The Houghton Gremlins pose after winning the Division 3 Region 17 championship over Calumet Wednesday at the MacInnes Student Ice Arena in Houghton. Pictured are Brycyn Nettell, Gage Gullstrand, Cale Repp, Wesley Mattila, Kade Jenkins, Jake Mattson, Calvin Rinkinen, Chad Halonen, Braden Kari, Porter Markham, Jack Sayen, Gunner Flachs, Noah Maillette, Brody Donnelly, Mason Soli, Max Aldrich, Liam Frick, Ian Hembroff, Connor Arko, Brendan Jukuri, Gunner Gullstrand, Lucas Mayra, and Cooper Flachs. They are coached by Micah Stipech, Rod Wakeham, Brent Peterson, Will Stier, and Andrew Lampinen. (Daver Karnosky/Daily Mining Gazette)

HOUGHTON — It took the Houghton Gremlins hockey team 22 seconds to score, 56 seconds to extend that lead, and 7:33 to put the game out of reach as they cruised to a 9-1 win in the Division 3 Region 17 final Wednesday over the Calumet Copper Kings at the MacInnes Student Ice Arena.

Houghton jumped all over the Copper Kings with two goals in the first minute, two goals on the same Calumet power play, and seven goals in the first period.

“I haven’t been a part of one of those before, in a playoff game, like that,” said Gremlins coach Micah Stipech. “It was pretty wild. I’m going to have to look at the tape. I don’t really know what happened yet.”

Alternate captain Jack Sayen, who scored two of the Gremlins’ first four goals, had a theory.

“We came out hot,” he said. “We’re a skilled team, so when we can put a couple rushes together like that, we can make it look good. And we did.”

On the other side of the ice, Copper Kings coach Dan Giachino’s response was more in line with that of Stipech.

“In 16 years, I haven’t seen a period like that at any point,” he said. “(They) scored those first two quick goals, then we started trying to press, then do too much, which has then created more problems and more problems, and snowballed on us. Like I said, (I’ve) never seen a period like that in my life.”

Sophomore forward Gunner Gullstrand got the Houghton party going just 22 seconds into the game, when he took a lead pass in the neutral zone from alternate captain Brody Donnelly, skated between the Copper Kings’ defenders and in alone, beating goaltender Beau Jukuri with a wrist shot.

“That’s what we wanted to do,” said Gunner Gullstrand. “We wanted to come out fast, and we did that. Lucky we got that breakaway to go in. That made it feel good.”

Sayen then extended the lead 34 seconds later. Alternate captain Noah Maillette skated the puck behind Jukuri’s net, and then found Sayen in the slot, where he wristed a shot over Jukuri’s glove.

Just under five minutes later, the Copper Kings had killed off a power play, and were looking for a spark when they drew a power play of their own. However, just 10 seconds into the advantage, Gunner Gullstrand was scoring again, this time with a backhand shot after getting a pass on a 2-on-1 from Donnelly at 6:33.

A minute later, with Houghton still down a man, Sayen opened up a 4-0 lead when Donnelly picked up the puck near the offensive blue line and fed him in the slot. Sayen beat Jukuri with another wrist shot.

“That was big,” said Stipech. “In games like this, your special teams are important. Those guys had an opportunity to make a rush, and they made the most of their chances.”

Donnelly, who finished his night with five points, scored Houghton’s fifth goal at 11:52 off a feed from sophomore forward Braden Kari. Donnelly then returned the favor to Kari 44 seconds later, and Houghton led 6-0 at that point.

Captain Connor Arko capped the opening frame with just 13 seconds left in the period when he beat Jukuri with a wrist shot from the right circle after getting a pass from Gunner Gullstrand. For Gullstrand, that was his fourth point of the night.

Gunner Gullstrand, Donnelly and Kari combined for 11 points in the first period.

“Those guys have a way of possessing pucks, making plays, and playing in the future,” Stipech said. “Tonight, they had a great start to the game and helped us to have this victory.”

When the dust settled on the first period, the Gremlins had outshot the Copper Kings 16-3.

Calumet played much better in the second period, and that led to them putting enough pressure on Houghton goaltender Cooper Flachs. That hard work finally paid off at 6:05.

Copper Kings co-captain Nathan Londo tried to stuff a puck past Flachs, but the Houghton netminder made the save. However, the puck bounced to Flachs’ left, and right to a pinching senior defenseman Sawyer Garrow, who buried a wrist shot for the lone Calumet goal.

“We just stopped making the mental mistakes, mental errors, the kind of unforced errors that we were making in the first period,” said Giachino. “We just got back to playing the way we’re capable of playing. It was nothing different from a tactical standpoint.”

After the goal, the Gremlins settled down and spent the second half of the period trying to get back to the type of hockey that made them successful in the opening period. Arko had two good scoring chances in the last 5:17 of the period, but neither found the back of the net.

In the third period, Arko did finally strike for the second time at 5:11 with the Gremlins on the power play. He found time and space in the left circle and then got a pass from Sayen and beat Jukuri with a quick shot from near the faceoff dot.

Then, 38 seconds later, senior forward Gage Gullstrand ended the game with a wrist shot from the slot. Sophomore forward Max Aldrich set up the play with a pass to Gullstrand in the slot.

Flachs finished with 13 saves to earn the win. Jukuri stopped 22 in the loss for the Copper Kings.

Up next

The Gremlins will take on the Marquette Sentinels Saturday at the Berry Events Center in Marquette. The Sentinels defeated the Escanaba Eskymos, 3-1, Wednesday.

Houghton and Marquette split a two-game weekend on Nov. 28 and 29, 2025, where the Sentinels won the opening game 5-3 in Houghton, but the Gremlins responded with a 6-0 win Saturday at Lakeview Arena in Marquette.

Opening faceoff for the state quarterfinal matchup is set for 6 p.m.

Houghton forward Gunner Gullstrand corrals the puck while skating in alone just prior to scoring the first goal of the Division 3 Region 17 championship game against Calumet Wednesday at the MacInnes Student Ice Arena in Houghton. (Daver Karnosky/Daily Mining Gazette)

Houghton forward Brody Donnelly shoots while fending off the backcheck of Calumet forward Rogan Gronlund in the Division 3 Region 17 championship game Wednesday at the MacInnes Student Ice Arena in Houghton. Donnelly scored on the shot. (Daver Karnosky/Daily Mining Gazette)