Houghton’s Evan Labyak (3) looks to pass to Brandon Norkol (12) as Jeffers’ Caden Hillstrom (18), Nathan Wakeham (14) and Brok Holombo (8) defend on Tuesday, Feb. 9, 2021 in Houghton, Mich. (Adam Niemi/The Daily Mining Gazette)

HOUGHTON — The Houghton Gremlins hockey team is going to be one of the top teams in Michigan at the end of the season.

Along with the Calumet Copper Kings and the Marquette Redmen, the Gremlins have been one of the most consistent teams in the Upper Peninsula in recent years.

They are a tall task for many teams to face, let alone during your first game of the season. The Jeffers Jets, who were playing their first game of the season Tuesday, found out just how far they have yet to come in an 8-0 loss to the Gremlins at the MacInnes Student Ice Arena.

For the two coaches involved, their reactions varied wildly on their first periods, but both seemed happy with the way their teams played in the second.

“The second period they relaxed,” said Jets coach Patrick Nettell. “There’s a lot of nerves. We stuck to our game plan, and it worked, for the most part.

“(We want to) just to get them to relax a little bit and stick to what we want, to the game plan we want to go with. Let’s commit to it, be disciplined in our end, not not running all over chasing, puck watching.”

Houghton’s Corey Markham agreed.

“I wasn’t real impressed with our just our whole compete level and game in the first period, but I I thought even though we scored less, I thought we played much harder in the second period,” he said. “I thought we played with a little more grit. We didn’t score as much, but that happens sometimes and then we were able to finish off early in the third.”

Nettell noted that his team, which was seeing its first action since last spring, and playing without David Olson and Luke Marcotte, who both joined Hancock prior to the season, was extremely nervous, although based on the first three shifts, fans would not know it. The Jets (0-1 overall) came out hard and took it to the Gremlins (2-0 overall), getting three shots on goal before the Gremlins crossed center ice.

Senior Matthew Ryynanen was equal to the task, making all three saves. He made two more stops on the night. Corey Markham was pleased with the efforts of his senior netminder.

“He had to make a couple of key saves early,” Markham said. “They came out of the gates flying and they handed us in for the first three or four shifts before we started moving a little bit.

“Matthew was sharp. He’s been very strong in practice, and he battles Jimmy (Pietila), you know, doesn’t just give Jimmy the net. We’re very happy with where Matthew is at.”

Over the course of just under three minutes, the Gremlins put the game out of reach with goals from sophomore winger Landon Stevens, senior defenseman Evan Labyak, and sophomore winger Sully Rajala to take a 3-0 lead by the 5:38 mark of the contest.

Corey Markham loved to see Stevens make a strong power move to the net to give the Gremlins the lead they never surrendered. Playing in just his second game, Stevens took a lead pass from senior winger Tedd Halonen, who led the team with three assists on the night, and drove around a Jets defender before beating goaltender Simon Rajala with a wrist shot to the far post.

Simon Rajala, a sophomore, saw a lot of rubber very quickly as the Gremlins kept the pressure on.

Sophomore center Camden Markham pushed the lead to 4-0 with a rebound tally at 10:05, giving him his second point of the night.

Then, shorthanded, the Gremlins got a goal from senior defenseman Dane Johnson at 11:36. Johnson, not known for his goal scoring ability, had already picked up a goal in the Gremlins’ first game at Kingsford on Monday. He added another tally on the power play in the second period at 9:49 with another strong shot from the point.

Corey Markham was pleased to see Johnson continue to get rewarded early in the season.

“Dane’s been really good for us so far,” Markham said. “He’s been a leader. He’s been doing a lot of the right things. He has a nice shot. It’s not a slap shot, but he does a great job getting a snapshot through.

Simon Rajala gave way to Evan Pietila after Johnson’s first tally. Pietila, a senior, made 12 saves in the middle frame, keeping the Gremlins to just two tallies in the period.

The Gremlins’ second goal came from junior defenseman Kade Farrell at 14:21. He had just missed a chance at an open net when his rebound chance sailed wide just a shift earlier. This time, he parked himself behind Pietila, who was lined up to keep Stevens from poking the puck in along the short side. Stevens fed the puck over to Farrell, who did not miss.

Senior center Nathan Erva sealed the win for the Gremlins just 16 seconds into the third.

HHS 5 2 1 — 8

JHS 0 0 0 — 0