Making a statement
Calumet’s quick start leads to 7-1 win over Houghton
HOUGHTON — In a battle of who might be the second-best high school hockey team in the area, the Calumet Copper Kings staked an early claim on the title by beating the recently-red hot Houghton Gremlins, 7-1, Tuesday night at Dee Stadium.
Hockey coaches preach starting games on time. The Gremlins appeared well on their way to their seventh-consecutive victory in the opening shifts of the game as captain Jacob Kruse had a shot from the high slot, and assistant captain Dawson McKay had a look at an open net, but shot wide.
While that was very close to the start the Gremlins wanted, it did not take long for the Copper Kings to wrestle control of the contest with a pair of goals just 14 seconds apart.
It was the type of start the Copper Kings had been needing all season.
“That’s what had been kind of hoping to accomplish here,” said Copper Kings coach Dan Giachino. “We have been consistently behind the 8-ball the first few games of the year and had to claw our way back. It was nice from the get-go to get those two goals and kind of get to that comfortable position.”
With a faceoff in the Gremlins’ zone, Calumet sophomore Brent Loukus pushed the puck behind the net to freshman Gabriel Coppo, who attempted to throw the puck out front to assistant captain Ed Beiring. Instead, the puck hit Gremlins goaltender Will Stier in the leg and then bounced into back of the net at 2 minutes, 53 seconds.
Just a matter of seconds later, a shot from Loukas skating through the right circle handcuffed Stier. The puck laid prone in the crease until Beiring jumped on it and pushed it into the gaping net.
“Two goals will settle you down quick like that,” said Giachino. “We had a lot of nervous energy at the beginning of the game. That’s kind of the way we have practiced the last few days.”
From there, things went from bad to worse for the Gremlins (6-4 overall, 3-4 GLHC), who struggled to defend everywhere from in front of Stier to center ice. That problem quickly became apparent after Kruse drew a penalty against Calumet while the Copper Kings (4-4-1 overall, 4-2-1 GLHC) were on a power play. During the ensuing 4-on-4, Calumet captain Rory Anderson took a lead pass from sophomore Sam Erkkila, flew down the left boards and beat Stier over the glove with a well-placed wrist shot.
“They skated hard and they worked,” said Gremlins coach Corey Markham. “We just didn’t match their intensity. We need to be better defensively. We were standing still a lot, especially in the first period.”
Loukus figured into the scoring for the Copper Kings again at 12:27 when his shot from the middle of the rink along the blue line deflected off a Houghton defender and past Stier for a power play goal.
The teams opened the second period in a 4-on-4 situation which quickly became a 4-on-3 and then a 5-on-3 power play for the Gremlins. While they had a few chances, Calumet goaltender Nick Voelker held his ground, making two good saves before forcing Kruse to miss the net entirely just under two minutes into the frame.
Kruse would get another good look a little over two minutes later, and this time he did not miss, beating Voelker with a quick shot at 8:53 during another Gremlins’ power play.
It took Calumet all of 35 seconds to respond when Rory Anderson took a cross-ice pass from senior Jack Sturos and one-timed a shot from the right faceoff dot past Stier.
“They had so much space to do what they wanted to do,” said Markham. “We’ll never come close to beating a team like that when we play that way defensively. We need to be more engaged.”
Just 1:38 after Anderson’s second of the night, Daylen Anderson spun off of a Gremlins’ defender and tipped a pass from Erkkila past Stier.
With Calumet up 6-1, the game became a much more physical affair, leading to more penalties on both squads and a number of altercations around Stier’s crease.
In the dying seconds of the period, Coppo found himself alone in the slot despite having three Houghton defenders within reach. Beriring got the puck below the left circle and fed it right on Coppo’s blade, and the youngster wasted no time burying the shot behind Stier at 16:53.
Neither team was able to muster much offensively in the third period, as the Copper Kings missed the net more often than they hit it, and the Gremlins only got traffic in front of Voelker twice in three scoring attempts.
Both teams return to action next Wednesday in the second game of the MacInnes Holiday Hockey Classic.
Scoring
Calumet 4 3 0 – 7
Houghton 0 1 0 – 1
First period
1, CHS, Gabe Coppo (Brent Loukus, Jack Sturos), 2:53
2, CHS, Ed Beiring, 3:07
3, CHS, Rory Anderson (Sam Erkkila), 9:05
4, CHS, Loukus (Rory Anderson, Trevor Johnson), PP, 12:27
Second period
5, HHS, Jacob Kruse (Kevin Bostwick), PP, 8:53
6, CHS, Rory Anderson (Sturos, Daylen Anderson), 9:28
7, CHS, Daylen Anderson (Erkkila, Coppo), PP, 11:06
8, CHS, Coppo (Beiring), 16:53
Third period
None
Saves
CHS, Voelker 8 13 3 – 24
HHS, Stier 4 13 6 – 23
Penalties
CHS: 5/10; HHS: 6/12
Power plays
CHS: 2/6; HHS: 1/5