Wildcats Play Four, Plus Top Prospects Tournament

Published on January 26, 2009 under North American Hockey League (NAHL)
Wichita Falls Wildcats News Release


The Wildcats played four games in the span of five days, along with having four players appear in the NAHL's Top Prospects Tournament.

The South Division team went 2-1-0 at the Top Prospects Tournament. Wildcats forwards Brett Hartung, Sean McKenzie, and Jeff McNeil, as well as defenseman Brett Kaneshiro played in the Tournament. Sean McKenzie led the South team with two goals, while McNeil added two assists and Kaneshiro one assist.

With the event having its final game on Tuesday, the Wildcats and Fairbanks Ice Dogs were playing with smaller rosters on Tuesday night. The teams each called up two players from lower level teams to fill their open roster spots. The Ice Dogs managed to pull out a victory on a power play goal in overtime for a 3-2 final. Adam Kuhn had both goals for the Wildcats. The next night was no better for the 'Cats, dropping the second game of the mid-week series 3-0.

"We looked good early, our first couple of shifts were great, but when they scored the goal off the faceoff, it just removed the wind from our sails," said Wildcats' head coach John Bowkus.  That goal, scored at the 2:47 mark, was all the Ice Dogs would need.  Michael Juola won the faceoff to his right wing, Austin Block, who put a quick backhander past goaltender Mike Jarboe for a 1-0 lead. The Ice Dogs would add two more in the second period.

On Friday and Saturday, the Wenatchee Wild came back to town after the Wildcats beat them twice the pervious weekend. Friday night, the Wildcats continued their winning ways over the Wild at home, with a 4-0 score, the first shutout victory of the season for the Wildcats. Zach Trotman scored his first two NAHL goals, while Philip Graveline was in net for his first NAHL shutout. Two brawls in the second period led to ten players being ejected and 168 penalty minutes between the two teams.

On Saturday, it took an extra five minutes of overtime, plus a six round shootout, but the Wildcats just couldn't find the winning tally, losing to Wenatchee 2-1.  With fatigue setting in from the end of a stretch of 6 games in 9 days as well as both teams having short benches, the offense was limited on both sides.

 

The only goals in regulation came in the second period, with Wenatchee's Duncan McKeller slipping one past goaltender Mike Jarboe for a 1-0 Wenatchee lead.  Five minutes later, with the Wildcats on the power play, Curtis Heinz shot the puck from the blue line and it managed to find its way past Wenatchee goaltender Mathieu Dugas, tying the game at 1.  Matt Shost and Victor Karlsson had the assists on the goal.

Both teams had some good chances throughout the game, but Dugas and Jarboe each were up to the challenge.  Dugas stopped 29 of 30 shots, while Jarboe came away with 26 saves on 27 shots.

 

The Wildcats held a 2-1 lead in the shootout at one point, with scoring from Chad Hudson and Aaron Quick, but the final two shooters were stopped, while D.J. Vandercook and Corbin Brown managed to score for the game winners.

Upcoming Home Games

The Wildcats will be on the road for the next two weeks, playing six games in Alaska against the Alaska Avalanche and the Kenai River Brown Bears. The team will be at home next on February 13 and 14 against the St. Louis Bandits. Friday the 13th is College Night, where anyone with a valid college ID can get in for $5. Saturday the 14th is R.D. Gulley Jewelers Night. They will be giving away a piece of jewelry to a lucky fan!

Wildcats Alumni Report

Luke Salazar currently leads the Denver University Pioneers with 12 goals in 24 games. His 18 points are sixth on the team, and third among the team's freshmen.

Skylur Jameson is the second leading scorer for the Wentworth Leopards in the Division III ECAC Northeast. In 15 games, Jameson has scored 11 goals and added 14 assists. Another former Wildcat, Leopards' senior Dave Lewandowski has 3 goals and two assists of his own in 12 games.

Two former Wildcats have been making names for themselves at the University of Wisconsin-Superior. Defenseman Kent Detlefsen has scored 5 goals and 5 assists in 19 games, including two goals in a 5-3 victory over University of Wisconsin-River Falls on January 23. Meanwhile, senior forward Kevin Huck leads the team in scoring with 26 points in 20 games. He was the Wildcats' leading scorer in the 2004-05 season and is on a three-game goal scoring streak with the Yellowjackets.

The University of Wisconsin-River Falls Falcons feature two Wildcats products among their top five scorers. Derek Hansberry leads the team with 14 goals; combined with his six assists, he also leads the team with 20 points in 20 games. Grant Everett is tied for the team lead in assists with 11. He also has 3 goals for a total of 14 points.

Joel Sauer is the Augsburg Auggies' second-leading scorer this season. He has tallied 14 points from 8 goals and 6 assists in 17 games. He was involved in both of the Auggies' goals, scoring one and assisting on the other, in a 4-2 loss on Friday to Gustavus Adolphus.

Nick Ghidina is the assistant captain of the Lake Forest Foresters, a role he also had in the 2005-06 season with the Wildcats. He has tallied three assists in 20 games this season.

Dan Sexton, one of the Wildcats' top scorers in the 2005-06 season currently leads the Bowling Green State University Falcons in all offensive stats, with 12 goals and 18 assists for 30 points. He had four points, a goal and three assists, this past weekend in a series split against Lake Superior State.

Nick Klaren, the Wildcats' captain in 2004-05, is the leading scorer among defensemen at the University of Wisconsin-Stout, while former Wildcat teammate Jack Wolgemuth is third in scoring among the team's blueliners. Klaren has averaged an assist per game for the Blue Devils, with 7 goals and 17 assists in 17 games. Wolgemuth has 2 goals and 11 assists in the same time frame.

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North American Hockey League Stories from January 26, 2009


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