Stars score first shutout, 4-0
February 27, 2008 - North American Hockey League (NAHL)
Traverse City North Stars News Release
ANN ARBOR - It took 173 games, but when the final whistle sounded on Wednesday night at the Ann Arbor Ice Cube, Brandon Stephenson had given the Traverse City North Stars something the franchise had never tasted: a shutout.
Stephenson (Saline, MI/Victory Honda AAA), who hails from a few miles west of Ann Arbor, stopped all 36 shots he faced, powering the North Stars to a 4-0 whitewashing of the U.S. National Team Development Program Under-17s.
"Brandon was just phenomenal tonight," said Traverse City head coach/GM Anthony Palumbo, whose team is ablaze, having won a team- record four straight games and gone 7-1-3 in its last 11. "He was right there and in control on every shot. He played very well positionally, and was aggressive when it was warranted."
Stephenson, 3-1 in his last four starts, hadn't seen action since Feb. 1 when he suffered a lower-body injury against Alpena. He has not allowed more than two goals in a game since Jan. 20, and has held opponents to two or fewer scores in 11 of his 25 games.
Garrett Thompson (Traverse City, MI/Soo Indians AAA) got the visitors on the board first Wednesday, registering a power play tally with 2:09 to play in the opening period. Nate Urbaniak (Perrysburg, OH/ Toledo Jr B CSHL) and Harrison Niemann (Canton, MI/Omaha USHL) assisted.
Stars rearguard Phil Wendecker (Westland, MI/Livonia Churchill HS) recorded the only salvo of the second stanza - an unassisted tally that gave Traverse City a 2-0 lead 3:07 in. The two-goal differential remained for most of the second and third periods before Urbaniak broke things open with 3:09 to play, blasting home a Niemann set-up from point-blank range. Jarrod LaBelle (Bay City, MI/Flint Jr B CSHL) put a cherry on top with an unassisted empty-netter in the final seconds to make it a four-goal bulge.
"After a little bit of a sloppy stretch in the second period, I thought we settled back down and got back into our rhythm," Palumbo said. "We played some solid defensive hockey and got some timely goals again."
The North Stars improved to 18-19-11, a pulled to within four points of Marquette for the fourth and final playoff slot in the NAHL North Division. Team USA is a point up on TC, and has three games in hand. Marquette visits Centre ICE arena this weekend for a Friday-Saturday series, and the Under-17s come in for a rare Tuesday contest on March 4.
"You know, taking this 'one-game-at-a-time' approach seems to be working, so we're going to continue to go into every game that way," Palumbo explained. "We fell into the trap of looking ahead and doing the computations and permutations and that didn't do us any good. Right now, we look about as far ahead as our next shift, and I do not want to change that."
North American Hockey League Stories from February 27, 2008
- Traverse City Defeats U.S. National Under-17 Team - U.S. National Team
- Stars score first shutout, 4-0 - Traverse City North Stars
- Wildcats make playoffs - Wichita Falls Wildcats
- Bismarck Bobcats Announce Fifth Annual Youth Camp - Bismarck Bobcats
- Alpena Hits Road For Three - Alpena IceDiggers
- Rangers Tender Two More - Marquette Rangers
- Former Phantoms Enjoying Success as College Freshmen - Mahoning Valley Phantoms
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