Radke Sparks Stars' 7-1 Rout

Published on January 22, 2010 under North American Hockey League (NAHL)
Traverse City North Stars News Release


TRAVERSE CITY - On a night when No. 7 struck for the rare natural hat trick, the Traverse City North Stars whipped up a 7-1 drubbing of North Division rival Motor City on Friday at Centre ICE arena.

Dan Radke (Orinda, CA/TC North Stars/Lake Superior St.) recorded his first junior hat trick - three goals of the uninterrupted variety, no less - to spark the rout. The contest also marked the return of defenseman Chris Heineman (New Boston, MI/TC North Stars), who had missed the first 37 games of the year following off-season surgery. Heineman celebrated in style, scoring a goal and assisting on two others, while winger Eric McLintock (Traverse City, MI/TC North Stars) also had a goal and two assists.

The North Stars improved to 24-12-2, collected a fifth straight win, laid claim to an eighth win in the last nine games, and momentarily moved eight points ahead of second-place Marquette in the NAHL North standings. The Rangers led Alpena 5-3 midway through the third period on Friday at the time of this release.

After a scoreless first period, McLintock put the hosts in front 1:12 into the second. Motor City answered just 37 seconds later before Radke went on his personal twine-happy deluge. He scored at 12:04, 15:59, and again with 1:06 left in the middle frame, as the host Stars took a 4-1 lead into the second intermission. Radke has 15 points over his last 10 outings.

Heineman made it 5-1 a mere 2:19 into the final stanza, followed by Eric Rivard (Traverse City, MI/TC West HS) at 13:59. Kelin Ainsworth (Thunder Bay SIJHL/Ft. William SIJHL/Lake Superior St.) completed the drubbing with 4:48 to go.

Drew Strandberg (Thunder Bay, ONT/Thunder Bay SIJHL) started the game, but left 12:22 into the affair when a gaggle of players piled into the crease during a scrum. Chris Paliafito (Shelbyville, KY/Owatonna NAHL) brought it home from there, with the tandem combining to stop 27 of 28 shots.

A trio of North Stars - Bo Jacobs (Twin Lake, MI/TC North Stars), Nilan Nagy (Canonsburg, PA/Pittsburgh Predators U18), and Chris Salomone (Homer Glen, IL/TC North Stars) - had two assists apiece, while Rivard, Curtis Heinz (Grand Rapids, MI/Wichita Falls NAHL), Nick Shkreli (Romeo, MI/Mahoning Valley NAHL), and Taylor Burden (Carmel, IN/Indiana Ice U18) each drew an assist.

Traverse City will play host to Motor City again on Saturday night at Centre ICE arena to close out the weekend series. Face-off is slated for 7 p.m.

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North American Hockey League Stories from January 22, 2010


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