Jets weekly
February 4, 2008 - North American Hockey League (NAHL)
Fargo-Moorhead Jets News Release
Friday Night The Jets said hello to February by combating an eight-game losing streak with the North Iowa Outlaws to try to decrease the gap between the top and bottom of the hockey totem pole. With a home ice win still on the to-do list, the Jets needed to dig their heels into the ice in order to enter the home stretch of the season on par with everyone else. And tonight would be the night as the Outlaw guns were left on safety and were downed by the Jets 3-1.
With a flick of the wrist, Robby Phillip dropped the puck down to Jordy Trottier, but Shea Walters quickly swiped it and brought it down to the top of the right circle. This seemed to be the usual start to any Outlaw game, but North Iowa would soon find out that the Jets had a little something up their sleeves.
Losing the first two minutes off the clock and Trottier's first shot blocked, new kid on the block Kurt Weston took off on a breakaway as Andrew Harrison followed him up across the rink. Weston's pass had too much oomph behind it as the puck ricocheted off Harrison's stick and back behind the goal. That's not to say no harm was done. After the whistle at 16:31, Outlaw goalie Robby Moss traded in his broken stick for a new piece of firewood.
Fighting off penalty kills from Deitz and Schumacher, the Jets began to notice they were getting no love from the referees tonight, which made them fight even harder. But a high sticking call on the Outlaws evened up the sticks to 4 on 4 with 8:13 left on the clock. Exactly five minutes later, Justin Kirchhevel sent the puck into the net. But Kirchhevel fell down and lost his crown, and Moss, Schumacher, and Bukowski comes tumbling after. Fortunately, the puck went into the net before the men, declaring a 1-0 lead for the Jets, which continued to the end of the period.
Starting the second period with both teams down a man, but the Jets up a goal, there was an air of confidence flowing through the Jets skates and Mihulka brought the puck deep into the Outlaw zone as the time ran out from the first period's penalty and the Jets went on the first power play of the period. Facing a 0 for 6 on the Power Play, the only thing the Outlaws could look forward to was successfully killing off the penalty.
Bringing the action back into the Outlaw zone, Mihulka and Phillip spent a good deal of time greasing the crease, trying to make something go in. It didn't work for them, but it was the perfect move for Michael Schumacher as a turnover on the left side of Moss gave him an opportunity to pound the puck right into the net to double the score 2-0. Brimming with frustration, Bryant Skarda went for the Outlaw's first goal of the night, but he must have mistaken Okland for the puck as Elliot got steamrolled right outside the cage.
The shots kept on firing, but not from the Outlaw guns. At 8:30, Schumacher went for number 2 of the night and number 3 of the game, but Moss trapped the puck between his knees before the puck went into the net. Moss also received a belly blast not even a minute later from Jets' returnee Eric Galt. The third try was a charm at 5:15 as Marc Mihulka and Jordy Trottier both pitched in to buy Robby Phillip a goal gift-wrapped and tied with a bow to put a big, smiling 3 up next to the Outlaws' 0. In retaliation, Outlaw forward Bryant Skarda dropped his gloves in frustration 2 minutes later to settle the game with fists, rather than sticks, but before a punch was thrown, he was sent to the box and took Justin Kirchhevel with him.
It only seemed appropriate as the Jets started period three on goal number 3, looking forward to the possibility of a home win after all these cold months. At 15:03, after being pummeled into the goal by Ross Ring-Jarvi, Okland was furious and could only be satisfied with a 5 on 3 advantage as Ring-Jarvi went to the box in a ring of fire. It seemed as though the Jets had passed on the power play curse to the Outlaws as the eighth and ninth power play opportunities went by scoreless.
The Jets thought the game was going to be a shut out as the 2 minute mark went by, but just 2 seconds after, Max Mobley snagged the rebound off a massive save from Okland and pushed it right past Okland's outstretched arm to but the Outlaws down by 2. To try to even up the score, Moss got taken out, but it was to no avail as the Outlaws could only rattle the cage as the remaining buck thirty-nine rolled off the clock to give the Jets their first home game win since November.
No surprises here-Elliot Okland made far more saves than the number on his jersey. Solid as a rock tonight, Okland joined Michael Schumacher and Eric Galt to complete the 3 stars of the game. With another game tomorrow night against the Outlaws, the Jets can only hope to sweep them out of town with another win.
Saturday Night The Jets said hello and goodbye to the North Iowa Outlaws all in a weekend's work by holding up for a 3-2 win.
It all started in the first period when the Jets played hard yet again and the game remained scoreless for the first ten minutes until the engines flickered on. Jordy Trottier had already hammered home three quality shots on Robby Moss before making a sick head fake to go top shelf on the power-play making it 1-0. Not more than two minutes after Trottier put the Jets up it was another power-play and the never die attitude that Marc Mihulka carried into the net. The Jets would take total control over the first period and tack on another goal by Mihulka on a sweet deal of a shot increasing the lead to 3-0 after one period of intense play.
The second period opened with North Iowa short-handed on two separate occasions and they pounded the puck off of Shea Walter's stick on the top step to make it 3-1, Jets. The Jets and Outlaws would exchange blows and hard hits until Walters snagged a 4-on-3 power-play goal to pull his boys within one at 3-2. The period would feature razor sharp shots, saves and hits to close out the second but all the damage was done by North Iowa and Walters.
Round three was definitely worth the price of admission and the teams would push and pull at each other the entire way. Scraping to get a go ahead goal and scrapping to get the game knotted at 3-3, North Iowa suffered many blows on the man advantage. Elliot Okland made game saving plays to keep the Jets on top 3-2 and then a late surge on the power-play kept the Outlaws alive. A desperate attempt to save the day with Robby Moss on the bench and the extra attacker it just wasn't enough. The Jets go on to sweep a team they hadn't beat all year until this weekend and maintain solid pace with the competition ahead of them; Bismarck and Alexandria.
All in all Mihulka collected two goals and an assist, Trottier added another goal and two more assists while Mason Swenson dished out two assists as well. Okland made 26 saves and the Jets handed Moss his fifth loss of the season and his first back-to-back of the season. Next up for the Jets is a trip to Bismarck on the 7th at 7:05pm from the state capitol.
No Ground Lost In arguably the toughest division in the North American Hockey League, the Jets had to win to keep pace with Bismarck and Alexandria. Though not many points were made by the Jets this weekend they definitely have asserted themselves as playoff contenders. It was weekend much needed by the boys and I enjoyed the wins just as much from the broadcast booth!
Home Sweet Home The Jets finally won at home for the first time since early November against Marquette. Not only was the home winless streak snapped but so was the winless streak against the Outlaws which had reached eight games. The Jets return home to try and break another drought against Bismarck on the 15th and 16th of February.
Playing 60 Minutes of Hockey That had not been the case as of late in the current funk the Jets were in and this weekend set those worries aside. Now with some unfinished business taken note of, it's now go time from here on out. The Bobcats are next up for the Jets and they hold a 2-1 record on the road in their den.
Look Around the League
Alexandria vs. Marquette W 4-2 and L 6-4
Southern MN vs. Bismarck L 5-4 SO and L 4-3 OT
North American Hockey League Stories from February 4, 2008
- Jets take flight with pair of victories - NAHL
- U.S. National Under-18 Team Weekly - U.S. National Team
- Fourth annual Pros vs. Prospects charity hockey game March 21 at Dr Pepper StarCenter - Texas Tornado
- Wildcats Skate Away with 3-0 Victory - Wichita Falls Wildcats
- Jets Name Players of the Week - Fargo-Moorhead Jets
- Jets weekly - Fargo-Moorhead Jets
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