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.

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.

Cyclones, Patriots spoil day for Dells Ducks

By Jim den Hollander

Editor/Publisher

Saukhockey.info

Coming off its most impressive win of the season and second win in its past three games, the Dells Ducks rolled into the middle day of action at the Islanders Hockey Club Showcase tournament at Merrimack College, North Andover, MA.

What awaited them though was an ambush from the Cincinnati Cyclones and Potomac Patriots. The level of competition was stepped up in a big way and the Ducks took a pair of losses on the chin by a combined score of 18-2.

Cyclones 10 Ducks 2

First up was another early morning contest against the Cyclones, a new team in the Great Lakes Division with a solid group of offensive weapons, including league leading scorer Drake Barnish who played three previous seasons with the Hudson Havoc.

Dells Ducks

Barnish added six more points to his total with three goals and three assists, Brendan Walk, another former Havoc player also racking up a half dozen with two goals and four helpers.

The Cyclones outshot the Ducks by a 16-6 margin in the opening period and carried a 5-1 margin in to the middle period.

Caden Glamkowski (‘04/St. Charles, IL), the Ducks’ leading scorer, fired his second of the game and 17^th of the season early in the middle period, but the final five goals all belonged to the Cyclones.

Jack Kopfstein (‘05/Vista CA) continued a four-game points streak of his own with assists on both Glamkowski goals, other help coming from Jayden Tkaczuk (02/Channahon, IL) and Lucas Taylor (‘04/Chandler, AZ).

Patriots 8 Ducks 0

The road was no easier later Saturday when the Ducks hit the ice against the Potomac Patriots.

The Patriots rolled into the contest buried in fifth and last spot in the league’s Southeast Division, a group that has laid claim to the league championship for the past half dozen seasons.

Charged up by a win against the always powerful Hampton Roads Whalers the previous weekend, the Pats rolled to a big shutout win and nearly 50 shots against the Ducks.

Despite a lopsided 13-4 edge in shots in the opening period, some standout work in goal (once again) from Drew Moseley limited the damage to a 1-0 Patriots’ lead.

Potomac put up another three in the middle period and four more down the stretch.

The Ducks, beginning the second half of the USPHL regular season with the Patriots, fell to 1-2 on the weekend and 3-20 in regular season play. The Ducks were hoping to wrap up a .500 weekend heading into Sunday and a final Showcase game against the Jersey Whalers.

Moseley backstops Ducks’ win against Rum River

By Jim den Hollander

Editor/Publisher

Saukhockey.info

When team snaps a losing streak, it is often said they have shaken a monkey off its back.

The beast perched on the shoulders of the Dells Ducks was evicted as the Ducks earned a 5-4 overtime win against the Rum River Mallards at Isanti Ice Arena against the Rum River Mallards Friday (Nov. 12) night having been there for 15 games.

After climbing off the team’s collective shoulders, he returned to his regular job, swatting at jets and helicopters from the top of the Empire State Building.

A still short-staffed Ducks team hit the road for two games in Isanti in what might seem like an easy weekend after playing three of more games in each of the previous three weekends. They will begin another four-game weekend Thursday.

The team collected its second win of the regular season, shrugging off its lack of numbers and taking the game to the same team that defeated the Ducks 13-4 at the Lake Delton Ice Arena in the opening game of the season in September.

Routinely doubled, tripled or worse on the score sheet, the Ducks battled hard Friday night and held the edge in shots for the first time in 19 games this season, holding a 35-34 margin.

The win in goal was recorded by Drew Moseley who patrolled the crease for the Mallards last season. It was his first win as a Duck and couldn’t have come on a better time.

The shots edge came when Caden Glamkowski buried his team leading 14^th goal of the season with the only shot of the overtime period, helped by Jack Kopfstein and Jayden Tkaczuk.

Both Glamkowski and Tkaczuk wrapped up the game with a goal and three helpers, Kopfstein setting up a pair. The other goals were all the first as a Duck, by Kai Neumaier (‘03/St. Charles, IL) along with Anthony Tuccitto (‘02/Inner Grove Heights, MN). Tuccito has been with the Ducks a short time and played for the Mallards last season. Defender Gage Senio (‘04/Red Deer, AB) scored the other in his first game on the Ducks blueline after starting the 2021-22 season with the Florida Eels.

Bryce Jacobsen and Thomas Howell both collected assists as well for the Ducks.

The Ducks were scheduled to stay in Isanti for a second game Saturday night and attempt to start its first winning streak of the campaign.

Second period surge for Mallards buries Ducks

By Jim den Hollander

Editor/Publisher

Saukhockey.info

The Dells Ducks renewed acquaintances with the Rum River Mallards for the first time in over a month at the Fogerty Ice House Thursday evening, but dropped a tough 8-1 decision against a squad that clearly still has its number.

The Ducks enjoyed one of its best starts of the season. Frequently finding itself chasing within the game’s opening minutes, the Mallards tough through most of the opening period until Cooper Brodzinski found a way past former Mallards’ goaltender Drew Mosely in the second half of the opening period.

While the game was still within reach after the first 17-minute period, the Mallards blew it open with five unanswered middle period markers and added another in the third before Ducks’ leading scorer, Caden Glamkowski finally managed to shatter the shutout bid of Gage Guay in the Mallards’ goal late in the final period.

The goal was the 10^th of the young season for Glamkowski and Jacob Cartland collected the lone assist.

The win was just the third of the season for the Mallards and snapped a nine-game losing streak. The Mallards, now sit at 3-8-1 on the season with all three wins coming against the Ducks.

The Ducks enter the final game of the Midwest-West Showcase Saturday with a 5:40 p.m. contest against the Minnesota Blue Ox who have already racked up a pair of wins at the weekend event.