Joe Pennicooke and Yuri Nikonov watch for the puck to come out of the corner.
(MyBayCity Photo by John Keuvelaar)

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Tri City Icehawks Struggle Against Mountain Cats, Lose 10-2.

November 6, 2010       Leave a Comment
By: John Keuvelaar

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There are moments when the Icehawks look like they have put it all together and then they run into "quicksand". That point where after everything was going well then one thing when wrong, then another, then another and soon you are over your head. Such was the fate of the Icehawks Friday night.

With a stabilize roster of talented players, the Icehawks jumped out of the gates confident and looking ready to break into the win column and go on a winning streak. The defense challenged the puck and checked with authority. Battles were won along the boards and passes were more anticipated and delivered. The Icehawks entered the offensive zone attacking and putting pucks on the net. Then they encountered some quicksand.

It started five minutes into the period when the defenseman left the front of the net to challenge the Mountain Cats' Cameron Dimmitt who just came off the boards. Dimmitt fired the puck through the vacated area to an awaiting Bryant Danielson at the backdoor who directed it behind goalie Yury Nikonov for a 1-0 goal.

The Icehawks continued their excellent play and after earning a power play, capitalized on their opportunity. Icehawks score on Jeffry Wood's pass from behind the net that found it's way through the crowd to an awaiting Dean Potila who banged it in for a 1-1 tie.

The Icehawks continued to look strong as the killed off a power play thanks to great hustle including a body sliding block of a shot by Lacy. Then the Icehawks nearly caught a break as they got control of the puck just as Bradley Passino exited the penalty box but the pass was just out of his reach for a clear breakaway. Then the wheels fell off the bus. While goalie Yury Nikonov was trying to prevent a pass from behind the net to go out front, the puck deflected off his stick and into his net making it 2-1. Thirty seconds later, a turnover at the blue line found Bryant Danielson in deep. His shot was stopped but rebounded out front to an awaiting Kyle Parker making it 3-1 Mountain Cats. A minute later, the Cats' Danielson skated down the right side and hit the open net to the right of Nikonov for a 4-1 lead.

Play stabilized for most of the period until the Cats attacked the net with Zach Collins knocking in a rebound to send the teams to the locker room with the Cats holding a commanding 5-1 lead.

Frustration boiled over in the second period as the Icehawks tried to climb back into the game with a more physical style. However the effort resulted in one five minute major and two game misconducts keeping the Mountain Cats on the power play much of the period including two 5 on 3 advantages. While the defense made a valiant effort at keeping the Cats off the score board, the onslaught of shots found their mark 5 times making the score 10-1 after two periods.

The third period saw the Icehawks change their tactic to more skating and less checking along with Alex Montagano taking over the goaltending duties. The fast pace action made for exciting hockey with the Cats content to work on long range shots looking for deflections and pin point passes for charging wingers. Montagano was able to keep the Cats off the boards and Cameron Bruff scored the lone goal of the period for the Icehawks as he snapped in a deflected shot by defenseman Maxim Pyluyko making the final 10-2.

While the score doesn't show it, the Icehawks showed signs of breaking out with a solid 60 minutes of hockey. They played hard to the end showing much improvement over the last couple weeks. They return to the ice Saturday night against the second place Motor City Chiefs and are back for another Friday night game, November 12th at the Bay County Civic Arena against the 0-14 Indianapolis Inferno. Come support the Icehawks as they look to go on a much needed winning streak.

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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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