Bounce back weekend for TW in Elite league play

By Jim den Hollander

Editor/PublisherTw

Saukhockey.info

Team Wisconsin 18U returned to New Hope, MN for its second weekend of Upper Midwest High School Elite Hockey League play and found more success this time around.

After opening league play with two losses and a tie the previous weekend, TW hit the win column with a 4-3 win against SIT Mutual Funds in its first of two games Sunday, then took a step forward against Kowalski’s later the same day battling to a 2-2 draw against the same team it fell 7-6 against the previous weekend.

Wrapping up the weekend, Team Wisconsin downed Twin Cities Orthopedics 5-2, again a step forward from a 4-4 tie the previous weekend.

Team Wisconsin 4 SIT Mutual Funds 3

Down 2-0 after a period, TW responded with four unanswered middle period goals, then limited its opponent to one in the third, scored just 74 seconds from the final buzzer.

Dayne Deanovich (Junior – St. Mary’s Springs Ledgers) and Josh Austin (Senior – St. Mary’s Springs Ledgers) scored two each to place the Team Wisconsin attack.

Team Wisconsin 2 Kowalski’s 2

The second game of the day saw TW grab control early with a pair of unanswered first period goals, but Kowalskis struck back for one in the second and tied the game 6:50 into the final frame.

Deanovich fired his third of the day to open the scoring and the other came from Luke Lindsay (Senior – Eau Claire Memorial)

Team Wisconsin 5 Twin Cities Orthopedics 2

The offense started slowly in this one, team playing through a scoreless first period and both teams firing one in the middle period.

TW fired a pair in the first 12 minutes of the third to grab control but didn’t have the result assured until adding two more in the game’s final minute.

Kade Smigaj (Junior – SPASH Panthers); Hunter Bill (Junior – Notre Dame Academy Tritons); JJ Wiebusch (Senior – Edgewood Crusaders); Cody Menzel (Senior – Edgewood Crusaders) and Callan Budinger (Senior – Notre Dame Academy Tritons) scored the goals for Team Wisconsin.

Erik Peterson, a Sauk Prairie Eagles senior, didn’t hit the score sheet, but was nonetheless a contributor for Team Wisconsin.

With the weekend results, Team Wisconsin sits at 2-2-2 and fifth in the 10-team league standings.

Team Wisconsin will get a chance to play with home state advantage this weekend with four games at Chippewa Falls Ice Arena, but the opposition will be tough, beginning with a pair against MAP South Hockey, the current league leaders with a record of 5-1-1.

Wrapping up a busy weekend will be Saturday evening/Sunday morning contests against Shattuck St. Mary’s who enter the weekend with a 2-1 league record.

Team Wisconsin U-18s off to hot start

By Jim den Hollander

Editor/Publisher

Saukhockey.info

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.

Jets top Bobcats in all-Wisconsin National final

By Jim den Hollander

Publisher/Editor

Saukhockey.info

Two of 16 teams that began play in the 2021 Chipotle USA Hockey Tier II 3A National Championship tournament in Green Bay were from the host state. On Monday morning, they were the only teams left standing.

A quick start for the Janesville Jets 18U squad was close to nullified in a frantic third period rally by the Green Bay Gamblers but in the end the Jets held on for a 3-2 edge to grab the gold plate and pennant that signifies the USA Hockey Champions.

Janesville 18U Jets celebrate winning the 2021 Chipotle USA Hockey Tier II 18U 3A National Championship in the traditional way.

Both teams headed into the contest with matching 5-0 records showing themselves as the class of the field talentwise and they matched it with class in the presentations, many of the players familiar with each other from varsity high school battles.

The Bobcats were clearly disappointed but smiles and hugs were common as players from both teams shook hands with the opposite team after accepting their respective medals. After the medals and plates – silver to the Bobcats and gold to the Jet – and medals were presented, the teams gathered at the presentation table for what seems a rare double-team photo.

Janesville Jets 3 Green Bay Bobcats 2

The clash of titans matched a Bobcats team that relied heavily on goaltender Lincoln Simons (’04 sophomore Ashwaubenon). Not that the team couldn’t come up with key goals when called on – Grady Coppo (’03 Neenah-Hortonville-Menasha) and Dayne Deanovich (’03 junior Fond du Lac Springs) both among the tournament’s top five points collectors heading into the championship game.

Meanwhile the Jets also had solid goaltending – Ian Hedican (’02 Senior Madison West) and John (Jack) Schroeder (’03 University School) sharing a shutout in the opening contest and splitting the work throughout the weekend. The best weapon for the Jets seemed to be that it could generate a goal whenever it needed one, as shown against the Minnesota Moose when it fought back from five single-goal deficits and in the quarterfinals when it battled back from a 4-1 deficit in the third period against Cheektowaga Warriors from New York. Heading into the final, Isaac Frenette (’02 senior Chippewa Falls) led all scorers with 11 points, one more than teammate Boone Mathison (’02 senior Tomah).

After being presented with the plate, medals and pennant, Janesville Jets players head across the ice to celebrate with friends and family.

Both teams battled and left every ounce of what they had on the ice on Monday, the Jets grabbing early control when Mason Manglitz (’02 senior Onalaska) one timed a feed from Mathison

Jets carried the 1-0 cushion into the middle frame and widened the gap 39 seconds in as Frenette gathered in a clearing attempt, then skated in and buried a shot just under the bar on the far side over the shoulder of Simons who seemed to have the angle well covered.

Some solid forechecking by Danny Amberg (’03 Tomah) behind the Bobcat’s goal. He backhanded a pass in front to Jordan Degaetano (’03 senior Onalaska) who quickly flipped it into the top right corner just 2:42 later to put the Jets up 3-0.

Trevor Slaght (#21) gets his chance to hold the Golden Plate after a 3-2 win for the Janesville Jets. It was a bittersweet afternoon for Trevor Slaght who was in easily the biggest game of his live, but unfortunately was limited to the bench after a lower body injury suffered in the first period.

That lead held up until the final period the Bobcats finally pushing one past Hedican out of a flurry on top of the blue paint with 11:16 to play in the contest. Kole Altergott (’03 Ashwaubenon) jammed it home for the goal with assists for Cooper Routheau (’03 Ashwaubenon) and Tanner Newton (’03 De Pere).

The second goal came with Simons on the bench in favor of an extra attacker as Alex Freund (’02 Senior Neenah-Hortonville-Menasha) banked a shot from beside the goal off the pad of Hedican to get the host squad within a shot.

Jets held off the last frantic attempts for the Bobcats and finally got a chance to celebrate when the buzzer sounded.

Slaght a National Champion

Included in that celebration was Trevor Slaght, an ’03 junior from Wisconsin Dells and a member of the RWD varsity hockey team. Slaght logged a regular shift in the previous five contests with the Jets and scored a goal in an earlier game, but suffered some kind of leg injury in the opening period. He was helped off the ice and tried to return later. He was on the ice for one of the second period goals but fell again right after and spent the rest of the game on the bench. He was clearly in some discomfort after the match.

Jets, Cats open with wins at Chipotle USA Hockey Nationals

By Jim den Hollander

Editor/Publisher

Saukhockey.info

A pair of Wisconsin-based teams made up primarily of junior and senior varsity players both had a successful opening to the 2021 Chipotle USA Hockey Youth Tier II 18U National Championship tournament in Green Bay Thursday (April 29) afternoon.

Of the 32 teams that opened play Thursday, half are in the 3A Division including both the Janesville Jets and Green Bay Bobcats 18U teams.

The opened at the same time at the Cornerstone Ice Arena in Green Bay, the Jets earning a 4-0 shutout win against the Pittsburgh Predators in the Resch Olympic Pavilion while the Bobcats earned a Hilliard/Weyers Arena. Teams are playing in all three ice surfaces there as well as the De Pere Ice Arena.

Janesville Jets 4 Pittsburgh Predators 0

Isaac Frenette, an ‘02 senior at Chippewa Falls opened the scoring for the Jets and added a set ups on a pair of middle period markers scored by Mason Manglitz (’02 senior, Onalaska) and Calvin Grass (’03 senior Fond du Lac Springs) at the Resch Olympic Pavilion.

The final nail came from Cade Janecke an ’02 senior from Monroe who also played a couple games at the end of the season with the Oregon Tradesmen of the NA3HL.

Goaltenders John Schroeder (’03 University School) and Ian Hedican (’02 Madison West) split the work in goal, sharing a 21-save shutout as the Jets outshot the Preds by a 38-21 margin. The Jets keepers both made some impressive stops, in particular Hedican at the start of the third period as the Predators followed the game’s only intermission with some inspired play in the opening minutes looking for a goal that would vault them back into the contest.

Hedican made the early saves and an early goal, although disallowed shifted momentum back in the Jets’ favor as they went on to outshoot the Preds 17-10 through the final 17 minutes.

The Jets are one of four teams in the Olympic Division and will play its second round-robin game against the Minnesota Moose at 12:15 p.m. Friday. The Moose also won its first contest, 7-2 against the Igloo Jaguars from New Jersey. This game will be played in the Hilliard/Weyers Arena.

Green Bay Bobcats 2 Team Ohio 1

The host Cats rallied back from a 1-0 first period deficit at the Hilliard Weyers Arena thanks in part to a standout effort between the pipes from Lincoln Simons (’04 Ashwaubenon) who handled 31 of 32 shots against, including everything he saw after Team Ohio hit the mesh 14 seconds into the contest.

Teig Dreisen (’03 Ashwaubenon) evened the score with his goal 6:22 into the middle period from Thoms Vandelist from De Pere.

Teams were even at the second period break and the Bobcats captured its first and only lead 5:04 into the final 17-minute session as Dayne Deanovich (’03 Fond du Lac Springs) sank the game winner from Grady Coppo from De Pere and Cooper Routheau from Green Bay.

The Bobcats hope to carry the momentum from its comeback win into its second round-robin contest in the USA Division at 2:30 p.m. Friday at the Hilliard/Weyers rink against the Cheektowaga Rec Hockey team from New York.

Round-robin matches will wrap up Saturday with half the field eliminated there. The top two teams in each of the four divisions will return to play Quarterfinals and semis Sunday and the National Championship will be decided at 11:15 a.m. Monday.

Anyone who can’t make it to Green Bay can follow the action on HockeyTV. Also, for more information go to http://www.nationals.usahockey.com and follow the links for the Tier II 18U Nationals.