St. Louis handles Stars, 8-4

Published on January 20, 2008 under North American Hockey League (NAHL)
Traverse City North Stars News Release


BOARDMAN, Oh. - Eleven players record at least a point on Sunday afternoon for St. Louis, as the defending NAHL champions cruised to an 8-4 victory over the Traverse City North Stars on the third day of four at the Phantoms Hockey Showcase in suburban Youngstown.

Eight Bandits enjoyed multiple-point outings, led by Kyle O'Kane (hat trick) and Mike Leone (four assists), while goalkeeper Mike Johnson stopped 24 of 28 shots to earn the triumph.

"It was a disheartening effort, no question about it," said dejected Stars head coach/GM Anthony Palumbo. "At times, it was downright embarrassing. We didn't play as a team today, that was pretty obvious."

St. Louis, now an NAHL-best 30-7-1, took a 2-0 lead by the 4:44 mark of the first period, when Marc Thompson (Traverse City, MI/Soo Indians AAA) logged his fifth goal of the season to cut the Stars' deficit in half. Ben Plocar (Elkhart Lake, WI/Springfield NAHL) and Kory Kaunisto (Sault Ste. Marie, MI/Waterloo USHL) drew assists.

After that, the Bandits strafed TC for five straight goals - the third coming a mere 16 seconds into the second period - before Phil Wendecker joined the rush and bagged his second marker of the season to make it a 7-2 disparity entering the second intermission.

O'Kane opened the third period with his third tally of the afternoon, but the Stars were able to control much of the third period, getting goals from Eric McLintock (Traverse City, MI/Soo Indians AAA) at 7:46 and Kyle Bonis (Lindsay, Ont./Indiana USHL) with 3:47 to play, while outshooting the Bandits 12-5 in the third.

Brandon Stephenson (Saline, MI/Victory Honda AAA) and Chris Paliafito (Shelbyville, KY/Indiana USHL) shared time in net for Traverse City (11-17-8), combining for 23 saves. The Stars were whistled for 41 minutes of infractions, while St. Louis - which connected on 3-of-7 power play chances - drew 18 minutes of box time.

"I think some of our guys may have noticed all the scouts in the building," Palumbo added. "Maybe they thought they were going to play a little selfishly and get noticed by the scouts. You can't go out and play like a bunch of individuals, and there may have been some of that going on. If you play like that, a team like St. Louis can ... take it to you."

The North Stars will close out the Showcase on Monday against the host Mahoning Valley Phantoms in a 5 p.m. affair, and head to Marquette on Thursday before welcoming the U.S. National Team Development Program's Under-17 squad to Centre ICE arena next Friday and Saturday. The U-17 series will mark the end of a run that will have featured seven games in nine days.

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North American Hockey League Stories from January 20, 2008


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