Posted on Sep 14, 2008

Granite City Lumberjacks 6 Minnesota Ice Hawks 4 An old high school coach once said, “Hockey is figure skating through a war zone.” This statement, though not understanding it at the time, finally became apparent after I witnessed the Lumberjacks skate to a hard fought victory against the Ice Hawks and a shootout loss to the Northern Lights. Almost 700 total fans had the opportunity to watch the Lumberjacks gut their way through difficult moments to capture 3 standings points. Moreover, these same aforementioned fans were able to observe an entire roster of young men set to make serious noise in the MJHL. An old familiar buzz was present amongst the spectators who saw the first and second home games. Much like figure skating, fans became eye-locked on the players waiting in anticipation for the next big part of the show. The show did go on all weekend and fans were able to get a glimpse of the bright future that lies ahead for those bearing a jersey marked in red, white, and blue. The two-game weekend would begin with the Minnesota Ice Hawks rolling into St. Cloud on Friday evening looking to play spoiler in the ‘Jacks home-opener. Each team entered the game carrying 1-0 records and a share of first place within the league and would end with the ‘Jacks taking sole possession. The first period began with a bang… a good bang. #19 Alex Naujokas would jump on the first opportunity of the game and put the Lumberjacks up 1-0 with his unassisted goal just 24 seconds in. #15 Robert Thompson would soon follow with his own goal to increase the lead to 2-0 at the 0:50 mark. #13 Shane Doerfler and #18 Tyler Wahl would be credited with the assists. The Minnesota Ice Hawks would respond to the early deficit by brigading goalie, #30 Justin Lochner, with a flurry of shots. #30 Lochner would stand strong and come up with many strong saves. After goals by #07 Tyler Sura and #16 Louis Tincher, #30 Lochner’s early strong goal tending would allow the Lumberjacks to carry a 4-0 lead into the first intermission. #07 Sura’s goal would come unassisted and at the 15:46 mark, while #16 Tincher’s goal would come at the 16:04 mark and come with assistance from #11 Zachary Borowski and #06 Carl Lindblad. The second period brought new life for the Ice Hawks and the opportunity to use fresh ice as a stepping-stone towards a possible comeback. A power play goal by #19 Jay Gorman would finally get the Hawks on the board at the 6:56 mark. The scoreboard would once again display an optimistic four-goal lead upon the arrival of #18 Wahl’s goal. #13 Doerfler and #15 Thompson would both pick up their second points of the night on #18 Wahl’s goal. Without any real success, the remaining time in the period would run out with both teams failing to capitalize on scoring chances. The Jacks’ would take to the second intermission holding a comfortable 5-1 lead. The final period would belong to Ice Hawks as they strived towards over-coming the four-goal deficit. #22 Jason Rein and #08 Danny Grady would score within the first eight minutes bringing the scoreboard to read 5 for the ‘Jacks and 3 for the Hawks. An unassisted power play goal at 11:26 by #11 Borowski would give the Lumberjacks their sixth goal of the night and the final nail in the coffin. The Hawks would manage to score a late goal at 18:11 of the period; however, the damage had already been done and the Lumberjacks would take game one of six from the defending back-to-back-to-back league champions. Sauk Rapids native, #30 Lochner, would finish the night with 39 saves for the ‘Jacks. After an exhausting and emotional victory on Friday night, the Lumberjacks took to the ice Saturday looking to extend their minor two game winning streak. Due to arena construction on Torrey, the Lumberjacks were once again forced to play on the opposite side of the Municipal Athletic Complex. Twin Cities Northern Lights 4 Granite City Lumberjacks 3 Shootout final The opening period of the game begin with both teams playing a cautious style of offensive hockey. Both the Lights and the ‘Jacks sat back in defensive mode and did not take great strengths to drive towards the net. After a few sporadic scoring chances amongst the teams, the Lights would finally break through at 11:14 to take the first lead of the game. #22 Donnie Iverson would get credit for the unassisted goal. Six minutes later, second year Lumberjacks Forward, #05 Matt Johnson, would energize the crowd by scoring his first goal of the season. #07 Tyler Sura and #12 Andrew Peterson would pick up helpers on #05 Johnson’s even strength goal. The final few minutes would tick off the clock without either team capturing any real momentum heading into intermission. The beginning of the second period would start in almost identical fashion as the opening period. Both teams would take to the ice without being able to establish any real efficient game plan. The period would be dominated with penalties and teams would be forced to shuffle line after line. The Northern Lights would finally break a tie game with their go-ahead goal at the 18:04 mark. This even strength goal would account for the only goal of the period and give the Lights’ the slimmest of leads going into the second intermission. The third period began with more optimism after the ‘Jacks opened the period with five shots in the first two minutes. Even though none of the shots were able to sneak past Lights goalie, #30 Phil Cook, the flurry of shots did get the crowd back into the game. #15 Robert Thompson’s second goal of the season at 13:46 would knot the game 2 and energize the announced crowd of almost 250. #22 Brady Borer would pick up the lone assist on the game-tying goal. #22 Borer would not stop there. He would soon pick up his own goal at 19:27 to give the ‘Jacks a 3-2 lead with just over 30 seconds remaining in the game. A quick icing call against the Lumberjacks gave the Lights an opportunity to take a time-out and draw up a last second play. The face-off would come to the right of ‘Jacks goalie, #30 Justin Lochner, and be won by the Lights’ center. The face-off win for the Lights would lead to a pretty tic-tac-toe play ending with #18 Erik Ordahl blasting a point shot past #30 Lochner. The goal would come with just 6 seconds left in the game. The game would quickly end with both teams skating to their respective benches in a 3-3 tie. Each team would be awarded a point in the standings and five minute sudden death overtime would soon begin. The Lights would outshoot the Lumberjacks 4-0 in overtime, but were still unable to end the contest by slipping one past the goal-line. The overtime session would conclude and a shootout would begin with both teams being able to choose five participants. #15 Robert Thompson would score on his attempt and quickly put the ‘Jacks up 1-0 on the shootout scoreboard; however, the Lights would respond by scoring 2 goals in the next 4 skaters to take the shootout and steal a road victory.