IceDiggers continue winning ways

Published on January 4, 2008 under North American Hockey League (NAHL)
Alpena IceDiggers News Release


Alpena MI: Share the wealth" was the Alpena IceDiggers slogan against Marquette Friday night at Northern Lights Arena.

Six different players scored for the IceDiggers in a 7-3 route of the Rangers. Alpena is 7-2-1 in its last 10 games and is playing with a confidence lacking earlier in the season.

"I talked after Christmas break with about the rookies not being rookies after the break, and veterans like (Russ) Anderson and (Erik) Peterson are making plays and taking over the game," said IceDigger coach Kenny Miller. "We are starting to figure it out."

Figuring it out has led to goals for Alpena.

Anderson had two goals and Ryan Timar, Jon Puskar, Mike DeGrazia, Jimmy McCusker and Nick Grasso each had a goal in the rout of the Rangers. Peterson led Alpena in assists with four.

"Everything is clicking," Anderson said. "Since the break we've had solid defense and offense."

Thirty-two seconds into the contest, the IceDiggers fell behind on a Mike Macari wrap-around goal, but it was Alpena that dominated the second and third periods scoring three goals in each period.

"We are peaking at the right time," Miller said. "When we play like this I'd throw us up against anyone."

After the goal, Alpena controlled the next nine minutes of the first period with Timar and Bryan Ross getting quality scoring chances.

Timar finally put Alpena on the scoreboard beating Beau Christian top shelf tying the game at 1-1.

After a Puskar double minor penalty, Marquette went up 2-1 on a redirect from the point by Aaron Pietila. Derek Grogan had the original shot and Nic Weight had the other assist.

From that point it was all IceDiggers.

Puskar tied the game on a feed from Isaac Viau more than a minute into the second period. Peterson had his second assist.

After killing off a penalty, Alpena took a 3-2 lead on a DeGrazia goal off a takeaway in the Rangers' zone from Peterson. Alpena built a two-goal lead on a power play goal from Anderson with assists going to Peterson and J. C. Gulch.

Ten seconds into the third period, McCusker gave the IceDiggers a 5-2 lead with Peterson and Viau getting the assists. Anderson added his second goal for a 6-2 lead.

Grasso scored on a blast that completed the thrashing by getting Christian pulled with more than 13 minutes remaining. Pilmore and Kerry Bence had the assists.

The Rangers added a late goal from Pietila for the 7-3 final.

Nick Graves played well in net for the IceDiggers stopping 31 shots.

The IceDiggers return to Northern Lights Arena on Sunday at 5:00PM versus the Traverse City North Stars.

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



North American Hockey League Stories from January 4, 2008


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.

OurSports Central