Thompson, North Stars lash Alpena, 7-2

Published on January 9, 2010 under North American Hockey League (NAHL)
Traverse City North Stars News Release


TRAVERSE CITY - Garrett Thompson was an equal opportunity lamplighter on Saturday evening, scoring a goal in each period to lead a 7-2 rout of divisional foe Alpena in a one-game series at Centre ICE arena.

Thompson (Traverse City, MI/TC North Stars) scored the lone goal of the opening period (16:50), closed the second with a power play roof job, then went bar-down 1:07 into the final stanza to convert his first career hat trick.

"That entire line (Thompson-Dan Radke-Doug Clifford) just continues to play with a nice chemistry, and Garrett's really starting to realize his vast potential," Stars head coach/GM Anthony Palumbo of Thompson, who has 11 points over his last nine games. "When we signed him as one of our younger players a couple years ago, I think this is how we kind of envisioned him developing, plus he's become more of a vocal leader out there."

The victory moves Traverse City (21-12-2) six points ahead of second- place Marquette and Janesville, both of which suffered setbacks on Saturday at Motor City and St. Louis, respectively. The North Stars have played two fewer games than the Rangers and three less than the Jets.

The visiting IceDiggers tied the game at 1-all just 1:37 into the second period, but a TC cloudburst - three rapid-fire goals in a span of 38 seconds - was more than enough for the hosts to win their fifth game in the last six outings. Eric Rivard (Traverse City, MI/TC West HS) registered his third goal of the season at 5:41, followed by a pair of spectacular rooftop snipes from Eric McLintock (Traverse City, MI/TC North Stars) and Dan Radke (Orinda, CA/TC North Stars/ Lake Superior St.) at 6:05 and 6:19, respectively.

Alpena (11-22-1) did hand the Stars their NAHL-leading 12th shorthanded goal against with 9:15 left in the middle frame to make it 4-2, but Thompson scored twice and Phil Wendecker (Westland, MI/TC North Stars) capped the scoring 9:20 into the third with a twine- seeking missile from the blue line, his fourth goal of the season.

"It was a good, complete team win," Palumbo said. "We're starting to get regular across-the-board contributions, and that's what brought us a lot of success earlier in the season. Our forecheck created opportunities, and we attacked the zone with speed, and most importantly we worked very hard again."

Drew Strandberg (Thunder Bay, ONT/Thunder Bay SIJHL) stopped 22 of 24 shots to win his fourth straight decision and improve to 16-6-1 on the season. It also marked the third time this season that the North Stars have scored seven goals in a game.

All-star selections Doug Clifford (Woodhaven, MI/Mahoning Valley NAHL) and Nick Shkreli (Romeo, MI/Mahoning Valley NAHL) distributed a pair of assists each, while seven Stars had one apiece: Wendecker, Curtis Heinz (Grand Rapids, MI/Wichita Falls NAHL), Tim Opie (Troy, MI/TC North Stars), Ryan Amin (Canton, MI/Kenai River NAHL), Sean Burke (Traverse City, MI/TC North Stars), Chris Salomone (Homer Glen, IL/TC North Stars), and Kelin Ainsworth (Thunder Bay, ONT/Ft. William SIJHL).

The North Stars and IceDiggers will meet up again next weekend, with the teams facing off on Friday at Northern Lights arena before returning to Centre ICE for another Saturday evening affair.

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North American Hockey League Stories from January 9, 2010


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