February 16, 2012
What a night of hockey here in West Michigan! All across the area teams faced off and we managed to cover the biggest game of the night. At beautiful Patterson Ice Arena, the Bucs of Grand Haven traveled to face off against our number one Huskies/Hawks of Forest Hills Northern/Eastern.
The Huskies/ Hawks had a chance to show once again they deserve to be the top team on our rankings. They didn’t disappoint as they came out firing. The Husky/Hawks began the scoring, netting their first goal in the first seven minutes of the first period. They would go on to score three more goals in the period as Chris Hollemans, Marc Anderson, and Brad Reitter all netted goals as the period wound on. Reitter’s goal was a heart breaker as his teammate banked a shot off the boards and he buried it it with 30 second remaining in the period. The Husky/Hawks defense did its job in the first as well, holding the Buccaneers to one goal with 9:13 remaining in the period. The goal was scored by Bucs Defenseman Asa Pellegrom.
The second period was much slower as the Bucs were the only team to score as they managed to get the puck past Bryce Bignall with 5:17 remaining in the period on a power play opportunity. The goal would pull Grand Haven within 2 goals and would provide the Bucs with a glimmer of hope. The period was full of neutral zone play and big hits for both teams in front of the nets as both teams desperately worked to put the puck past the opposing goaltender.
In the final period, the Bucs came out with 12 seconds remaining on a carry over power play opportunity, and took the play to the Husky/Hawks. They would remain in control for the first four minutes as Forest Hills Northern/Eastern took a while to find their skates again. The Bucs would manage to score on another power play later in the period as Austin Way would work hard in the trenches and slide the puck past a sprawling Bryce Bignall. The goal would not be enough however, as Forest Hills Eastern/Northern would score a goal of their own with ten minutes remaining to give themselves some breathing room. The goal was a beauty as Reitter circled at the blue line and found Griffin Reyelts, who buried it behind Zack Kooi. The Huskies/Hawks would get a nice break to help finish the game as Bucs’ Will VerDuin was sent to the box with 3:40 remaining in the game. This would help Forest Hills Northern Eastern keep the Bucs out of their zone and allowed them to close out the game, winning 5-3.
“In the first period we really controlled the flow of the game, limiting their shots and converting our chances, and when Grand Haven started to comeback we didn’t panic and just stuck to basics of getting the puck deep and making them skate the whole ice.” (Bryce Bignall)
With the win the Huskies/Hawks move to 17-5 and show they are a force to be reckoned with. They have won 13 of their last 14 games.
Grand Haven falls to 16-5.
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