Sports stats



Stars win sixth straight, 7-2

March 2, 2008 - North American Hockey League (NAHL)
Traverse City North Stars News Release


TRAVERSE CITY - Kyle Bonis can dish it out, and he can take it, too - to the net, that is. The Lindsay, Ont. product registered a playmaker (three assists) on Friday, then bagged his first career hat trick on Saturday at Centre ICE arena, powering the Traverse City North Stars to a 7-2 triumph over Marquette and a series sweep of the Rangers.

Bonis' cloudburst couldn't have come at a better time, as the North Stars chase the fourth and final spot in the NAHL North Division playoff race. Traverse City pulled even with the Rangers in a fourth-place tie, but the U.S. National Team Development Program is just three points behind with five games in hand. The Stars also broke the .500 mark (20-19-11) for the first time since Nov. 24, and broke the franchise record for victories in a season.

The North Stars got out of the starting blocks quickly on Saturday, sprinting to a 3-0 lead just 8:32 into the affair. Bonis opened with a power play tally at 2:33, followed by Clinton Bourbonais (Whitmore Lake, MI/Orchard Lake St. Mary's Prep) at 4:04, and Nate Urbaniak (Perrysburg, OH/Toledo Jr B CSHL) just over four minutes later. Bonis opened (10:06) and closed (19:33) the second period with goals, with a Kyle Jean (Sault Ste. Marie, MI/Marquette NAHL) marker in between at 14:26.

Chris Heineman (New Boston, MI/Honeybaked AAA) made it a 7-0 lead with an unassisted goal at 6:03 of the third before Traverse City goalkeeper Brandon Stephenson (Saline, MI/Victory Honda AAA) surrendered his first goal in more than five periods of action a minute and a half later. The Rangers poked home a keepsake goal with 1.6 seconds left in the game to make it a five-goal spread, and the Stars earned a franchise-record sixth straight victory.

"I'm a little bit speechless, to be honest," admitted Stars head coach/GM Anthony Palumbo. "We put it all together tonight: the great goaltending, great defense, and a whole bunch of goals. Our focus is really good right now, and we're trying to stay in the moment."

Bourbonais, Harrison Niemann (Canton, MI/Omaha USHL), and Jameson Raymond (Flint, MI/Bozeman NAHL) had two assists apiece on Saturday, while Kory Kaunisto (Sault Ste. Marie, MI/Waterloo USHL), Eric McLintock (Traverse City, MI/Soo Indians AAA), Matt Hughes (Goodrich, MI/Bozeman NAHL) and Bonis had one each. Bonis finished the weekend with an eye-popping seven points.

"He was the controlling offensive force of this weekend, no question," Palumbo said. "When he's out on the ice, he always seems to get great scoring chances or set up other guys for great scoring chances. It was quite a series for him."

Stephenson, who logged the first shutout in North Stars history on Wednesday in Ann Arbor, made 26 stops in 28 chances and won for the fourth time in his past five starts.

"I've said it a hundred times," Palumbo added. "You can't win without great goaltending. Every team that has done something great has done it with great goaltending. We're getting it from both Brandon and Chris (Paliafito) right now."

The Stars welcome the USA Under-17 squad to Centre ICE for a rare Tuesday affair, but one with serious postseason implications. The USNTDP will make up much of its backlog of games next weekend, with both the U-17s and U-18s engaging in two-game series, while Traverse City is idle until a three-game series at Mahoning Valley from March 14-16.



North American Hockey League Stories from March 2, 2008


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

Other Recent Traverse City North Stars Stories



Sports Statistics from the Stats Crew
OurSports Central