Calumet's Tanner Rowe (5), Lincoln Beiring (3), Nick Djerf (15) celebrate a goal as Houghton's Milo Schaefer (7) and Brandon Norkol (12) look on during the MHSAA Division 3 Region 17 championship on Wednesday, March 4, 2020, in Houghton, Mich. (Adam Niemi/The Daily Mining Gazette)

CALUMET — Calumet Copper Kings hockey coach Dan Giachino has a luxury most other coaches at his level do not have, and he is very happy to have it at this time of year.

The Copper Kings have what really amounts to two top lines, and that depth played a big part in their victory Wednesday night over the Houghton Gremlins in the Region 17 Tournament championship game at the MacInnes Student Ice Arena.

Giachino would not have it any other way.

“I’ve been saying it all along,” he said. “We have to have both of our top lines clicking at the same time for us to be successful. Both of them were very strong (Wednesday).”

It might seem strange to suggest that the Copper Kings have two top lines, especially when considering that the line that starts games, which features captain Scott Loukus, his cousin Dean Loukus and Jackson Rilei has two players with more than 50 points each during the regular season in Scott (54) and Dean (53), but the line of Tanner Rowe, Alex Mattila, and Gabe Coppo have grown into a dependable line that can really drive what Calumet accomplishes offensively.

After their loss to Notre Dame Academy earlier this season, Giachino had a lot of good things to say about how well Rowe and Mattila play together.

“Those two guys get in there with their speed and they loosen the park up,” Giachino said. “They’ll turn it back on you real quick. Those are two guys that have done that quite a bit this year. Even on the short handed side of things, they’ve those two have kind of teamed up to score quite a few shorthanded goals this year.”

Coppo, as more of a power forward, has fit in very well on the right side alongside Rowe and Mattila, adding some grit, or sandpaper as coaches like to call it, to their line.

Wednesday evening, with his team trailing 1-0, Mattila jumped on a rebound and knocked the puck past Gremlins goaltender Jimmy Pietila just 2:19 into the second period.

The goal set in motion a stretch in the latter stages of the period in which the Copper Kings, and especially Rowe’s line, acted like sharks circling their prey, looking for opportunities to strike.

Rowe felt that he and his linemates really started to roll once things started to open up for them.

“Our line was working got in the second period,” he said. “We finally found the back of the net and then it just had just kept on going in. It was just good. Everything was going.

“I think we were just working as a line, moving the puck, making simple plays, and then getting shots. They (Mattila and Coppo) move the puck (well). We have been working out in the second half of the season. They help our line out. I like playing with them.”

While it took almost a full eight minutes for the Copper Kings to strike again, Mattila was right in the middle of it when the smoke cleared. Skating down the left boards through the neutral zone, he slowed up as he neared the Gremlins’ blueline.

That decision allowed Scott Loukus, who had just jumped on the ice, to scramble across the blue line behind Houghton’s two defensemen and set up near the right boards. Once he saw his teammate was ready, Mattila carried the puck into the offensive zone and fed a well-placed pass on Scott’s stick as he crashed the net on the right side of the slot. Scott took a quick look to see if a shooting lane was available for himself, and upon finding none, he quickly moved the puck over to Dean Loukus, who was crashing the crease after splitting the Gremlins’ defense. Dean deposited the puck in the net behind Pietila at 10:11.

That goal sparked even more earnest aggressive play from the Copper Kings, and just over two minutes later, Mattila chased down a shot by Coppo that bounced into the left corner and was starting to ricochet up the boards towards a Gremlins’ forward. Upon his grabbing of the puck, Mattila quickly assessed the situation. Rather than try to drive through a Houghton defenseman, something he might have tried earlier in the season, he moved the puck down below the goal line, where Rowe had positioned himself in support. Rowe waited for him to race the defender to the net and then tried to hit him with a pass. While Rowe was unable to complete the pass, things worked out for Calumet in that the puck actually hit Pietila and when the Gremlins’ netminder attempted to move to make a play on the upcoming shot from Mattila, he actually pushed the puck into his own net.

For Rowe, the goal was one of three points he had on the night.

The trio did not stop there. Just 2:02 after the Copper Kings’ third goal, the Rowe line was at it again. This time Coppo bounced a pass off the boards in the offensive zone that Rowe had to chase down as it entered the left side of the slot. He waited out a Gremlins’ defender, who sprawled out to attempt to block a pass, and once things opened up, he fed the puck over to Mattila, who scored his second goal, and fourth point, of the night.

Gremlins coach Corey Markham felt his team was shell shocked by how quickly the Copper Kings’ second, third, and fourth goals came together.

“They were just outworking us, plain and simple,” said Markham. “They wanted it more than we did. They have great speed and they were exchanging lanes. We weren’t picking them. Guys were wide open in the slot. They were just more hungry than us, plain and simple. They outworked us, and they deserved every bit of it.”

When the night ended, the Rowe, Mattila, and Coppo line combined for three goals and five assists in the victory for Calumet. The trio enjoys playing together, and that gives them the confidence they need to drive the offense when Giachino calls on them to do so.

Saturday, Rowe and his linemates will look to lead the Copper Kings in their state quarterfinal matchup against the Gaylord Blue Devils, who defeated the Sault Ste. Marie Blue Devils, 5-0, Wednesday evening.

Gaylord was led in the game by Sam Gorno, who put up two goals, including one on the power play, and two assists in the victory. Gorno was all over the ice Wednesday, throwing 11 shots at Sault goaltending.

Gage Looker also had a strong night, racking up a goal and an assist. Colton Hurst scored on one of his six shots on goal.

Austin Sitz stopped all 10 shots sent his way to earn the shutout.

The Copper Kings and Blue Devils will square off at 1 p.m. Saturday at Lakeview Arena in Marquette.