Icehawks Fight Past The Chiefs, 9-4

February 14, 2010       5 Comments
By: John Keuvelaar

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If Elton John thought Saturday night was alright for fighting, so did the Icehawks and the Chiefs. In a well skated game, a third period bench clearing brawl overshadowed some excellent hockey including spectacular saves by the Hawks' Austin Willenborg. Once the ice was cleared and penalties assessed, the players returned to action with the Icehawks finishing off Motor City, 9-4.

The game started with Motor City on that attack. The Chiefs were soon rewarded as Jeffery Wood found the back of the net putting the Chiefs up 1-0.

Immediately the Icehawks dialed up the intensity as they controlled the puck most of the first period. Only the outstanding goaltending of Motor City's Daniel Wenner kept Tri City off the scoreboard. The Icehawks had two outstanding chances but Wenner turned toward the net and batted the puck out of the air to make one save and anticipated Carter who had snuck in the back door thwarting a second pinpoint attempt. This allowed the Chiefs to enjoy a 1-0 advantage entering the second period. The Icehawks exploded out of the locker room to start the second period. The first order of business was killing off the remaining minute and a half of the Motor City power play. Willenborg was brilliant stopping one shot with the back of his legs while sprawled out on the ice. Moments later, Mitchell Wood intercepted a shot from his teammate, Caleb O'Brien and fired it past the downed goalie who had reacted to the initial shot knotting the score at 1-1.

Austin Willenborg inspired his Icehawks with the save of the year. Sliding to his left, he stopped the initial Chief shot sending it toward the right boards. But a Chief player was right there to grab the rebound and shoot at the open net. Willenborg popped up and dove through the air making the save to keep the score tied, 1-1. Inspired by the effort, James Odom put the Icehawks ahead on a feed from Chris Fair a and Adam Pieczynski to put Tri City on top, 2-1. The Chiefs got a break while on the power play to knot the score at 2. Following a shot initially saved by Willenborg, the Chiefs Michael Potes found the puck between the goalie's feet, reached around and shot it in.

The tie was short lived. Moments later, Warren Carter put Tri city back on top with a short range wrist shot. Following this goal, play started to get out of hand. Dual fighting and a roughing penalty put the Chiefs on the power play. Shortly after that, Mitchell Wood was whistled for roughing and Motor City had a 5 on 3 advantage. Willenborg and his defensive teammates limited Motor City opportunities as they killed off the two man advantage. The momentum clearly swung Tri Cities way as Warren Carter notched his second goal of the night on a nice pass from Mitchell Wood.

A steady parade to the penalty box put Motor City on another 5 on 3 situation with just over two minutes in the second quarter. This time the Chiefs cashed in as Jeff McFarland went top shelf to narrow the score to 4-3. When the period ended with both teams jawing at each other, one knew the third period was going to be full of fireworks.

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It didn't take long for the action to heat up to start the third period. Icehawks Warren Carter and the Chiefs Doug Sitler tangled creating a 4 on 4 situation. The Icehawks Ben Kitts found this to his liking as he got behind the Chiefs defense beating Wenner for a Tri City 5-3 lead. Forty four seconds later, Mitchell Wood lifted a low Ben Kitts shot up and over Wenner and Tri City was well in control. Then came the Tri City penalties keeping the Chiefs on the power play. Tempers from both sides got hotter until just over 8 minutes were left in the game.

The fuse was lit when David Higgs was called for tripping. Chiefs Doug Sitler took the opportunity to get involved in yet another fight as he danced with Icehawk Jon Toth at center ice. While this was going on, another Chief attacked the Icehawk bench triggering players from both sides pouring onto the ice to join in the fight. There was even a Patrick Roy vs Mike Vernon sighting. When all was done, five players were thrown out of the game form each side.

Play quickly returned to hockey with teams on a 4 on 4. Always hustling Warren Carter worked a Motor City holding penalty. But it was the Chiefs who took advantage of the situation as Travis McGuckin picked off a pass getting behind the defense and going top shelf for a shorthanded goal. This narrowed the margin to 6-4 giving the Chiefs momentary life. But Ben Kitts turned the momentum back to the Icehawks. With the face-off in the Chiefs zone, Kitts took a pass for a short wrist shot, then gathered the rebound and skating around the goalie found the back of the open net. With the score 7-4, Carter notched a hat trick with an empty net shot. Then Kitts intercepted a pass right in front of the Chiefs' netminder and slipped the puck past him for his hat trick and making the final score, 9-4.

Austin Willenborg faced 48 shots stopping 44 of them for the win. Mitchell Wood led all scoring with 2 goals and 3 assists while both Warren Carter and Ben Kitts had 3 goals and an assist.

Daniel Wenner faced 52 shots for the Chiefs stopping 43.

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"The BUZZ" - Read Feedback From Readers!

Anonymous Says:       On February 15, 2010 at 08:54 AM This is Awesome Coverage! Thank you and Great Job to MyBayCity's John Keuvelaar and John Keuvelaar Sr. !!

Anonymous Says:       On February 16, 2010 at 05:57 PM GREAT ARTICLE AND EXCELLENT PICTURES....GOOD JOB!

dulllaura Says:       On February 17, 2010 at 04:07 PM Way to go IceHawks, Keep winning those games.Great save Austin. Soon You will be famous, and on my wall at ProImage. Aunt Laura

johnbruckman Says:       On February 17, 2010 at 05:52 PM I believe that they should change the name from Hockey to Blood Sport. I watched the Olympic hockey games and I relay feel that the Girls put on a more understanding game. In years to come the men will be coming in to the arenas with knives and guns for revenge. Its not a pleasure sport any more as the audience now want blood in order to satisfy the price of their ticket fair. Today as you enroll your young child in to learn how to play hockey , I watch how the parents yell and scream at their own children preparing them for a blood sport game ahead.

hockeykid9330 Says:       On October 26, 2010 at 01:37 PM i played that game in net for motor city it was without a doubt the most fun and exciting game ive ever been apart of. those two teams had a big rivalry and we brought it all to the game when we played eachother.

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John Keuvelaar
John Keuvelaar is a college student at Midwest Photography Workshops and Delta College. More from John Keuvelaar

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