Blackhawk skaters split pair of games last week
By Brian Nadeau
The Blackhawk hockey team won a thriller in overtime last Tuesday against the Northwest Icemen by a score of 6-5.
The Icemen are a team comprised of players from Spooner, Barron, Chetek-Weyerhaeuser, Cumberland, and Shell Lake.
The Icemen took the lead 1-0 at 5:20 of the first period. The Blackhawks tied up the score at 1-1 at 3:52 of the second period when Landon Albrightson scored with assists going to Mitchell Hurtgen and Brandon Connett.
The Icemen regained the lead a few minutes later, only to see the Blackhawks answer again, knotting the game at 2-2. Brandon Connett scored with Leo Rasmussen assisting at 7:53.
Thirty seconds later, the Blackhawks took their first lead of the game when Gavin Hessler scored, assisted by Mitchell Larson.
The Icemen wasted little time knotting the game at 3-3, scoring 40 seconds later. After a slashing penalty on the Icemen, the Blackhawks’ power play unit scored to make it 4-3, and that’s how the second period would end.
The Blackhawks would extend the lead to 5-3 midway through the third on a power play goal when Albrightson struck again, with assists being credited to Hessler and Connett. With their backs against the wall, the Icemen pulled out all the stops and scored the next two goals, tying the game at 5-5 with less than 90 seconds to play.
In overtime, the teams traded rushes and scoring chances, and with the clock ticking down and the score still tied, it appeared the game was going to end in a tie.
The Blackhawks had other ideas though. Luke Meyer scored the game-winner with 8 seconds left in overtime and the Blackhawks and their fans erupted. Assisting on the goal were Connett and Hessler.
On Thursday, the Blackhawks traveled to New Richmond to take on the Tigers, who were coming off a stinging defeat at the hands of Superior, which was a battle of two top 15 teams in the state.
The Tigers had that defeat fresh on their minds, and came out with a vengeance. On the game the Tigers outshot the Blackhawks 51-11 and controlled the action for the majority of the night.
The Blackhawks, though limited in shots, had quality scoring chances, but the New Richmond goalie was sharp on the shots he faced.
The final tally on the night was 14-0. The Blackhawks continue play this week at Somerset on Tuesday, home versus Siren on Thursday, and at Henry Sibley (MN) next Saturday.