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Stars Stuffed, 5-2

November 25, 2009 - North American Hockey League (NAHL)
Traverse City North Stars News Release


TRAVERSE CITY - Alpena's John Fritsche might not have any room left for turkey on Thursday, because he feasted on the North Stars all Wednesday night.

The IceDiggers forward scored a trio of goals, including a pair of power play tallies and a shorthanded effort, as the Traverse City North Stars' six-game win streak was snapped at Centre ICE arena by a 5-2 margin.

"You can say what you want about Alpena's record or where they are in the standings at the moment, but they compete hard," said Stars head coach/GM Anthony Palumbo. "We were not able to play at their level for 60 minutes. We may have stole a win from them the last time they were in our building and outworked us, but we got exposed tonight."

The host Stars (14-5-1) got on the board first 8:30 in, on a highlight-reel, jaw-dropper from Kyle Jean (Sault Ste. Marie, MI/TC North Stars/Lake Superior State) - who faked a slapper before weaving around Diggers netkeep Marco Wieser and depositing the puck. Garrett Thompson (Traverse City, MI/TC North Stars) assisted. But Alpena rattled off the next three goals to take a 3-1 lead into the second intermission.

Eric McLintock (Traverse City, MI/TC North Stars) took a long entry pass from Bo Jacobs (Twin Lake, MI/TC North Stars) and beat Wieser on a breakaway 9:37 into the final stanza, but Fritsche completed his hat trick less than a minute later, and the IceDiggers added an empty- netter in the final minutes to improve to 7-15-0.

"We didn't see a lot of hunger from some of our top players tonight," Palumbo added. "But it's safe to say that it's something we're going to... address when we get back to work on Friday."

Drew Strandberg (Thunder Bay, ONT/Thunder Bay SIJHL) made 16 stops in 20 chances for the North Stars, who remain three points ahead of idle, second-place Marquette in the NAHL North Division standings. Alpena was 3-for-7 on the power play, while TC went unrequited in seven power play opportunities, but Jean's eight goal of the year came shorthanded.

"We clearly lost the battle of special teams as well," Palumbo surmised. "We absolutely have to do a better job of taking advantage of those situations, and keeping them off our net when we're down."

The North Stars and IceDiggers will meet again on Saturday at Centre ICE arena before wrapping up the holiday weekend on Sunday afternoon in Alpena.

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