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Holiday distractions

I hope you all had a wonderfully Merry Christmas or Happy Hanukkah. Mine was busy, running back and forth to Green Bay to meet up with multiple members of family, including getting to finally meet my five-month-old nephew, Alexandre. No, that is not a misspelling, his mother celebrates her French-Canadian heritage.

I had to return home Friday night due to the start of the John J. MacInnes Holiday Hockey Classic on Saturday. Three constants were back for another year in Houghton, Hancock and Calumet. They all sit at the proverbial “adults” table of this tournament. A newcomer this season, the Jeffers Jets, were out to prove that they had earned the right to move from the “children’s table” to the larger one.

The Gremlins had suffered a wake-up call of sorts earlier this season when they went into the Houghton County Arena and were summarily dismissed by the Bulldogs, 6-2. At one point, the game was 6-0 in favor of Hancock.

Using that loss as a learning experience, the young Gremlins have rattled off a 5-2-1 record that includes wins over Calumet and Rochester United.

Coming into the tournament week, the Bulldogs, on the other hand, had moved up the Michigan High School Hockey Hub rankings to No. 5 in Division III thanks to a 4-2-0 start to the season with wins over Calumet, Escanaba and Houghton.

On Monday, the Bulldogs faced a Jets squad that had won a couple of games early, but was still looking for its identity heading into the contest. The Bulldogs jumped out to a 2-0 lead quickly and appeared to be in line for an easy night.

Instead, the Jets fought back, cutting the lead to 2-1. After the Bulldogs jumped back out to a two-goal lead, the Jets fought back until they tied the game, 3-3. The Jets then did the unthinkable and took the lead when Dominick Nettell, the son of my former high school linemate, Patrick, scored his second goal of the night.

The Bulldogs tied the game only to have the Jets win in overtime when Brendan Middleton got loose and beat Cam Murray with a wrist shot on the fly.

The loss might have been just what the doctor ordered for the Bulldogs. In their next contest, they looked much better against the Copper Kings in their semifinal match of the holiday tournament. However, a hard week of practice appeared to catch up with them as they looked tired in the third period, and that was when Calumet’s co-captain Robbie Erkkila found the game-winner.

The Jets, meanwhile, failed to build on any momentum they should have gained from beating Hancock. Trailing the Gremlins 3-2 heading into the third period on Saturday, the Jets should have been motivated to do to Houghton what they had done to Hancock. Instead, the Gremlins held the Jets to six shots for the game, two in the final frame, and scored three times to seal a 6-2 victory.

The Jets were then stuck having to face the Bulldogs again. Bulldogs coach Dan Rouleau’s quote from after the Copper Kings’ game spoke volumes.

“If we don’t come motivated to play, we don’t deserve to be on the ice,” said Rouleau. “I think the boys will be ready to play, but I am sure Jeffers will be too.”

In reality, he was half-right. The Bulldogs did indeed look motivated, scoring two goals in the first period, two more in the second, and three in final frame to come away with a 7-0 victory.

The Jets, who had 26 shots in Monday’s win, could only manage 15 shots on Sunday, giving them 21 total shots for the weekend. Not exactly the type of weekend the Jets were looking for if they wanted to join the others at the “adults” table.

Jets coach David Bekkala acknowledged as much.

“We didn’t play this weekend,” said Bekkala. “Our intention for this weekend was to come in here and earn the right to be included in the MacInnes Classic. This weekend we did not show that.”

The Copper Kings, who came into the weekend ranked third, had been playing with fire all season long. Surprisingly ,they have managed to outscore opponents in the first period 8-6 despite often being outshot after the first 17 minutes.

On Sunday, the Gremlins stung them just 22 seconds into the contest. From there, Calumet lacked a solid response until 2:29 into the second period when they finally found the back of the net. However, if not for Ian Carroll between the pipes, the game might have been beyond their reach before that point.

In the end, the Gremlins, who nearly completed a three-goal comeback against the Copper Kings just 14 days ago, found the net in overtime for the win.

Copper Kings coach Dan Giachino was not surprised by the outcome.

“We got precisely what we deserved to get in that game,” said Giachino. “We didn’t have any intensity. We didn’t have a lot of effort. Houghton outworked us.”

Houghton and Hancock have had their wake-up calls and have bounced back with force. It appears now is the time for Calumet and Jeffers to do the same, especially if all four want to converse at the “adult” table.

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