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Diggers top Stars in OT gunfight

November 10, 2006 - North American Hockey League (NAHL)
Traverse City North Stars News Release


ALPENA - The Traverse City North Stars pushed first-place Alpena to the brink of defeat on Friday night at Northern Lights Arena, but couldn't deliver the knockout blow and suffered a 6-5 overtime setback in the opener of a home-and-home series that will conclude Saturday night at Centre ICE arena.

"It was a heckuva game, both teams battled hard," said TC head coach Scott Gardiner. "We outplayed them for long stretches, but in the end we beat ourselves."

Traverse City (7-11-2) raced to a 2-0 lead after defenseman Kent Detlefsen scored his first two in a Stars sweater, both on the power play. Patrick Nagorsen assisted on both, with Nick Van Bokern drawing another on the second, which came at 8:58 of the second period.

Alpena evened things up in a hurry, with Justin Stadler (shorthanded, 10:05) and Nolan Craner (power play, 13:19) striking twine for the ultra-efficient Diggers' special teams. Zach Hitch answered Craner's goal with a power play marker of his own just over three minutes later, as Van Bokern and Detlefsen were credited with assists.

Once again, Alpena responded with a pair of consecutive lamplighters - Ricardo Yesue (19:44) to close the second period and Todd Rudasill (2:20) to open the third - to procure its first lead of the night, 4-3.

Mike Glaesmer broke off back-to-back goals to put the North Stars back on top with just 3:13 to play in regulation, but a bounding, knuckling shot from near center ice by Rudasill snuck past the Traverse City defense and sent the game into an extra session. Just : 59 into the overtime period, Ben Kitzmiller ended the contest with his fifth of the season.

"Funny bouncing puck and we let it in," Gardiner added. "But we had plenty of chances to put that game away and we didn't. Our special teams were good tonight, but we did give up a lot of shots in the three 5-on-3s that Alpena had. We just have to come back with the same effort tomorrow night but tighten things up a little on the penalty kill."

Nagorsen recorded the first ‘playmaker' (3 assists) in the brief history of the North Stars franchise, while Detlefsen matched the feat on the TC's very next goal, finishing with five points in just his third game with the club. Van Bokern now leads all NAHL defensemen with 16 points, and his 12 assists is also tops among league blue-liners.

Saturday's game at Centre ICE arena is set for a 7 p.m. face-off.

We thank you, our media partners, for your continued interest in Traverse City North Stars hockey. If there is anything we can do to help facilitate any aspect of your coverage, please do not hesitate to contact us. You are a valued component of North Stars hockey.

For more information, call Lance-Michael Correia at (231) 632-5047, the Traverse City North Stars office at (231) 941-9200 or visit the team's Web site at: www.traversecitynorthstars.com.



North American Hockey League Stories from November 10, 2006


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

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