Finlandia heads out with valuable points up for grabs
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ASHLAND, Wis. -- After earning a split with Trine and No. 7 Adrian, the Finlandia Lions men's hockey team finds itself back in fourth in the NCHA North Division as the team they face Friday night, the Northland Lumberjacks, sit just two points ahead of them in the standings. The Lions hold a 6-6-2 record in NCHA play, good for 14 points.
More importantly to coach Joe Burcar, the Lions hold their fate in their own hands.
"Those points are valuable," said Burcar. "As we come down the stretch, every point we can get right now is (going to help us with) where we are going to be seeded.
"At this point, it's great for us to be talking like this. We are in the playoff hunt. There won't be anything given to us."
The Lions and Thunder played a 0-0 contest until the 3:33 mark of the third period when senior winger Paul Lochner found a way to get a puck into the back of the net. The Bradenton, Florida, native now has two goals and nine points in 10 games for the Lions and seven points (one goal, six assists) in his last four contests playing on a line with freshman center Tyler Watungwa and sophomore winger Cale Markham.
The trio have found at a time the Lions need them to most and Burcar is excited to watch the three play hard every shift.
"It's funny how certain guys make chemistry," said Burcar. "We put those guys together... and the connection was just immediate."
The Lochner line was also key in the events of Saturday's loss to the Bulldogs. Watungwa scored his third goal of the season off a pass from Lochner and later, Watungwa found Markham driving down the left side of the rink and fed him for his team-leading ninth goal of the season.
While Lochner and Markham have enjoyed a lot of success with the new line combination, seeing Watungwa start to get rewarded for his play in recent weeks was something that Burcar did not expect.
"(Tyler) has just been such a pleasant surprise," Burcar said. "If you judge a book by it's cover, his skating is not great and he understands that. Over the course of the season, he makes himself noticeable in practice."
The Lions' top line of sophomore Connor Hannon and Hunter Kero and freshman Teddy Randell also had a strong weekend. Kero scored and Randell picked up two assists in Friday's contest. On Saturday, Hannon scored.
Burcar admits the Lions will need everything they can get out of the local line if they want to be successful in their last four games of the regular season.
Sophomore goaltender Santeri Seppinen came up big on the weekend for the Lions, making 19 saves in the win over Trine and following that effort up with 29 more saves against the Bulldogs Saturday. Getting the chance to start back-to-back contests with sophomore goaltender Marcus Gloss out do to illness, Seppinen made the most of his chance to carry the load.
It helps whomever is in net that a pair of defensemen in front of him are rapidly developing into key components of the Lions' back end. Freshmen Cory Richardson and Dylan Paavola are both proving that they can play in any situation.
Richardson began showing Friday night, and in the second half of Saturday's contest, that he has figured out when to take off with the puck and hold onto it while waiting for offensive opportunities to develop. Having the ability to take some of the offensive pressure off the forwards while also not costing your team defensively has been a tough lesson for Richardson to learn, but Burcar likes where his game is at.
"At times, earlier in the year, he was doing those same types of things, but he was putting the team at risk," said Burcar. "Now he is understanding the game and when he can do that."
As for Paavola, a Hancock native and former captain of the Bulldogs, for a skater who did not play hockey at a high level last season, he has quickly developed into a steady, two-way defenseman and has proven responsible in every situation, which allows Burcar and his staff to continue to find ways to integrate him into the lineup on the power play, the penalty kill, and even in late-game situations like the one the Lions found themselves in Saturday as they were trying to find the tying goal.
Burcar describes Paavola as "steady."
"Dylan's a guy, he didn't play for a year and he's a local boy, and we sure wanted to get him in our lineup," Burcar said. "(We are) happy that he decided to come back and that he wanted to go to school here. We knew his potential on and off the ice. He is a good student athlete for us at Finlandia."
This weekend, the Lions face the Lumberjacks Friday and the St. Scholastica Saints Saturday. Finlandia beat Northland 4-2 two weeks ago with a third-period comeback that included three goals.
Junior Kalib Ford leads the Lumberjacks with team-highs in assists (15) and points (20). Freshman Zachary Fisher has continued to be good this season with seven goals and 17 points in 17 games.
Senior goaltender David Krejcik has been strong in goal, going 9-8-2 in 19 appearances with a 2.95 goals against average and a .910 save percentage.
Cole Golka leads the Saints in goals (12) and points (21). Nate Pionk has also been strong, picking up six goals and 18 points in 21 games.
Goaltender Nick Trenciansky continues to be strong in goal, going 8-6-1 in 16 appearances with a 2.86 goals against average and a .911 save percentage.
GAME TIMES
Opening faceoff for Friday's contest with Northland is slated to start at 8 p.m. at the Fox Valley Ice Arena. Saturday's contest with the Saints is set to start at 6 p.m. at the Mars Lakeview Arena.