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Hopper, Wiley star as Express end Blizzard's 13-game unbeaten streak

November 12, 2005 - North American Hockey League (NAHL)
Owatonna Express News Release


OWATONNA, MINN - Nick Hopper (Culver City, CA) has given the Southern Minnesota Express plenty to celebrate since arriving to tend goal for the NAHL expansion team. Saturday night, it was Hopper's turn to do the celebrating as he earned his first shutout of the season, a 3-0 win over the Alexandria Blizzard. The first shutout in franchise history also put a halt to the Blizzard's 13-game unbeaten streak. "He was there when we needed him, that's for sure," Express Coach Pat Cullen said of his star goalie. "He's played well for us but this is the best I've seen him play."

At the other end of the ice, it was Jason Wiley (Bloomington, MN) who emerged as the star. From the time he laid a monster bodycheck on the Blizzard's leading scorer, Dan Swanson, midway through the second period, Wiley was on fire. He hit anything that moved and that aggressiveness paid off in multiple scoring opportunities. Wiley cashed in at 7:46 of the second period with his 8th goal of the season. Wiley scored again at 4:45 of the third, this time with the man advantage on a setup from Jeff Carlson and Alex Coles. He nearly completed the hat trick late in the third with Alexandria goalie Joe Calvi on the bench in favor of an extra attacker but the puck slid just wide of the net. Just seconds later Carlson scored from center ice to sew up the win. "When Jason is the meanest guy on the ice he is effective," Cullen said of Wiley. "He scored a couple of very big goals for us."

The Express, who lead the NAHL in shots per game, again posted 40 shots on goal while giving up just 22. Southern Minnesota's aggressiveness - missing in the first period - was the difference over the last 40 minutes including Brian Schack's one-sided victory over Rylan Gagliardi in a second-period brawl. "We have to play physical. That's the recipe for success with this team is to really skate and to play physical," Cullen said. "Tonight we did both."

The 10-7-2 Express moved into a third place tie with North Iowa in the Central Division. Southern Minnesota is 7-1-1 since Hopper's arrival. The Express host the Fargo-Moorhead Jets Sunday at 5:05 p.m. The Jets were 3-2 winners over North Iowa Saturday night in a shootout, giving F-M a two-game sweep in their series with the Outlaws.



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