk (‘02/Channahon, IL) and another from Caden Glamkowski (‘04/St. Charles, IL) with a little under two minutes to go, making for an interesting final few minutes. Assists came from defenders Gage Senio (‘04/Red Deer, AB) and Johnson.

Moseley turned in another 49-save effort for a Ducks team that showed improvement not just from one game to the next, but one period to the next.

Boasting a full lineup for the first time, the Ducks enter its longest downtime of the season, allowing plenty of practices for players to get used to each other. Also, a few more new faces will be added in the days ahead making players compete not just for ice time, but starting spots in the lineup.

The team will be out of action until a busy weekend Jan. 28-30, starting with a pair in Coon Rapids, MN against the Division leading Minnesota Blue Ox followed by the penultimate home game of the campaign, Jan. 30 against the Steele County Blades.

DUCK PRINTS – The Ducks have 11 games remaining in the regular season, all against Midwest-West Division’s top five teams as they have now wrapped up against the seventh place Rum River Mallards and sixth place Mullets.

The Mullets swept a five-game series with the Ducks and have won the past nine against the Ducks, dating back to a 5-4 road win for the Ducks on Jan. 26, 2020.

Caden Glamkowski scored a goal in Saturday’s game, giving him 28 on the season, moving him into a tie for fourth best single season total with Sherman Mowery and Jake Stima. The next two ahead of him are both Ian Wood – with 34 in 2014-15 and 36 the previous season. The all-time leader is Aidan Verbeke with 37 in 2011-12, the Ducks premiere season.

Jayden Tkaczuk also picked up a couple points on the weekend, pushing his career total to 54 (22g, 32a) in two seasons so far. He sits 16^th all time on a list of more than 200 players, six points behind Reedsburg native Sean Teske who collected 60 points (16g, 44a) in 94 games with the Ducks. Heading into the weekend, Tkaczuk was even with Jason Heard who played with the Ducks on the weekend as well.

Tough homestretch but good future for Ducks

By Jim den Hollander

Editor/Publisher

Saukhockey.info

The Dells Ducks are hoping some solid play at the annual Chicago Showcase can carry over into the final 13 games of the USPHL regular season, beginning with a pair on home ice this weekend against the Minnesota Mullets.

The Mullets, coached by Chris Walby who has Sauk County hockey connections, originally from the Lodi area, but playing his youth hockey in Sauk Prairie, also turned in a nice performance in Chicago and both teams are looking to keep their progress rolling into the new year.

The Ducks currently sit eighth in the eight-team Midwest-West and currently trail seventh place Rum River Mallards by 11 points, so climbing in the standings would be a longshot, but team morale is high with the addition of several new players (see video) and this team is clearly not done fighting.

The Mullets won three of four in Chicago and that builds to 4 of five when considering the team’s 3-1 win against the Wisconsin Rapids Riverkings on Dec. 11. Overall, the Mullets are sixth in the division with a 12-14-1-0 record, but the recent wins have the team in a position to move higher and home ice in the first round of playoffs is not out of the question.

For the Ducks, build has been slow, but there are a number of benchmarks the team could set in the final 13 games of the season.

TEAM

As a team, the Ducks have already collected four wins, one more than last season and points-wise, the nine points is also one more than last year. But the team has shown a marked improvement in almost every area.

The Ducks have scored 72 goals this season which is already seven more than last year with 13 games to play. Last season the team allowed 365 goals and the way the team is playing currently (225 GAG), they will likely finish under 300 goals against this year.

The 386 Penalty minutes is third highest in the division, but only a fraction more than half of the 768 it collected a year ago.

INDIVIDUALS

A year ago, Jaden Tkaczuk led the team in scoring with 19 points. This season, that would not rank him in the top four as Caden Glamkowski (27g, 19a) leads the way now with 46 points, and on a pace to perhaps break some longstanding team records.

In the Ducks’ opening season, Aidan Verbeke led the team with 37 goals and 76 points in 2011-12. Both records are still intact today, Ian Wood getting within one after a 36-goal 2013-14 season.

The 27 for Glamkowski so far leaves his 10 behind Verbeke’s mark with 13 games to play. If he doesn’t score another goal, the ‘04 from St. Charles, IL will have the sixth highest total. His next goal will move him into a tie for fourth with Sherman Mowery and Jake Stima.

Glamkowski is also in a tie for 15^th with his 46 points, a total also reached by David Kaplan in 2015-16.

Tkaczuk has collected 52 points (21g, 31a) in his two seasons with the Ducks so far, ranking him in a tie with Jason Heard as the team’s 16^th leading scorer all time and Glamkowski sits 22^nd. Both will make their way up that list if they can continue to produce in home stretch.

Perhaps most impressive is Glamkowski’s points per game which this season is at 1.533. That ranks him fourth highest all time behind Verbeke (1.583), Nick Albergo (1.600) and Connor Rickabus (2.00). The leader came up with 12 assists in six games played, so that record might not be beatable, but Glamkowski is on an awesome pace.

If age is considered, Glamkowski’s goals and points totals are the best by a 17-year-old. He is already three points past Billy Warren who collected 43 as a linemate to Verbeke in that first season. His 27 goals are by far the best by a 17-year-old, the next best total 19, also by Billy Warren.

Go down one year and defenseman Jack Kopfstein will wrap up his season tied for the best season as a 16-year-old. The Vista, CA defenseman has put up three goals and a dozen assists for 15 points. That matches the five goals and 10 assists for Jacob Cameron of Oregon, WI in 2017-18. Kopfstein will unfortunately not be able to build on that as a collarbone injury suffered in Chicago has brought his season to a premature end.

There are currently three 16-year-olds playing for the Ducks, Zach Windom and Oliver Cabala joining Kopfstein while two others – Jace Weimer and Sam Bachman have suited up at different times on an interim basis.

That is five out of 15 players that have played for the Ducks as 16-year-olds over the past 11 seasons. Current Ducks Seth Stoutenburg and Thomas Howell also played as 16-year-olds with the Ducks.

All these stats show while overall, there might be some reasons to grumble as the Ducks have been in rebuild mode 2.0 and 3.0 over the past five seasons, this young team is moving in the right direction.

The future looks good in the Duck Pond.

Ducks claim win at Showcase finale

By Jim den Hollander

Editor/Publisher

Saukhockey.info

After a pair of hard-fought narrow defeats, the Dells Ducks closed out USPHL Premier play at the annual Chicago Showcase tournament with a lopsided defeat followed by its fourth win of the season.

The Columbus Mavericks from the Great Lakes Division were simply too tough for the Ducks, playing without the services of young defender Jack Kopfstein and goaltender Anthony Falzone, both injured in the earlier matches and joining Kai Neumaier who went to the sidelines a few weeks earlier. The end result was a 10-1 win for the Mavs.

But the team bounced back in its final game, collecting a 5-4 margin against the Wooster Oilers, also from the Great Lakes Division.

The game against the Mavericks was the second of the day Friday (Dec. 17) after an impressive but ultimately unsuccessful 6-5 loss to the Detroit Fighting Irish earlier in the day. On Thursday the team rallied back from a 5-1 deficit before falling in overtime against the Decatur Blaze 6-5.

Ducks 1 Mavericks 10

The Mavericks currently sit third in the Great Lakes Division and strengthened their position with four unanswered first period goals, widening the gap to 6-1 in the second before piling on four more down the stretch.

Caden Glamkowski (‘04/St. Charles, IL) scored the lone goal, making it a 4-1 game early in the second period with his seventh goal of the weekend and 25^th of the season, from Jayden Tkaczuk (‘02/Channahon, IL).

Anthony Falzone and William Carney were peppered with a total of 54 Mavericks’ shots and the Ducks managed just 19 at the other end of the pond.

The game was costly with the injury to Falzone as well as the loss of Bryce Jacobson, forced to sit out the final game of the weekend after a fight.

Ducks 6 Oilers 5

The Ducks and Oilers met for the second time after squaring off at an east coast Showcase event in November. The Ducks won that one 9-2. This one ended up much closer, but the Ducks seemed in control from start to finish, scoring first and carrying a 3-1 lead out of the opening period.

The Oilers held a 3-2 edge through the middle period, closing the game to 5-4 and the Ducks restored its two-goal cushion near the halfway mark of the third before the Oilers made the final 2:37 interesting getting within one shot again.

Glamkowski scored two more goals for the Ducks, matched by Tkaczuk and others came from Seth Stoutenburg (‘03/Roseville, MN) and Jace Weimer (‘05).

The Ducks outshot the Oilers 39-23, snapping a nine-game losing streak and boosting its overall record this season to 4-26-1, one more win than the team collected in 2020-21.

The Ducks players scattered following the Wooster break, returning to their respective hometowns for the Christmas Break. Players will arrive back in town in early January and begin preparations for its final 13 games, starting on home ice with a pair of games against the Minnesota Mullets Jan. 7-8.

Ducks so close to big wins at Chicago Showcase

By Jim den Hollander

Editor/Publisher

Saukhockey.info

Two games into a four-game weekend at the annual Chicago Showcase tournament, the Ducks turned in two amazing efforts, but have just a single point to show for it.

After a 6-5 overtime loss against the Decatur Blaze Thursday, a late goal lifted the Detroit Fighting Irish to a 6-5 regulation win in a crazy contest.

The news became much worse as a broken collar bone for ‘05 defender Jack Kopfstein could sideline him as long as the remainder of the regular season.

That came in a wild gritty effort as reinforcements have resulted in not only a tougher, more resilient Ducks team but a team that can come up some big plays in the late minutes of the game.

Dells Ducks 5 Decatur Blaze 6

Against the Decatur Blaze on Thursday night, it was the Blaze grabbing control with three goals in less than three minutes in the first period adding another in the middle frame to carry a 4-1 lead into the final 17-minute segment.

The lone Ducks’ goal at that point belonged to Bryce Jacobsen (‘02/DeForest, WI) with an assist to Ryan Parkin, suiting up for the Ducks this weekend.

The Blaze widened the mark to 5-1 in the third before the Ducks went to work.

Caden Glamkowski (‘04/St. Charles, IL) kicked off another awesome weekend with the second goal from Gage Senio (‘04/Red Deer, AB) and Jacob Cartland (‘02/Mukwonago, WI). There was just 7:45 to play then so making it a three-goal cushion didn’t seem like an important goal.

But Senio hit the twine, from Seth Stoutenburg (‘03/Roseville, MN) about two minutes later and Glamkowski made it a one-goal game from Braedon Keel (‘03/Sylvania, Ohio) with 2:46 to go. Jacobsen’s second of the contest, from Glamkowski completed the comeback, but an overtime goal for the Blaze gave the team a not so happy ending.

Dells Ducks 5 Detroit Fighting Irish 6

Facing the Irish in an early game and its first of a pair on Friday, the Ducks were facing a team that manhandled them by a wide margin in a couple pre-season tests in August.

It appeared the same result could be coming when the Irish owned a 2-0 lead 7:34 into the game, but goals by Tkaczuk and Glamkowski evened the score by he end of the opening period. Glamkowski also had an assist along with Adam Chaudhri (‘04/Allen, TX) and Thomas Howell (‘04/Gilmer, TX).

Teams traded another pair each in the second, both Ducks goals fired by Glamkowski with help from Tkaczuk and Johnson.

Ducks rallied back to tie the game again, Glamkowski adding another with 2:41 to play, from Tkaczuk, but the Irish sank one more just over a minute later to snatch the win.

Ducks are scheduled to play again today (Friday, Dec. 17) against the Columbus Mavericks at 4:40 p.m. and will wrap up its pre-Christmas schedule Saturday at 2:20 p.m. against the Wooster Oilers.

Ducks riding momentum into Chicago Showcase

By Jim den Hollander

Editor/Publisher

Saukhockey.info

Coming off a promising albeit unsuccessful game on home ice this past Thursday, the Dells Ducks hit the Christmas Break rolling into the Windy City, the site of last season’s highlight.

A winless Ducks team headed to Chicago for last season’s Showcase event and picked up two of its three wins on the season.

This season, the Ducks have already collected three wins and enter a four-games in three-days stretch that once again could vault them into a positive post-Christmas stretch.

Also, the team once again finds itself bolstered entering the tournament with additions on both the blue line and up front.

First, a look back at last Thursday:

Drew Moseley has turned in some solid performances for the Ducks this season, but his 63-save performance against a potent Wisconsin Rapids Riverkings team might have been his best so far, despite a 6-1 loss.

Riverkings hit the board first, but Caden Glamkowski (‘04/St. Charles, IL) fired his 18^th of the season to knot it up with 6:35 to play in the opening period with help from Jayden Tkaczuk (‘02/Channahon, IL) and Thomas Howell (‘04/Gilmer, TX).

The visiting Riverkings snatched the momentum back though, firing a shorthanded goal just over two minutes later to carry a 2-1 cushion out of the opening 20. The Riverkings held a massive 20-5 edge in shots through the frame.

Riverkings turned the pressure up a notch with 26 second-period shots, but Moseley held strong until the visitors finally broke through for two in the final five minutes of the session. Another pair in the third, including one 14 seconds before the final buzzer widened the gap to 6-1.

The Riverkings lead the Midwest-West Division and are a good bet to go a long way this season and the Ducks, simply not at the same point in their progress, have played them bravely and without fear, especially in this contest.

Since that game, the Ducks have added three players including most recently Drake Johnson (‘02/Kalamazoo, MI) who completed his first semester at Aquinas College and got the itch to return to juniors to play hockey after acting as the manager of the school’s hockey club. Also, back for the tournament is Dillon Collings (‘02/Golden, CO), a regular last season who also has moved on to attend school but is making his second visit to the Ducks this season while on a break from school.

Also bolstering the defense is Oliver Cabala, the team’s third ‘05 addition, from Kezmarok, Slovakia.

Alex Grove (‘02/Waldorf, MD) has been with the team for a couple weeks as well, acquired from Hudson, but he is currently out of action due to concussion protocols. Grove will be a good addition to the team’s forward group after the Christmas break.

The Ducks will begin play at the Chicago tournament Thursday at 1:10 p.m. against the Decatur Blaze from the Midwest-East Division, then return to play twice on Friday, at 8 a.m. against the Detroit Fighting Irish, another Midwest-East team they defeated in Chicago last season, but lost to in pre-season matches in August and at 4:40 p.m. against the Columbus Mavericks, a team from the Great Lakes Division they have never played before.

On Saturday, the team will wrap up the pre-Christmas portion of its schedule with a rematch against the Wooster Oilers from the Great Lakes Division at 2:20 p.m. The Ducks met the Oilers as the Islanders HC tournament in Massachusetts 9-3 on Nov. 19.