This week on CCHA RinkRap: A rivalry sizzles in the Soo, a rookie crushes his debut, and a slump-buster for the record books.
Goaltending and Grit in the Soo
Saturday afternoon up in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan Tech coach Joe Shawhan visited with his star goalie Blake Pietila to wish him a happy 24th birthday. “There hasn’t been a shutout in the league all year long,” Shawhan informed his stopper, which was news to Pietila. A few hours later the All-American corrected the anomaly by recording his NCAA-leading 21st career shutout, turning aside 26 Lake State shots in a 1-0 victory. Despite Pietila’s supreme performance, he was overshadowed this past weekend by his goaltending counterpart Easton Hesse of Lake State.
Due to a stomach virus that rampaged through the Laker locker room, coach Damon Whitten started sophomore Hesse, his third-string netminder, for the first time all season on Friday. After defeating Tech 3-1, Whitten went against his original plan and started Hesse Saturday as well. For the weekend, Hesse stopped over 97% of the shots he faced (67 of 69), tops in the CCHA. Whitten expressed gratitude from the entire program after Friday’s win.
“What can you say? The guys love him,” Whitten said. “He got his first career win puck, got the game puck from the team, and he got the chain for the team as he leads the guys out to ring the victory bell.” Whitten singled out Hesse’s selflessness, how he served as a practice player for nearly three seasons. “He’s been a tremendous teammate, committed to making the team better, a third-string goalie playing behind guys like Seth Eisele and Ethan Langenegger. He would stay out long, he would battle, fought hard to give himself a chance. A kid like that is easy to root for.”
Hesse actually played his best game on the losing end of Saturday’s duel with superstar Pietila, Hesse faced more rubber and denied tougher chances than he did Friday. The only goal he surrendered Saturday was a bullet off the blade of Huskies’ marksman Ryland Mosley. For the second consecutive night, Hesse was the Lakers most valuable player. “I’ll be using that story for 20 years,” Whitten said Saturday.
Whitten found himself a foil for rival coach Shawhan, who angrily confronted the Laker coach on the ice at the end of Friday’s game. Shawhan spent much of Friday’s post-game calling his Huskies “soft,” while he modeled his desired behavior by going after Whitten. “Me being competitive, it doesn’t come from me,” Shawhan said, “it’s got to come from within the group. We’re not seeing that, we’re a soft team.”
Shawhan’s Huskies picked up the hint, and treated Saturday’s game like a bar-room brawl (11 penalties between the two clubs, six for roughing). “We had more bumps in the first period than we had all game Friday,” said Shawhan after Saturday’s rough-and-tumble victory. He added fuel to the Upper Peninsula rivalry when snubbed Whitten in Saturday’s handshake line, an act Whitten refused to comment on in the post-game. Only one of these teams will get home ice in the CCHA playoffs, the other will likely be their quarterfinal opponent. Stay tuned.
Geyser Spouting in Sioux Falls
This fall Ferris coach Bob Daniels was focused on helping Bulldogs top-six forward Stepan Pokorny out of his maddening goal-scoring slump, a 15-game dry spell for a guy who had popped a dozen career goals before the ten-week drought. Daniels tried everything: flipping Pokorny to a new line, tacking on minutes in the attacking zone, even getting him on the ice when opponents pulled their goalie for an extra attacker. Pokorny couldn’t even find the empty net.
It took until after the holiday break for Pokorny to finally find twine, sniping against Alaska at the Great Lakes Invitational. “I had almost forgotten what it feels like,” said Pokorny. And then came the 11-hour bus ride to Sioux Falls, as the Bulldogs opened Midco Arena against Augustana. Pokorny proceeded to crack open the history books by scoring four goals Saturday, accounting for all of Ferris State’s scoring in their 4-3 win. His last came in sudden death, a short-side dagger off the rush. “It was perfect timing for Stepan to have a five-goal weekend,” said Daniels.` “He has worked very hard on his game, good to see him rewarded,” Pokorny’s bonanza had SID’s past and present scrambling through record books. Turns out it has been nearly 30 years since a Ferris skater banged in four goals in a single game. Doug Smith turned the trick (plus one) versus Ohio State on February 19, 1994.
Loose Biscuits . . . Minnesota State goalie Alex Tracy recorded the CCHA’s second shoutout of the season Saturday—one hour after Pietila bagged his—when he blanked Northern Michigan 4-0. “He’s been lights out,” captain Sam Morton said, “It gives us a lot of confidence having him back there.” . . . Although there will be no assist recorded on the play, Morton never would have scored his league-leading 19th goal of the season without the help of Mavericks equipment man Scott Rideout. The trainer replaced Morton’s broken stick in record time during a second period power play Saturday. “I looked to the bench and I saw him flying to get it,” Morton said. “All the credit to him.” . . . Mavericks winger Zach Krajnek became a household name in Mankato last March when he scored the CCHA championship “golden goal,” an overtime winner vs Northern Michigan that propelled Minnesota State to the NCAA tournament. The junior from Eagle River, Alaska didn’t scored again until Saturday, against the same opponent, the same goalie (Beni Halasz), in the same building. “I got a fortunate bounce in my skates and I was able to beat him wide.” . . . Ferris State senior Austin McCarthy entered the history books Friday night by christening Midco Arena with its inaugural goal. It was McCarthy’s first goal of the season, second of his NCAA career . . . Lake Superior State honored the late Taffy Abel during Friday night’s game presentation in the rink that bears his name. A Sault Ste. Marie native and a member of the Ojibwe tribe, Abel’s accomplishments are auspicious: United States flag-bearer and silver medalist at the 1924 Olympic Winter Games, two-time Stanley Cup champion, first U.S.-born Native American to be an NHL regular.