Saginaw drop 2 of 3, tied for 1st in West

The Saginaw Spirit started out their road trip last weekend with a 4-2 win in Oshawa Friday night, but then hit a wall in losses to Belleville (3-0) and Brampton (6-2).

Friday night, Patrick Asselin (left) scored a pair and Zack Torquato and captain Patrick McNeill added singles for the Spirit.

Goaltender Francois Thuot made 24 saves for the victory.

"Everybody trusts each other on this team," Thuot said after the win over the Generals. "When we're down a goal or two, I trust our offense to get the goals back. And they trust the defense and the goalies to stop the other team from scoring. That's how we can come back and win when we're down a goal or two."

Saturday against the Bulls, Thuot made 32 saves. The Bulls used just seven minutes in the second period to score the three power-play goals.

Then against the Battalion yesterday, Tom Pyatt and Joe McCann were the Saginaw goal scorers. Thuot and Jovica Zelenbaba split time in net. Thuot had 21 saves on 26 shots while Zelenbaba made six saves on seven shots.

Saginaw is now tied with the Plymouth Whalers for first place in the West Division as both teams have 26 points.

The Spirit return home to the Dow Event Center to face Brampton on Friday.

Traverse City and Alpena do the splits

The in-state rivalry between the Traverse City North Stars and Alpena IceDiggers continued this past weekend as the two teams split their two-game set. Each team won on their home ice with the North Stars winning Friday night and Alpena getting the duke Saturday.

Friday night at Centre ICE, Josh Sorenson (pictured) scored twice to lead Traverse City to a 4-2 win. Travis Paeth opened the scoring and Matthew Larke’s power-play score with 5:06 remaining in the contest salted away the victory for the North Stars, who claimed a sixth straight conquest at home.

“We worked harder tonight and had the better forecheck,” said Jonathan Juliano, who celebrated his 19th birthday in style with an assist on Larke’s clincher. “Coach (Scott Gardiner) told us to stop playing at their level and try to rise above some of the penalties and stuff, and to get back to the level we had been playing at.”

Jeremy Kaleniecki stopped 23 IceDiggers shots for Traverse City while Johnny Morrow saved 25 for the IceDiggers.

Justin Stadler scored both goals for Alpena.

Saturday night, Alpena linemates Chris Lanciano and Anthony McIntyre helped keep Traverse City winless at Northern Lights Arena with a pair of goals each as the IceDiggers dealt the North Stars a 5-2 loss.

Stadler added Alpena's other goal.

"We've been talking about how important it is to get pucks on net," Alpena assistant coach Kelly Miller said. "Tonight we were rewarded for our efforts."

Miller also was happy to see Lanciano rewarded.

"Chris is solid defensively," Miller noted. "We might expect to get two goals from him for the entire season, but two in one night shows how he carried his effort into the offensive zone and gave us a big lift."

Steven Oleksy and Jake Erway scored for the North Stars, who got a 36-save outing from Kaleniecki.

Phil Greer made 25 saves for the win in the Alpena net.

The North Stars will take a six-game home winning streak into this weekend’s two-game series with Texarkana at Centre ICE. The Bandits come into the contest at 12-4-1 after splitting a home-and-home set with defending NAHL champion Texas. Both the Friday and Saturday contests are slated for 7:30 face-offs. The Saturday contest will be preceded by the Pat Erway Hockey Benefit game at 5:00 p.m.

Alpena travels to Mahoning Valley for two games Friday and Saturday night.

Black Bears win both over weekend

The Northern Michigan Black Bears beat the Manitoulin Wild, 6-2, Friday night on the road and then took a 3-2 win at the Big Bear Arena Saturday night against the Abitibi Eskimos.

Michael Caprio (pictured) tallied a hat trick Friday night and goalie Tony Stoehr made 24 saves. Derek Stabile, Anthony Perdicaro and Ryan Huggett scored solos for Northern Michigan. Chris Cooper added three assists and Isaac Viau and Jesse Peltier chipped in with two assists each.

The game was 2-2 heading into the third period until the Black Bears scored four unanswered goals.

Saturday night, Caprio, Viau and Tyler Huskey paced the Northern Michigan attack and Stoehr finished with 17 saves.

The Black Bears host Blind River Saturday night and travel to the Soo Sunday evening.

Helmick leaves Whalers, goes home

Defenseman Jake Helmick has reportedly left the Plymouth Whalers and gone home to West Virginia. Helmick had played in seven games this year and did not register a point.

He joined Plymouth last January as the team's "wild card" 1988-born rookie and was pointless in 11 regular season games and two playoff games.

Helmick was originally Plymouth's fourth-round pick, 73rd overall, in the 2004 OHL Priority Selection and the first-ever West Virginia native to play in the OHL.

UPDATE - Plymouth coach-GM Mike Vellucci said Saturday night that Helmick has strep throat and that he "expects him back soon."

Photo courtesy of the Plymouth Whalers.

Whalers lose in shootout in Owen Sound

Owen Sound defenseman Andrej Sekera scored twice in regulation and then added the only goal scored in a shootout to give the Owen Sound Attack a 7-6 shootout victory over the Plymouth Whalers last night at the Harry Lumley Bayshore Community Centre in Owen Sound.

Jeff Kyrzakos also scored twice for Owen Sound, while Bobby Ryan and Mike Angelidis scored one each for the Attack. Plymouth (10-6-1-1, second place OHL West) got a pair of goals from rookie Ondrej Otcenas (pictured) and singles from Andrew Fournier, Vaclav Meidl, Gino Pisellini and Mike Letizia.

Owen Sound outshot Plymouth, 48-25 through regulation and a five-minute overtime. Justin Garay stopped 42 of 48 Owen Sound shots for Plymouth while Kyle Knechtel stopped 19 of 25 shots for Owen Sound.

First-period goals by Fournier and Meidl gave Plymouth a 2-0 lead, even though Owen Sound outshot Plymouth, 23-8, in the first period.

Owen Sound scored four unanswered goals in the second period to lead 4-2 after forty minutes on a pair of goals by Kyrzakos and Sekera.

Plymouth bounced right back at the start of the third period to tie the game at 4-4 on goals by Otcenas (0:24) and Pisellini (0:50). But the Attack regained a 6-4 lead on Angelidis’ goal at 10:28 of the period and a disputed goal by Ryan at 12:19.

Otcenas cut the Owen Sound lead to 6-5 with his second of the evening at 13:55 and then – with Garay pulled for an extra attacker and the Whalers working with a 6-on-4 advantage – Letizia scored from the slot with 30 seconds left in regulation to tie the game at 6-6.

After a scoreless overtime, Sekera scored the only goal in the shootout to give Owen Sound the victory. John Vigilante, Dan Collins and Otcenas did not score for Plymouth in the shootout.

Plymouth is back in action Friday night in Sarnia before returning home to face London on Saturday night at 7:30 pm at the Compuware Sports Arena.

Tornado's Messier carving a name for himself

By Matt Mackinder
USA Junior Hockey Magazine

The last name is about all Lyon Messier has in common with his father, the recently-retired Mark Messier.

The elder Messier is a surefire Hall of Famer while Lyon, an 18-year-old rookie with the Texas Tornado, plays defense and is a long way from his father’s totals (by comparison, Mark was in the NHL at 18).

“I’ve always wanted to play pro hockey and if college is the way to go, then so be it,” said Messier, also noting he hasn’t received any NCAA offers yet. “Right now, I just want to help the team here progress and if we win a championship at the end of the season, that’s a bonus.”

Tornado coach-GM Tony Curtale said not a day goes by that the all-too familiar topic comes up.

“People always ask him about his dad and what it’s like to be his son,” Curtale said. “But for the most part, I think Lyon tries to block that out and tries to be a successful player on his own.”

The 6-foot, 190-pound Messier agreed with his coach’s assumption.

“Everyone thinks that having a father like that would be different, but really my childhood was just like any other childhood,” Messier said. “It just happened that my father was a good hockey player and he and I played a game that we both love.

“I might have gotten noticed a lot because of my last name, but I want to play my game for who I am and get noticed that way.”

Messier was born in Virginia and played hockey there until he was 14 when he moved with his mother to Michigan. There, he played Bantam AAA for Little Caesars and then played Junior B with the Tecumseh (Ontario) Chiefs for two years. Now, he’s elevated his game again to play with Texas.

“I was in Tecumseh and my grandfather made a few calls,” admitted Messier. “I went and played in a prospects tournament and the (Tornado) coaches saw me and invited me down and tendered me.

“It took a couple games to get used to the game here because it’s so different than in Canada, but the atmosphere is great here and definitely the highest and most elite level I’ve played.”

North Stars deal two

The Traverse City North Stars made another move on Wednesday, dealing a pair of players to the North Bay Skyhawks of the Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League. Defensemen Nathan Peterson and Anthony Sarno were sent to North Bay for an undisclosed sum of cash.

Peterson, who appeared in nine games this season for the North Stars, did not register a point and was whistled for one minor penalty over that time. Peterson prepped at Cadillac High School, where he was a three-time All-Region selection by local media.

Sarno (pictured), who played for the Turino Bulls in Italy last season and is a former Traverse City Enforcer of the now-defunct Continental Elite Hockey League, saw action in 13 games in 2005-06 for the Stars, collecting a pair of goals and four assists.

The trade comes on the heels of a bevy of personnel movement over the past 14 days. Austin Rugal was sent to Alpena and Scott Ponstein reassigned to Blind River of the NOJHL, while defenseman Eric Elmblad was signed and Josh Sorenson acquired in a cash deal with the NAHL's Texas Tornado.

Black Bears and CSHL roundup

The Northern Michigan Black Bears lost to the Sudbury Junior Wolves, 5-4, Friday night at Big Bear Arena.

Jake Watchorn, Sean Farley, Anthony Perdoicaro and James Ciotti scored for the Black Bears while goaltender Tony Stoehr (left) made 19 saves.

The Wolves scored at 16:24 of the third period to escape with the win.

Saturday's home game against Manitoulin was not reported.

Northern Michigan plays at Manitoulin Friday night and back home Saturday against Abitibi.


CSHL WEEKEND SCORES

Sat., Nov. 5
Cincinnati 3 at Metro 4
Motor City 3 at St. Louis 6
Toledo 2 at Michigan 5

Sun., Nov. 6
Motor City 2 at St. Louis 5
Cincinnati 2 at Flint 5
Grand Rapids at Michigan - not reported

Alpena plays forgettable weekend

Three home games in three days meant three losses for the Alpena IceDiggers over the weekend.

Friday, Johnny Morrow (pictured) made 27 saves, but Alpena lost, 3-0, to the Mahoning Valley Phantoms.

In Saturday's rematch, Phil Greer stopped 22, but the IceDiggers lost, 5-2. Anthony McIntyre and Todd Rudasill scored Alpena's goals.

Then yesterday, Drew Pierson's goal at 17:37 of the third period tied the game at 3-all before Cleveland won, 4-3, in a shootout. McIntyre scored the first two IceDiggers' goals. Morrow finished with 27 saves and all five Alpena shooters missed in the shootout.

The IceDiggers play a home-and-home series this weekend against the Traverse City North Stars - Friday in Traverse City and Saturday in Alpena.

North Stars sweep away Cleveland

The Traverse City North Stars improved to 8-7-2 overall with a pair of wins on home ice last weekend over the Cleveland Jr. Barons.

“Just a good solid weekend,” said North Stars coach-GM Scott Gardiner. “Cleveland didn’t play that poorly. We just got some bounces and some breaks and we were able to take advantage of them. We just played with a little more heart this weekend than we have been. It’s a different team right now.”

Friday night, goalie Jeremy Kalieniecki stopped Josh Leonard on a penalty shot with less than five seconds left in the third period and the North Stars ahead, 3-2.

“We really needed that one,” said Gardiner. “It was great to get back home and to taste victory again. Kaleniecki was huge for us, especially there at the end.”

Kelieniecki made 34 saves and Jonathan Juliano, with two, and Adam Sponseller scored for the hosts. Newly-acquired Josh Sorenson assisted on Julaino's second goal. Sorenson was obtained from Texas last week.

Then Saturday night, Traverse City used a three-goal outburst in the first 20 minutes of action and cruised to a 6-2 triumph.

Sorenson, Matthew Larke, Sponseller (two), Travis Paeth and Patrick Nagorsen tallied for Traverse City and Kalieniecki stopped 28 shots.

“That’s what we needed after last weekend at Mahoning Valley,” said Nagorsen. “We’re playing smarter and playing to our system. If we shut them down in the defensive zone, it only helps us in the offensive end.”

The North Stars return to Centre ICE Friday when North Division rival Alpena comes to Traverse City for the front end of a home-and-home series. Game time on Nov. 11 is slated for 7:30 p.m.

Photo by John L. Russell/Great Lakes Images

Saginaw's win streak ends in Windsor

Saginaw's win streak ended at eight games as the Spirit dropped an 8-2 decision Sunday afternoon in Windsor against the Spitfires.

"I'm not disappointed with our effort," said Spirit coach-GM Bob Mancini. "We just weren't ready to put together three games in two-and-a-half days. But every lesson we learned from our eight game streak was important and we learned some important lessons from this loss to Windsor as well."

Ryan McDonough and Joe McCann scored for Saginaw. Ryan Daniels started in net and played 40 minutes and had 18 saves in the loss. Jovica Zelenbaba played the final 20 minutes and had nine saves in his OHL debut after getting called-up from the Kitchener Junior Rangers major midget program.

Zelenbaba was a ninth-round pick of Saginaw in last May's OHL draft.

"We're happy to have a goaltender like Jovica available to activate," said Mancini. "He has the potential to be a fine goalie for our team and in the Ontario Hockey League."

Saturday night at home, the Spirit came from behind to beat the Oshawa Generals, 7-5. Saginaw goaltender Francois Thuot stopped 33 shots in the effort, including a penalty shot against the OHL's top draft pick, 15-year-old John Tavares.

McDonough had two goals and two assists, Tom Pyatt (pictured) two goals and an assist, Michal Birner three assists, Zack Torquato two goals and captain Patrick McNeill added a goal and an assist.

Oshawa led, 3-0, after the first period.

"We were down in the first period and didn't play that well," McNeill said. "But we were able to learn from that and get back into the game."

At home Friday night, the Spirit took a 3-1 win over the Toronto St. Michael's Majors. Torquato, Birner and Tyson Gimblett scored for Saginaw, who got a 36-save performance from Daniels.

"Toronto rolled three good, talented offensive lines against us," Spirit associate head coach Ian Herbers said. "But we were able to play our game and our defense stepped up when we needed them."

The Spirit remain in first place in the OHL's West Division and are just one point back of Western Conference-leading Guelph Storm for the top spot in the conference.

Saginaw returns to action Friday when the Spirit take on Oshawa for the first game of a three-game Eastern Conference swing. Saginaw returns home Friday, Nov. 18 to face the Brampton Battalion.

Whalers lose in Guelph, then beat Toronto

The Plymouth Whalers concluded their three-game week with a 3-2 shootout win over the Toronto St. Michael's Majors Saturday night.

Chris Terry scored the winner (pictured) on the shootout's final shot. Steve Ward scored Plymouth's regulation goals and Ryan Nie made 40 saves.

“As I came in, he (Toronto goalie Justin Peters) came out pretty far to take the shot away,” Terry explained. “So I came in and gave a little fake shot and he fell for it and just froze. I was able to walk around him (and score).”

Friday night, John Armstrong scored both goals for Plymouth in a 7-2 loss on the road against the Guelph Storm. Armstrong's second goal, eight seconds into the third period, set an all-time franchise record for a goal at the start of a period, a record previously held by Keith Redmond, who scored nine seconds into the second period in a 5-2 loss in Belleville on Feb. 15, 1992.

Justin Garay stopped 30 shots in the defeat.

The Whalers started the week with a 5-2 win Thursday night in Windsor.

Plymouth plays Wednesday night in Owen Sound, Friday night in Sarnia and Saturday night at home against London.

Chris Terry photo courtesy of the Whalers/Walt Dmoch.

Pair of North Stars named on NHL list

Twenty-seven North American Hockey League players have been placed on the National Hockey League Central Scouting Bureau's Watch List that was released yesterday.

The Watch List provides an early indication of those players who, in the opinion of the NHL Central Scouting Bureau, may have draft potential and should be seen by the scouts of NHL clubs. The list is provided to each NHL team management for their review and is drawn from the pool of those players eligible for the 2006 NHL Entry Draft - 1986, 1987 and to September 15, 1988 birthdates, concentrating on the ’87s and ’88s. As the season progresses, the list may change depending how a player is progressing.

Two Traverse City North Stars made the B List - players who have exhibited talent worthy of consideration to be a draft selection. Forwards Travis Paeth and Adam Sponseller (pictured) were named on the list.

“We congratulate the players on the NHL Central Scouting Watch List and we congratulate our teams and their coaches for their outstanding efforts in developing these players,” said NAHL commissioner and president Michael Santos. “At the same time, this is an accomplishment for our entire league, for it is the outstanding competition in the NAHL that helps bring out the best in all our players. We thank NHL Central Scouting for recognizing the rapidly escalating talent level and quality of play in the NAHL. ”

Photo courtesy of the Traverse City North Stars

Plymouth downs Windsor, 5-2, Thursday

The Whalers celebrate Gino Pisellini's goal Thursday night

(Photo courtesy of Plymouth Whalers/Walt Dmoch)

Andrew Fournier's goal at 17:51 of the second period snapped a 2-2 tie and the Plymouth Whalers went on to defeat the Windsor Spitfires , 5-2, Thursday night at Windsor Arena.

The victory moves Plymouth (9-5-1-0) to within one point of first-place Saginaw (10-3-0-0) in the OHL West Division. Windsor falls to (5-11-0-0), last in the OHL West Division and last in the Western Conference.

Five different players scored for Plymouth. John Armstrong, Dan Collins (team-leading 14th), Gino Pisellini and Tom Sestito all added goals for the Whalers.

Ryan Garlock and Cal O'Reilly replied for Windsor.

"They were all over us," O'Reilly said in the Windsor Star. "We couldn't get out of our end."

Plymouth goaltender Ryan Nie stopped 28 of 30 Windsor shots for his fifth victory of the season. Nie was particularly sharp in the first 4:37 of the game when Windsor had two power plays and outshot Plymouth at that point in the game, 8-0.

Anthony Guadagnolo made 43 saves for the Spitfires.

The Whalers are back in action tonight in Guelph and will return home Saturday night at 7:30 p.m. at the Compuware Sports Arena to host Toronto.

Whalers' rookie Terry earns OHL award

The Ontario Hockey League today announced the OHL Academic Players of the Month for the month of October.

“We are very pleased to introduce this program which identifies and recognizes players who have also enjoyed success in their academic careers,” said OHL Commissioner David Branch. “All of our teams support the academic pursuits of our players and count on scholastic achievement as one of the building blocks of a successful student athlete."

West Division - The OHL Academic Player of the Month for October in the West Division is Chris Terry of the Plymouth Whalers. The 16-year-old from Brampton, Ontario, is enrolled in grade 11 at Plymouth High School in Plymouth, Michigan.

“It’s not always easy to combine our busy schedule on the ice with work in school – especially for a player in his first year in the league,” said Plymouth assistant coach Todd Watson. ”But Chris has been able to manage his time well. He deserves this award.”

Midwest Division - Vince Scott, Erie Otters
Central Division - Blake Parlett, Barrie Colts
East Division - Geoff Killing, Belleville Bulls

Each month, the OHL recognizes a player from each division who is striving to reach his full potential in his educational program while playing in the OHL. More than 97 percent of the players currently playing in the league are currently attending high school or post-secondary institutions. More than 400 OHL graduates are currently attending Canadian universities and colleges on scholarships from their OHL teams.

North Stars ready for Cleveland

An everyman comedian once penned a theme song to a sitcom that proclaimed: “Cleveland rocks.”

In North American Hockey League circles, truer words were never spoken. The Cleveland Barons visit Centre ICE this weekend for a Nov. 4-5 two-game series against the Traverse City North Stars sporting the league’s most explosive offensive duo in Carter Camper and Josh Leonard.

Camper rolls into town brandishing the lead in the NAHL scoring chase with 28 points in the Barons’ 20 contests, while Leonard is fifth in the league with 21 points. Leonard’s 11 goals are second-most in the NAHL, while Camper has 10 -- tied for third.

The North Stars are quite familiar with the high-octane tandem. In the teams’ Sept. 16-18 three-game set, Camper scored a pair of goals and assisted on four others, while Leonard registered a hat trick in a 5-1 Barons triumph on Sept. 17.

“We definitely gotta pay a little more attention when they’re on the ice,” admitted North Stars head coach/GM Scott Gardiner. “But at the same time, you can’t change your gameplan for two players. They’re excellent perimeter players with speed and skill, but we can’t let them drive the net.”

The North Stars come into the series having lost a pair to Mahoning Valley last weekend that capped over a month of NAHL action away from Centre ICE. The Stars’ last home game was Oct. 1, a 2-1 shootout victory over the Team USA U-17 squad. Since then the club has traveled more than 3,000 miles, which included trips to Alpena, the NAHL Showcase in Blaine, Mn., and the Youngstown-based Phantoms last weekend.

“It’ll be great to get back home,” said Gardiner, whose team boasts a 4-2 mark thus far at Centre ICE arena. “We don’t have another big road trip until December, so guys are going to get to sleep in their own beds, dress in their own room, and play in front of their own fans. We can’t wait to get back on home ice.”

The North Stars begin a busy month at Centre ICE this Friday for the first of the Cleveland contests. Alpena kicks off a home-and-home weekend series in TC on Nov. 11 before South Division rival Texarkana comes to Traverse City for a Nov. 18-19 series. The Team USA U-18s will visit Centre ICE arena for a Nov. 23 Thanksgiving Eve face-off.

The Nov. 19 contest against Texarkana will be preceded by the Pat Erway Hockey Benefit, which will pit the TC LawDogs against the Traverse City Fossils. The LawDogs are comprised of local law enforcement agents, while the Fossils are a collection of local businessmen, former Traverse City Central H.S. hockey teammates and coaches of Pat Erway’s, and North Stars coaches Scott Gardiner and Mike Stapleton. The LawDogs will be captained by Stars forward Jake Erway. brother of Pat Erway. Pat Erway is a detective with the Grand Traverse Sheriff’s Dept. who suffered a severe head injury while on vacation in North Carolina and is making inspiring progress in his rehabilitation at a Grand Rapids hospital. Proceeds from the gate, silent auction, and concessions will benefit the Erway Family Fund.

Daniels takes monthly OHL honor

Saginaw Spirit goaltender Ryan Daniels was named the OHL Goaltender of the Month for October after posting a 5-0-0 record along with a 1.57 goals-against average and .955 save percentage in five games. Daniels allowed only two even-strength goals over the month and is now 7-0-0 on the season with a .918 save percentage and a 2.79 goals-against average.

The 17-year-old Pickering, Ontario native is in his second OHL season. Daniels played seven games with the Spirit in 2004-05, while spending the majority of his season with the Pickering Panthers Junior A squad. Daniels was the Spirit's third-round pick, 48th overall, in the 2004 OHL Priority Selection and is NHL draft-eligible for the first time this season.

Last weekend at home, the Spirit beat Kitchener, 5-4, Saturday night and Guelph, 3-1, on Sunday. Saginaw hosts Toronto Friday night and Oshawa Saturday night before playing a matinee in Windsor Sunday afternoon.

Plymouth ends three-game skid

Their three-game losing streak is over as the Plymouth Whalers salvaged their weekend with a 6-5 win over the Owen Sound Attack Sunday afternoon.

After losing to Belleville last Saturday, the Whalers began last weekend with an 8-3 loss in London Friday night and then a 2-1 squeaker to Guelph at home on Saturday night.

Friday night against the defending OHL and Memorial Cup champs, David Bolland scored three goals for the Knights as London cruised to the easy win. Josh Beaulieu scored 29 seconds into the game and Robbie Drummond, Trevor Kell, A.J. Perry and captain Dylan Hunter also tallied for London. Hunter added four assists and Rob Schremp chipped in with three helpers. Adam Dennis stopped 37 shots for the win.

“We stood around and watched (London),” Plymouth coach-GM Mike Vellucci said. “We gave them too much respect and by the time we woke up and realized we could compete with them, it was too late.”

Vaclav Meidl, James Neal and Ondrej Otcenas (first OHL goal) scored for the Whalers, who got 19 saves out of starter Justin Garay and 11 saves out of Ryan Nie, who played 19:09 of the second period. Garay was credited with the loss. Captain John Vigilante added two assists.

“We felt we had something to prove. We don't want losing to become a habit in here,” Bolland said in the London Free Press. “I don't know if Plymouth had an off night, but we had heard they were one of the top teams in the West and we wanted to come out and perform the way we can.”

At the Compuware Sports Arena Saturday night, the Storm jumped out to a 2-0 lead on goals by Rafael Rotter and Tyler Doig and held on for the 2-1 win. Vigilante scored a short-handed goal 10:37 into the third period, but Plymouth couldn’t find the equalizer with Nie on the bench.

“A two-goal lead is nothing in hockey and it would have been easier if we would have had the lead,” Nie said. “We just have to better prepare and get back to basics.”

Nie finished with 28 saves. Ryan MacDonald made 28 saves for the Storm, but wasn’t named a star. First star went to Vigilante, second to Guelph captain Ryan Callahan and third to Plymouth forward Chris Terry.

Gino Pisellini also had a great toe-to-toe fight with Kelsey Wilson in the second period.

Against Owen Sound for a matinee Sunday, Tom Sestito’s power-play goal 7:48 into the third period off-set an Andrej Sekera hat trick for Owen Sound and Nie stopped 39 shots for the 6-5 win.

“The coaches had told us between (the second and third) periods that the referees were calling everything but we still took some stupid penalties and they capitalized on them," said Sestito (pictured), who added an assist on Pisellini's goal, to the Canadian Press. “We were fortunate to be able to respond. The bench never got down and I was able to get in front of the net and get my stick on a loose puck.”

Jared Boll and Andrew Fournier had a goal and an assist for the Whalers, Terry recorded three assists and Dan Collins and Vigilante added a pair. Cory Tanaka (penalty shot), Neal and Pisellini scored Plymouth’s other goals.

Owen Sound captain Bobby Ryan and Mike Angelidis each had a goal and two assists for the Attack while Neil Conway started in net and allowed four goals on 12 shots in 27:42. Russ Brownell took over and stopped nine of 11 in 30:41.

The Whalers are in Windsor Thursday night, in Guelph Friday night and home against Toronto on Saturday evening.

Sestito photo courtesy of the Plymouth Whalers

Whalers trade Looby to Kingston

The Plymouth Whalers have settled their overage situation with today's trade of veteran defenseman Mike Looby to the Kingston Frontenacs in exchange for a sixth-round draft choice in 2007.

The Whalers will also have the option of taking Kingston’s first-round selection in the 2006 Canadian Hockey League Import Draft in exchange for their own.

“Mike Looby did a good job for us,” Plymouth coach-GM Mike Vellucci said. “In trading him to Kingston, he’ll get a chance to play every game.”

OHL teams can carry as many as three overage players (1985 birthdays). The Whalers’ current overagers include captain John Vigilante, defenseman Mike Letizia and goaltender Ryan Nie.

Looby was acquired last season from Sault Ste. Marie on Sept. 21, 2004 and played in 59 games last season for the Whalers, scoring eight goals with 12 assists for 20 points and 72 penalty minutes while posting an impressive +19 plus/minus rating. This season – due to the overage situation – Looby played in just six games for Plymouth, going scoreless with eight penalty minutes and a +3 rating.

Kentwood native commits to Merrimack

The Sioux City Musketeers have announced forward Matt Jones has committed to Merrimack College for next fall.

Jones, from Kentwood, is a first-year skater with the Musketeers and is currently fifth in scoring on the team with two goals and four assists for six points in 10 games. Last year, Jones played with the Soo Indians of the NAHL and tallied 17 goals among 37 points.

Sioux City coach-GM Dave Siciliano recalled how Marty Quarters, a former assistant coach with the Muskies and current assistant with Merrimack, had recruited Jones initially for the Musketeers.

“Marty really liked Matt and thought he was a good fit for our organization," Siciliano said. “Marty moving on to Merrimack certainly helped him land Jones in that organization.”

Siciliano went on to state that Jones should have a fine year in Sioux City.

“Matt is off to a good start," Siciliano said. "He’s a power forward who’s at his best when he’s physically involved on the ice. We expect Matt to contribute goals and big hits for our team.”