Southgate's Kuhn finds home in Sioux City

By Brian McDonough
USHL Director of Communications

There's no hotter team in the USHL right now than the Sioux City Musketeers. A youthful bunch that started the season slow, the surging Musketeers are right back in the Clark Cup playoff picture after winning eight games in a row and nine of their last 10.

"I think we're playing with a lot of confidence and we're come together as a team," said Musketeers goaltender Jerry Kuhn, who was named the league's defensive player of the week after backstopping Sioux City to four of those wins.

The Musketeers' recent tear has catapulted them into a tie with Tri-City for the fourth and final playoff spot in the West Division. Both Sioux City and the Storm are only two points behind third-place Lincoln entering the final month of the regular season.

Kuhn, 19, points to a two-game sweep of Chicago Jan. 27-28 that got the ball rolling for the Musketeers.

"I think that weekend turned it all around," said Kuhn, who won both games against the Steel. "I started gaining conference and I've been playing with a lot of confidence since. The team is playing well in front of me, too."

The club followed that up with a loss in Lincoln the following Friday, but rebounded the very next night with a 5-3 win over East Division power Des Moines, in which Sioux City goaltender Beau Erickson turned aside 42 shots.

"We just need to stick together as a team and keep working hard," said Kuhn, whose .914 save percentage ranks seventh in the league. "And never quit, even when we're down."

Good thing for the Musketeers Kuhn didn't quit hockey. After starting the season with the Wasilla (Alaska) Spirit where he was seeing a lot of minutes, the NAHL club brought in a 20-year-old goaltender in October, immediately demoting Kuhn to the No. 2 role. It didn't sit well with Kuhn, who asked for his release.

"I wasn't too happy about it," he said. "I didn't understand why."

Kuhn retuned home to Southgate, Mich., and waited to see if any other junior team was interested in his services. If not, he was going to hang up the pads and go to school.

That's when Musketeers assistant coach Bobby Kinsella, whose club was struggling to find any consistency between the pipes, seized the perfect opportunity.

"After a week of being home, Bobby called me and asked if I'd like to come out," said Kuhn.

And his arrival has translated into a rejuvenated Musketeers club who would like nothing more than another crack at the Clark Cup, the prized trophy they fell one win short of last season.

"We don't want to lose, it's not acceptable anymore," said Kuhn.

http://ushl.com/news/0506/20060301ushl2.cfm

Spirit fall in Sault Ste. Marie, 4-1

The Saginaw Spirit lost to the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds Wednesday night, but still remained in first place in the West Division.

Saginaw rookie and Sault Ste. Marie native Zack Torquato scored the only Spirit goal of the evening at 7:11 of the second period with assists from captain Patrick McNeill and Ryan McDonough.

Spirit goalie Francois Thuot had 25 saves in the effort.

Saginaw's record moves to 32-27-1-0 on the season, with 65 points. Currently the Spirit are in first place in the West Division, two points ahead of the Plymouth Whalers and three points ahead of the Windsor Spitfires. The Spirit head to Plymouth for a divisional match-up against the Whalers tomorrow night.

Saginaw returns home on Saturday to face-off against the Kitchener Rangers at 7:11 p.m.

Saginaw's McNeill takes February honor

Patrick McNeill, captain of the Saginaw Spirit, was named the OHL's top defenceman for February after scoring six goals and seven assists for 13 points in 12 games.

He also compiled a plus-7 plus-minus rating in February. McNeill is the top scoring blueliner in the OHL this season with 20 goals and 50 assists for 70 points in 59 games.

He was Saginaw's first overall pick in the OHL Priority Selection in 2003.

IceDiggers schedule Meet & Greet for Sunday

Fans of the Alpena IceDiggers will get a better chance of meeting their favorite players this Sunday.

The IceDigger players and mascot Digger himself will be at JJ's Steak and Pizza House on 2nd Ave. in Alpena following their game versus Traverse City at 3:00 p.m. at Northern Lights Arena. Fans that attend the game will be able to get autographs, pictures and shake hands with their favorite players.

After Sunday's game their will only be three regular season home games left to the 2005-2006 season and this gives fans the opportunity to let the team know how they have enjoyed supporting the team all season long through the good times and the not-so-good times.

Fans that attend are encouraged to stick around and have dinner with the team as well. The team will be available for autographs and pictures from the end of the game until 7:00 p.m.

The IceDiggers are also in action this Friday and Saturday night as they play host to former IceDigger Adam Snead and the Cleveland Barons. Both contests start at 7:00 p.m.

Rangers hire Mendelson as head coach

The Marquette Rangers entered the NAHL two weeks ago and today have a head coach.

Leigh Mendelson, currently an assistant coach with the USHL's Green Bay Gamblers, has accepted the position as Marquette's first bench boss.

“The Marquette Rangers are very pleased and excited to welcome Leigh as its head coach,” said Rangers' GM David Saint-Onge. “Since the announcement of our membership in the NAHL, we have been blessed with the opportunity to review and talk to over 30 great coaching candidates. Unfortunately we had to pick one and, fortunately for us, Leigh Mendelson wanted to coach the Marquette Rangers.”

Mendelson expressed his thoughts on his new position.

“I am excited to have the opportunity to develop the Marquette Rangers team from scratch,” Mendelson said. “We will play an honest style of hockey, exemplified by hard work and discipline. Players who choose to play here will find Marquette provides the perfect opportunity to advance their careers.”

Mendelson's primary responsibilities with the Gamblers included player recruitment and development, scouting, game preparation, special teams instruction, and practice planning and execution. He has helped lead the team to its current third place standing in the North Division, fifth place overall in the league.

Prior to joining Green Bay, Mendelson was an assistant coach of Pelicans Lahti – a team in Finland’s highest professional league. Prior to that, he had stints with the Atlantic City Boardwalk Bullies of the East Coast Hockey League in 2001-02 and again in 2003, the USA Hockey National Team Development Program in 2002-03 and six years as an assistant coach in the USHL with Omaha, Sioux City and Waterloo.

Mendelson was the associate head coach of the Omaha Lancers when they won the 2001 Clark Cup and the 2001 USA Hockey Junior A national championship. He was also an assistant with Atlantic City when it won the ECHL championship in 2003. He has helped produce over 100 NCAA Division I hockey players and over 40 NHL Draft picks in his coaching career.

“We are very happy to see the Marquette Rangers moving so quickly to assemble their organization, and it shows why the league was so enthused about this ownership group and this market, " said NAHL president and commissioner Michael Santos. "We have many excellent coaches in the NAHL who have done an outstanding job developing talent and sending them to the next level and we welcome Marquette's new coach to our league's coaching fraternity."

The Rangers have also announced their tentative tryout schedule and season ticket sign-up program.

“We continue to implement our business model in a concise and expeditious manner," Saint-Onge continued. "We’ll have our team and organization ready for play this September and hope to quickly become the team others emulate."

Thuot takes weekly OHL and CHL honors

The Ontario Hockey League today announced that Saginaw Spirit goaltender Francois Thuot is the OHL Player of the Week for the week ending Sunday, February 20, after posting a 2-0-0 record with a 1.00 goals-against average and .976 save percentage in two starts last week.

As well, Thuot was selected as the ADT Canadian Hockey League Goaltender of the Week.

Thuot was the first star after making 38 saves in a 5-1 win over the Erie Otters on February 23. He followed up with a 43-save performance and was named first star again in a 4-1 win over the Plymouth Whalers on February 26.

Thuot, a 20-year-old native of Montreal, improved his season record to 17-16-1 with a 3.33 goals-against average and .911 save percentage in 35 games. He has helped the Spirit move ahead of the Whalers by two points for first place in the West Division.

Marquette to ice team in NAHL

Junior A Rangers will play at Lakeview Arena next season

By Matt Mackinder
Courtesy of Michigan Hockey

It looks like the Alpena IceDiggers and Traverse City North Stars will get a new in-state rival this fall.

The Marquette Rangers have officially joined the North American Hockey League and will begin play this fall out of the 3100-seat Lakeview Arena. The Rangers will be managed by three principals: David Saint-Onge will serve as president and general manager, Rich Tegge will serve as vice president and director of hockey operations and Brad Layzell will serve the team as vice president and director of player development. Saint-Onge has an extensive business background and serves as president of TriMedia Consultants, Inc., a multi-disciplined professional service firm with offices in Michigan, Wisconsin and Montana. Tegge is a wealth manager with Salomon-Smith Barney and Layzell is a former Detroit Vipers’ defenseman and NHL draft pick of the Montreal Canadiens who will be instrumental in developing the team’s players.

A head coach is expected be named by the end of February.

Though the official announcement came Feb. 15, the process of getting a Junior A team in Marquette began some time back.

“We actually started our due diligence about three years ago,” said Saint-Onge. “Marquette is a great community, but there was a bit of a gap with our hockey. We have a tremendous youth program as well as excellent high school and midget (AAA Marquette Electricians) programs and then Northern Michigan University is also in town. There wasn’t a junior program. There are a lot of good players that come through here that had to leave here to play juniors.”

Saint-Onge also said that in the summer of 2003 when the NAHL had some problems with teams leaving and folding, the Marquette contingent suspended their expansion operation.

“But once the league reorganized, we picked up the pace and did more research,” he added. “The dynamics just make a lot of sense, especially with the new teams in Alpena and Traverse City. And when the Soo Indians franchise folded last spring, that created a void that we felt we could fill. We’ve always felt the Upper Peninsula should have junior hockey.”

In the Marquette community, even now the rallying support is evident. Three coaches recently told the Mining Journal that having a junior program in Marquette provides a positive feeling in town.

Marquette Senior High School head coach Joe Papin said the Rangers will do nothing but help his program.

“Our guys don't get a lot of (recruiting) looks other than when we go downstate,” he said. “This little bit of (Junior A) exposure brings a lot of scouts. With a Junior A program here, it brings more of an opportunity for our kids to go to the next level.”

Electricians head coach Jon Nebel echoed Papin’s sentiments and said the formation of the Rangers is a “win-win situation” for all those involved.

“It'll keep Marquette-based players closer to home,” said Nebel. “We look forward to forging a relationship with the Ranger players, coaching staff and organization for the betterment of the Marquette-based hockey player.”

Northern Michigan head coach Walt Kyle said he welcomes the Rangers, who will be the NAHL’s 21st team starting next season. Kyle said it will give the Wildcats another recruiting venue that won’t put miles on their cars.

“We look at the Rangers as something that will benefit our program,” he said. “We spend X-amount of dollars every year recruiting. This is going to give us a more convenient avenue with which to watch players (we may recruit). It'll be a lot easier for us to see Michigan players.”

And even as the Rangers will give area players an opportunity to stay and live at home while playing Junior A hockey, it’s not the No. 1 reason Saint-Onge and company put a NAHL team in Marquette.

“We’d obviously love to get a lot of the local kids,” Saint-Onge said. “But we’re not going to focus our entire efforts here getting all local kids. The kids have to have the talent to be able to play at this level, too. The Rangers are just one option, as there are also the other 20 NAHL teams and the USHL. But still, if we get a couple local kids, I think that could definitely help our fan base.”

Once a head coach is in place, Marquette will start evaluating players to tender and draft for their inaugural roster. The lone new team in 2006-07, the Rangers will have the first overall draft selection in this spring’s entry draft.

“When we first made the announcement (about joining the NAHL), we had 14 applicants for the head coaching position,” noted Saint-Onge. “That list has since grown to more than 25. We’re short-listing the candidates and reviewing resumes and we should have a coach hired here shortly. We’re also starting to get tryouts planned for Marquette, Detroit, Chicago and Boston.”

With a plethora of hockey in the area, Saint-Onge also said that they are going to go to great lengths to avoid any scheduling conflicts so that when the Rangers are at home, NMU is on the road and vice versa.

“We may even be able to schedule a couple days where we all play together,” Saint-Onge explained. “Maybe the Electricians play late morning/early afternoon, we play the matinee and then the Wildcats play at night. We’ll be out in the community and the community has already started to support us and put their arms around us.

“We’ll be ready to go on Sept. 15.”

Traverse City folds in third, loses to U-17's

For the second straight game, the Traverse City North Stars took a reasonably comfortable lead into the third period, and for the second straight game an opponent came from behind to claim victory at Centre ICE arena.

On Sunday afternoon, it was the U.S. National Team Development Program’s Under-17 squad that snatched victory from the jaws of defeat, scoring thrice in less than seven minutes to knock off the hosts by a 4-3 count. The loss comes on the heels of Saturday’s shootout setback against Texas, after TC had constructed a 2-0 advantage.

“It was still a great weekend from an effort standpoint,” assessed Traverse City head coach/GM Scott Gardiner. “And that’s a good sign heading into this stage of the season. We played nine hard periods plus an overtime this weekend, and I’m excited to see us play that way.”

Stars defenseman Steven Oleksy scored his second goal in as many nights to open the scoring on Sunday at the 15:21 mark of the third period. Adam Sponseller and Jared Mullen assisted. Joe Schweiger pushed the Stars bulge to 2-0 a mere 2:33 later, as Sponseller drew another assist. Mike Cieslak cut the U-17 deficit in half 2:38 into the second stanza, but Travis Paeth lit the lamp at 15:27 to help Traverse City regain a two-goal cushion. Patrick Nagorsen assisted.

A pivotal sequence near the halfway point of the final period saw Brett Englebright take a pass from Jake Erway and roof a shot that hit the inside top of the net, and bounced back into play. The goal judge hit the red light, the players celebrated, and the celebratory horns echoed throughout Centre ICE arena before referee Mike McCreary waved off the goal despite repeated objections from the goal judge, linesman, and nearly 800 fans in attendance.

“I’m not the kind of guy who will blame the officials for anything,” Gardiner said. “But that showed poor judgment on the referee’s part. They’re not supposed to help determine the outcome of the game, and that would have put us ahead 4-1 with 10 minutes or so to play. But we’re supposed to be able to overcome those kinds of things, the things we have no control over.”

Given new life, Team USA-17 (31-9-4) seized control of the affair, as A.J. Sturges (10:09), Colby Cohen (11:43), and Cade Fairchild (16:36) scored a trio of unrequited markers down the stretch to give the visitors two points.

Jeremy Kaleniecki got the start in net for TC, turning aside 27 of the 31 shots he faced. Josh Unice worked the pipes for Team USA, making 21 stops.

By virtue of Team USA’s 11-3 undressing of Alpena on Saturday night, the North Stars (15-30-6) retain a 13-point lead on the IceDiggers for the fourth and final playoff spot in the NAHL’s North Division. TC has seven games left, while Alpena will play 11 times, including four versus the North Stars. Mahoning Valley comes to town next weekend for a Friday-Saturday series at Centre ICE.

“They’re a very good team,” said Gardiner. “They’re big and they play with skill. We have to figure out a way to beat them, since we’ve only done it once.”

Both games next weekend face-off at 7:30 p.m.

Saginaw solidifies hold on first, wins Sunday

Jesse Gimblett’s power-play goal at 15:26 of the third period snapped a 1-1 tie and the Saginaw Spirit went on to defeat the Plymouth Whalers, 4-1, in front of 4,170 at the Dow Event Center Sunday afternoon.

With the victory, Saginaw (32-26-1-0) moves into sole possession of first place in the OHL’s West Division with 65 points, two points ahead of Plymouth (29-25-1-4) and three points up on Windsor (28-26-3-3), who lost, 4-3, in Sudbury on Sunday afternoon.

Tom Mannino (pictured), Ryan McDonough and Zack Torquato added goals for Saginaw while former Spirit forward Joe McCann scored Plymouth's lone goal.

Francois Thuot stopped 43 shots for the win while Justin Peters stopped 27 for Plymouth.

Plymouth and Saginaw meet again Friday night at the Compuware Sports Arena at 7:30 pm.

Black Bears do weekend split

The Northern Michigan Black Bears fell Friday night at home to the Soo, but rebounded for a win last night in Blind River.

Friday night, the Bears suffered a 3-1 setback as only Anthony Perdicaro scored. Tony Stoehr made 22 saves in net. Northern Michigan out-shot the Thunderbirds, 36-28.

Last night, Perdicaro scored twice and added an assist in the 7-4 victory over the Beavers. Michael Herbert, Isaac Viau, Ryan Murtaugh, Chris Cooper and James Ciotti also tallied to back Elliott Hogue's 36 saves.

Ryan Huggett chipped in with two assists for the Bears.

Northern Michigan (26-13-6) plays on the road Wednesday versus the Sudbury Jr. Wolves.

London tops Plymouth in a shootout

Plymouth defenseman Ryan McGinnis defends London forward A.J. Perry in front of Whalers' goalie Justin Peters Saturday night

London captain Dylan Hunter scored the only goal of the shootout to lead the Knights to a 3-2 win over the Plymouth Whalers in front of 3,028 Saturday night in Plymouth.

"I've been going low blocker lately and (Plymouth goalie Justin Peters) took that away," said Hunter to the Canadian Press. "I faked a shot from my backhand and went back to my forehand, he bit on it and I had a wide open net."

Rob Schremp and Jordan Foreman scored in regulation time for the Knights.

Adam Dennis stopped 41 shots in regulation and all three shooters - Evan Brophey, Chris Terry and Mike Letizia - in the shootout.

"You just have to be patient and wait them out," Dennis said in the same CP story. "I was lucky to do that and get all three.

Tom Sestito and Andrew Fournier replied for the Whalers (29-24-1-4), who got 45 saves from Peters.

"We obviously wanted to get the two points," Plymouth coach-GM Mike Vellucci said. "But we'll settle for one."

Peters stopped David Bolland and Schremp in the shootout.

The Whalers play in Saginaw this afternoon.

Photo by Walt Dmoch.

Texas edges Stars in shootout Saturday night

If two out of three ain’t bad, then three out of four must be downright respectable.

The two-time defending North American Hockey League champion Texas Tornado huffed and puffed, but in the end had barely enough wind left to eke out a 3-2 shootout victory over the host Traverse City North Stars on Saturday at Centre ICE arena. The Stars claimed three of a possible four points from the Tornado over the weekend, and moved 13 points ahead of fifth-place Alpena for the fourth and final playoff berth with eight games remaining for Traverse City.

“I’m happy – happy with our effort,” said Stars head coach/GM Scott Gardiner. “We got three points, and we still have two more on the table tomorrow (against Team USA U-17). I saw some of our guys hanging their heads after the game and I told ’em, ‘Get your heads up. You just gave the two-time champs everything they could handle.’ If we get effort like we did these last two nights for the rest of the season, ANYTHING can happen.”

As they did in a 7-4 win over Texas on Friday, the North Stars jumped out to an early lead on Saturday, when Adam Sponseller got things going just 1:20 into the affair on assists from Brett Englebright and Joseph Schweiger. The Tornado actually outshot the hosts by a 14-7 margin, but few were quality scoring chances, and TC netkeep Ryan Donovan dealt with those that were.

Patrick Nagorsen capped a back-and-forth second stanza with his 16th goal of the season with a mere 1:02 remaining before intermission, giving TC a 2-0 edge.

The defending champs, who saw plenty of time in the Centre ICE arena penalty box, went seriously shorthanded with a series of unsportsmanlike maneuvers, including Andrew Harrison throwing a punch at an official. Harrison, Billy Skwarczewski, and Justin King were all ejected from the contest in the third, and Texas finished the contest with 61 minutes in box time on 17 infractions. The Stars drew seven penalties for 22 minutes.

Jordan Mowbray scored the game-tying goal with nine seconds left in regulation on a disputed play in which the Stars’ net was dislodged from its moorings as the puck crossed the goal line. Gardiner says it’s just part of the game.

“I’m not going to worry about that because it’s out of our control,” he said. “It’s done and there’s nothing we can do about it. When you look at the big picture, we have every reason to be proud of our effort and our conduct.”

In the shootout, Texas goalie Troy Redmann stopped all but one shot -- Travis Paeth’s – while Karl Sellan, Derek Danowski and Tom Brooks each found twine for the Tornado.

The Stars finish up a busy weekend on Sunday, hosting the Team USA Under-17 squad in a 1 p.m. matinee. They’ll be back at Centre ICE arena again next weekend, playing host to the Mahoning Valley Phantoms on Friday and Saturday.

Saginaw tops Sarnia Saturday, 4-1

The Saginaw Spirit regained a share of first place in the OHL West Division with Saturday's 4-1 win over the Sarnia Sting at home.

The Spirit win coupled with Plymouth's shootout loss to London means the teams are tied with 63 points atop the West. The Spirit have a game in hand on the Whalers. Idle Windsor fell into third place with 62 points.

Tom Pyatt (pictured) scored twice with Michal Birner and Patrick Asselin adding singles.

Spirit goalie Ryan Daniels made 28 saves in the game.

Saginaw's record improves to 31-26-1-0. The Spirit resume action today at 2:00 p.m. versus Plymouth.

Alpena smoked by USA Under-17 Team

Ross Enmark scored twice, but the Alpena IceDiggers lost big to the U.S. Under-17 Team on Saturday night, 11-3 at the Northern Lights Arena.

Justin Stadler also scored and Erik Peterson added two assists for Alpena (9-33-5). Johnny Morrow finished with 36 saves.

The IceDiggers host Cleveland this weekend.

North Stars get 'biggest win we’ve had'

The Texas Tornado was slowed to a dull breeze on Friday at Centre ICE arena, as the host Traverse City North Stars scored a 7-4 triumph over the reigning two-time North American Hockey League champions.

Travis Paeth (pictured) led the charge for the Stars with three goals and an assist, including the game-winning tally near the halfway mark of the third period. It was the second straight win for Traverse City, which has piled up 16 goals over that time, and was the biggest victory in the franchise’s brief history.

“To this point, yes, it was the biggest win we’ve had,” said Stars head coach/GM Scott Gardiner. “To knock off the champs in front of our own fans, it was awesome. We outplayed them in the first and the third, but they dominated us in the second, so it was great to see our guys come back for that final period and respond the way they did.”

The North Stars (15-29-5) raced to an early 3-0 lead on goals from Jon Madden (46 seconds in), Gaylord product Joe St. John (7:46) and Paeth (10:39) before the visitors answered with an Andrew Harrison goal with 3:39 remaining before the first intermission.

Karl Sellan scored twice and Brett Blatchford added another for Texas in the second stanza, as the hosts fell behind for the first time with 21 minutes left in the contest. But Jared Mullen knotted the affair a mere 20 seconds into the third, and Paeth recorded the decisive marker at 10:50. Jarrett Rush and Paeth added empty netters in the waning minutes to send nearly 800 fans away delighted.

“It was great, and great because it was Texas,” said Paeth, who leads the North Stars with 19 goals on the year. “When we get that first goal like we did the last two games, we’re a whole new team. We have to do that more often.”

The contest was marred by 27 penalties for 82 minutes, including a 10-minute scrum at 11:03 of the first period. Gardiner says that he was pleased to see his players remain as calm as possible amid a flurry of infractions for both squads.

“I’m glad we were able to keep our composure as well as we did,” Gardiner explained. “They tried to change the game to their style of play, but we were able to bring it back to our style of game and to stay away from the nonsense.”

Despite a rough patch that saw the North Stars drop seven straight, Gardiner says his club is beginning to come around mentally.

“We were snakebit for so long, and you keep telling the guys – to a point where I think it was wearing on them to hear it – that you just keep working hard and the breaks can go your way. Hopefully, this is starting to register.”

Patrick Nagorsen led a bevy of Stars who drew assists on the night with a pair of helpers, with former Tornado Eric Elmblad, Rush, Madden, Jonathan Juliano, Matt Larke, Richie Zobak and Traverse City native Jake Erway collecting an assist apiece.

Ryan Donovan backstopped TC to the win, raising his personal record to 5-9-2 with 26 saves on 30 shots. Matt DiGirolamo was tagged with the loss for Texas, stopping 23 of the 30 shots he saw.

The teams square off again on Saturday, as the North Stars will try to make it two straight over the defending champs before the Team USA Under-17 squad comes to Centre ICE for a Sunday matinee.

“It’s our biggest win, and we’ll enjoy it tonight, but we have to go right back to work tomorrow,” Gardiner added.

Whalers double Otters, 4-2, Friday night

Evan Brophey’s 15th goal of the season at 5:10 of the third period snapped a 2-2 tie and the Plymouth Whalers went on to defeat the Erie Otters, 4-2, Friday night at the Compuware Sports Arena.

The victory moves Plymouth (29-24-1-3) into a tie at the top of the OHL West Division with the Windsor Spitfires (28-25-3-3), who lost Friday, 5-3, in Sault Ste. Marie. The Whalers and Spitfires both have 62 points, but Plymouth has one more victory than Windsor. Saginaw was idle Friday and stands at 30-26-1-0.

Erie is now five points behind Sault Ste. Marie for the final playoff spot in the OHL’s Western Conference.

Joe Gaynor, James Neal and Gino Pisellini also scored for Plymouth.

Justin Peters stopped 35 of 37 Erie shots as the game’s second star.

Plymouth is back in action Saturday night against the London Knights at 7:30 p.m. at the Compuware Sports Arena.

Action photo by Walt Dmoch.

Saginaw wins No. 30, jump to 2nd in West

The Saginaw Spirit reached a new milestone Thursday night with a 5-1 victory over the Erie Otters at home. The Spirit won their 30th game and took sole possession of second place in the OHL West, jumping over the idle Plymouth Whalers.

The Windsor Spitfires beat the Sarnia Sting, 7-3, to remain in first place.

Vaclav Meidl (pictured) and Tom Pyatt each tallied a goal and two assists for the Spirit (30-26-1-0).

Michal Birner, captain Patrick McNeill and Chris Chappell also scored to back Spirit goalie Francois Thuot's 38 saves in the effort, earning the game's first star.

The Spirit resume action Saturday night at 7:11 p.m. at the Dow Event Center when Sarnia comes to town. It's also Country Night, courtesy 98 FM WKCQ, with national recording artist Shannon Brown performing the national anthem and in the Bud Light Blue Line Club.

IceDiggers to hold 1st Annual "Tip-The-Team"

The Alpena IceDiggers are trading in their pads and sticks for aprons and towels for the 1st Annual "Tip-The-Team" Night. The event is to be held Thursday, March 2 from 5-8 p.m. at the Twin Acres 19th Hole in Alpena.

This event is going to feature current IceDiggers players as servers, greeters and bus boys.

All "tips" for the evening will be donated to the Alpena Hockey Association to award one youngster the IceDigger Hockey Scholarship and give that recipient the chance to be a part of the Alpena Hockey Association's 2006-07 season.

"This is a great opportunity for the community to come out and see the players outside of their uniforms and in a fun, relaxing environment and enjoy some great food," Alpena coach-GM Kenny Miller said. "It's also a great opportunity to give a possible future IceDigger a chance to play hockey, when he or she maybe had no other chance."

The scholarship will be used to help offset the cost of dues for the Alpena Hockey Association membership.

Any tips given directly to 'Digger players or donated at the door will be used for the scholarship. Players will also be available for pictures and autographs. The 19th Hole will donate 10 percent of all sales back to the IceDiggers scholarship fund to help benefit youth hockey.

Dearborn's Fanto makes college choice

Omaha Lancers forward Nick Fanto, a Dearborn native, will remain in Omaha next season to play for Nebraska-Omaha of the CCHA.

Fanto, 19, pledged to UNO on Monday, becoming the 13th player from the Lancers' franchise to sign with the Mavericks.

"It just kind of happened in the last couple of weeks," Fanto told the Omaha World Herald. "I've been here in Omaha for two years and the town is great. The team is doing really well and I wanted to be a part of it."

Fanto, a second-year forward who was voted one of three assistant team captains, selected UNO over an offer from Western Michigan.

The 6-foot-2, 205-pounder plays a physical game. Points haven't come in bunches for Fanto, who has scored nine goals after collecting 10 a year ago, but he's been getting attention in other areas.

"Nick Fanto has turned a corner for us in the last two months," Lancers coach-GM Mike Hastings said in the same Herald story. "On and off the rink he's become very responsible. His best hockey is ahead of him, especially with the work he'll be doing with (UNO's strength coach) David Noonan."

Fanto stood out so much in Omaha's 5-2 loss to Indiana on Friday night that he was named the second star of the game despite not burying a goal or an assist.

"I'm just making a push for the playoffs and playing as hard as I can every shift," added Fanto.

As part of next year's freshman class, Fanto will be joining former Lancer Mick Lawrence on the UNO roster. He'll also be reacquainting with Brandon Scero, from Canton, who played against Fanto before junior hockey.

Spirit fall to Knights Sunday afternoon

The Saginaw Spirit wrapped up a four-point weekend with Sunday's 4-3 loss to the Western Conference-leading London Knights in Saginaw.

The Spirit move to 29-26-1-0 with 59 points, a point behind idle Plymouth for second place in the OHL's West Division.

Zack Torquato (pictured) scored a pair and Michal Birner added the other for Saginaw. Goalie Francois Thuot had 28 saves in the effort.

Saginaw resumes action Thursday at 7:11 p.m. versus the Erie Otters at the Dow Event Center.