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HOUGHTON -- In less than a week, the Calumet Copper Kings and the Jeffers Jets met on the ice at the MacInnes Student Ice Arena.
While both games ended in a Calumet win, Wednesday's 8-0 victory assured the Copper Kings a spot at the MHSAA Region 17 championship on Saturday against Houghton. The Gremlins beat Hancock 4-1 in the other semifinal Wednesday.
Calumet head coach Dan Giachino was more pleased with his team's effort this week as opposed to last week's 4-0 win.
"I thought we played with a real good intensity and effort tonight," he said.
The Copper Kings jumped on the score board early and often. They posted a four-goal first period that brought down the Jets momentum quickly.
Their first goal came just three minutes into the first. It was a man-down goal as the Copper Kings had Cam Anderson in the box. Despite defending a power play a missed pass at the Jeffers' zone turned into a break-away goal for Ayden Williams.
Paul Sturos would get the next two for the Copper Kings. Both were loose-puck situations in front of the net. Sturos would go on to have four goals on the night.
"Paul played great," said his coach. "I really liked how we were able to get some of those scrappy goals in front of the net. We haven't gotten many of those this year."
The proverbial nail in the coffin for the Jets came with less than 10 second in the first. The Copper Kings' Isaac Larson put in a deflection off of Jets' goalie Simon Rajala's pad to make a 4-0 game headed into the locker room.
"While we had some good looks in the first, that fourth goal seemed to knock the wind right out of our sails," said Jets' head coach Pat Nettle. "After that we were in panic mode, and you can't put any offense together like that."
He said in the second, the team got off their style of play.
"We were not able to focus on our game plan and maintain it," he said. "If they get a goal, they get a goal. We can't get down like we do."
In the second, Calumet continued to dominate with strong puck control up and down the ice.
They found the back of the net three more times. Sturos had his third and fourth tallies and Cam Anderson pushed in a loose disc with less than four minutes to go in the period.
Despite being down 7-0, Nettle gave his squad an "A" for effort in the third.
"They kept fighting till the end and never gave up," he related.
The Copper Kings put "the mercy" on the Jets with less than two minutes to go. It was Larson with his second goal of the night.
Despite the loss, Nettle had no complaints on the season. He inherited a young squad, but a group that worked hard all season.
He said, "I'm proud of the boys. They worked hard."
Calumet will face Houghton for the regional championship at the Mac at noon this Saturday. The Copper Kings have defeated the Gremlins three times already this season, but as the saying goes, the post-season has its own set of rules.
"We need to play better in our own end, said Giachino. "As well, we are going to have to be more responsible and more solid against Houghton. We can't be complacent."