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USHL Tri-City Storm

Former Storm Players Lead College to Frozen Four

April 4, 2012 - United States Hockey League (USHL)
Tri-City Storm News Release


KEARNEY, Neb. - It's hard to believe that it took a historic NCAA Div. I men's hockey program 64 years to reach the Frozen Four.

Thursday afternoon in Tampa Bay, Fla., the Ferris State University Bulldogs will attempt something they have never done: win their first-ever National Championship.

In a surprising season that has produced many pleasant accolades for the program out of Big Rapids, Mich., six former members of the Tri-City Storm organization have played significant roles in Ferris State's remarkable season.

Defensemen Jason Binkley, Simon Denis and Brett Wysopal, along with forwards T.J. Schlueter and Dominic Panetta all play for the Bulldogs. Former No. 1 overall pick in the USHL Entry Draft - RW Justin DeMartino, who was selected by the Storm in 2009 and traded to Waterloo following the 2009 preseason - has also been a solid contributor this season.

"It speaks to the connection that Tri-City has had with Ferris State over the past few seasons," said Binkley, when asked why there are several Storm players on Ferris State's roster. "We just ended up at a great school right now and are thrilled to be playing in the Frozen Four."

Binkley, Denis and Panetta were members of the Storm last season, while Schlueter was selected by Dubuque in the USHL Expansion Draft in 2010 after playing for Tri-City in 2009-10. Schlueter would captain Dubuque to the Clark Cup Championship last season in his second and final season in the USHL.

All six former Storm members played a part in assisting Ferris State to a CCHA regular season championship with a 25-11-5 overall record. Bulldogs Head Coach Bob Daniels was named coach of the year in Division I men's hockey Wednesday to add to the list of accomplishments.

As true in most cases, champions are born through adversity, and Binkley and Denis are no strangers to that fact. Eighth-seed Bowling Green State University ousted the top-seeded Bulldogs in the CCHA playoffs four weeks ago, which was a lesson that sometimes things do not go your way.

"Obviously, we learned to not take things for granted," Binkley said. "I didn't think we took anything for granted. We outshot Bowling Green in all three games (in the playoffs). But, things just didn't go our way, and we learned that we have to execute as much as possible in the future.

"We are just happy our season wasn't over after the loss to Bowling Green, and we have this second chance in Tampa Bay to make our season even more memorable."

Denis battled through a shoulder injury that he sustained last season with the Storm and forced him to miss the final 10 weeks of the season. The injury was bad enough that it delayed his freshman season playing for the Bulldogs.

"The shoulder injury held me back at the start of the season, and I wasn't ready to start the year," said Denis about beginning his freshman season at Ferris State.

"I had to wait around and watch our team play for basically two months (this season), so that was the tough part to sit and wait around to play and gain confidence at the next level in college."

Nonetheless, the return to hockey this season for Denis was an impressive one, as he recorded 1 goal and 12 assists in only 28 games. On Jan. 23, he became the only freshman defenseman in the CCHA named defenseman of the week this season.

Denis' lone goal this season was in the first round of the NCAA Div. I tournament against Denver University and stood as the game-winning goal in a 2-1 final score.

"It was unbelievable to say the least," said Denis of his first career college goal. "To get that goal in that situation, I wouldn't say lucky, but was a pretty amazing feeling for sure."

Except for senior Wysopal, all of the former Storm players will likely play a couple more years in college. However, as history has shown, this maybe the one opportunity this core group of guys have at a Frozen Four Championship.

"It means the world and is a dream come true. A lot of players in college hockey won't get to experience what we get right now," Denis said.

"We have to take the moment in. But, at the same time, we are here to play hockey and win a championship."

Nugget/Fact Box/Breakout:

Ferris State will play Union College Thursday, April 5 at 3:30 p.m. CST on ESPN U and ESPN 3 (Free Online Broadcast). Winner of the semi-finals matchup will play the winner of University of Minnesota-Boston College on Saturday, April 7 at 6:00 p.m. on ESPN 2 and ESPN 3.

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