SAULT STE. MARIE - An old adage in sports is you have to get there before you win it. With six state titles and four straight regional titles Calumet has been there, and if Wednesday night's quarterfinal performance is any indication, they may win it.
Super sophomore Ben Johnson netted a hat trick as the Copper Kings inked a spot in the Division 3 semifinals with a convincing 4-1 victory over the Cadillac Vikings Wednesday night at venerable Pullar Stadium. Calumet will take on Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook-Kingswood on Friday afternoon at 2:30 at Compuware Arena in Plymouth.
The Copper Kings used a punishing forecheck from start to finish and held the Vikings, making their first quarterfinal appearance, to just 13 shots, including six in the final two periods. Ben Johnson's third goal, at the 6:22 mark of the third period, proved to be the backbreaker as he picked up a rebound on the strong rush to the net by Isaac Bjorn and slammed it past Cadillac goaltender Mike Boike to give Calumet a 3-1 lead.
"Ben Johnson is a great player, one of the best I have seen," said Calumet coach Jim Crawford. "Our top line of Johnson, Nate Sturos and Isaac Bjorn were the difference tonight."
The Copper Kings are peaking at the right time and have now won seven in a row.
"What can you say, we played one of our best, if not the best game of the year," Crawford said. "The guys wanted this game and they showed it on the ice, our forecheck was amazing and we didn't let up. I was very happy with the way we played."
Cadillac (20-5-1) scored the opening goal of the game at the 2:52 mark of the first period as P.J. O'Hagan found himself alone in front of the Copper Kings net and shot it past goaltender Tyler Kangas to give the Vikings an early 1-0 lead. Calumet returned the favor just more than a minute later as Johnson scored on a very similar play as the previous goal, finding himself along in front of the Viking net, tying the game at 1-1.
Calumet (17-11-0) took the lead for good at the 8:15 mark of the first period on one of many tremendous individual efforts from Johnson, as he skated past two defenders in the slot and roofed the puck into the upper right hand corner of the net to give the Cooper Kings a 2-1 lead. Calumet outshot Cadillac 11-8 in the first.
The second period saw no goals, but tremendous pressure and time of possession by the Copper Kings, as they outshot the Vikings 10-2. Cadillac goaltender Mike Boike singlehandedly kept his squad in the game, making at least four point-blank saves.
Cadillac continued to have trouble just getting possession of the puck to start the third period, before Johnson put the game out of reach with his third goal of the game and 29th on the season just over six minutes into the stanza. Isaac Bjorn added an insurance power-play goal at the 7:57 mark to complete the scoring.