Braydon Beahm’s Eight Goals Earn Him Bauer Midwest Star of the Week Honors
Photos: Braydon Beahm (#11) celebrates one of his 8 goals of the weekend. Elliot Gulley (#21) skates thru traffic. Wesley Jefferson-Swint II (#31) prepares to make a save in his first NAHL start.
Weekend Recap: The Windigo hosted the Minnesota Wilderness for Military Appreciation Weekend, in recognition of Veterans Day. Large crowds were entertained by back and forth hockey with several lead changes on both nights. Windigo forward Braydon Beahm had a memorable weekend, with a hattrick on Friday and scoring the Windigo’s first five goals on Saturday. Beahm’s eight goals on the weekend launched him into first place in goals scored in the league with 20. Elliot Gulley registered seven assists against the Wilderness, putting him in a first place tie for total points scored with 32.
Friday, November 15: Wilderness 3 at Windigo 6: The Windigo opened the scoring thirty seconds into the game when newcomer Felix Haibock dished an outlet pass to Teddy Richardson to exit their defensive zone. A Wilderness defender stood up Richardson as he entered the offensive zone. Luke Baker used his speed to pick up the loose puck. Baker faked a shot and deked Wilderness netminder Niklas Erickson forehand to backhand. The Wilderness responded halfway through the first period, taking advantage of a Windigo turnover. Braden Beahm regained the lead at 16:18 of the opening period. Mario DiMaggio’s shot from the point resulted in a rebound that Elliot Gulley pounced on. Gulley’s shot was stopped but the puck sat in the crease for Beahm to deposit into an open net. The Wilderness tied the game early in the second period. Beahm struck once again at 4:26 of the middle frame. Rookie defenseman Wyatt Herres initiated the play with a zone exit pass to Beahm. Beahm found Gulley streaking up ice along the far boards. Gulley carried the puck into the zone as Beahm bore down on the far post. Gulley passed the puck to Beahm’s forehand and his quick wrister inside the near post put the Windigo ahead for good. Mario DiMaggio closed out the scoring in the second period when his shot from the point was redirected off a Wilderness player’s skate into the back of the net. After two evenly played periods, during which the Windigo held a slight 18 to 15 shots on goal advantage, the third period found the ice tilting in favor of the Windigo. Zach Cline scored a short handed goal just over 5 minutes into the third period to put the Windigo up 5-2. Cline’s goal was initiated by Gulley winning a defensive zone faceoff. He then beat a Wilderness defender and headed up ice. As he approached the offensive zone face-off circle, Cline was skating in parallel toward the far post. Gulley passed the puck to Cline, whose quick release beat the Wilderness netminder to the blocker side. The Wilderness responded with a goal of their own with just over eight minutes remaining. Beahm completed his 3-goal hattrick with an empty netter late in the game. Lucas Szyszka earned his league leading 12th win of the season. Erickson made 21 saves and suffered the loss in net for the Wilderness.
Saturday, November 16: Wilderness 5 at Windigo 6 The Wilderness jumped out to an early lead. Braydon Beahm scored his first of five consecutive goals to tie the game with seven minutes remaining in the first period. Beahm, standing alone deep in the slot, received a precision pass from Elliot Gulley which he buried inside the near post. Former Windigo tender Luke Margenau put the Wilderness up 2-1 just over a minute later. Beahm responded with a wrist shot from the top of the faceoff circle to close the opening period with the game tied 2-2. The Windigo took advantage of a bad change by the Wilderness early in the second period. Defenseman Cashen Naeve noticed the Wilderness changing lines and quickly passed the puck to Gulley standing on the far blue line. Gulley fed Beahm as he skated into the offensive zone. Beahm received the puck in the high slot and bore down on the net all alone. His shot snuck between the Wilderness goalie’s legs. The Wilderness tied the game midway through the second period. Once again, the combination of Gulley to Beahm put the Windigo back on top. A Wilderness power play goal with 1:41 remaining in the second period tied the game, once again, at four goals apiece. The Windigo came out flying in the third period, outshooting the Wilderness 12 to 5, after being outshot 20 to 17 in the first two periods. Beahm scored his 5th consecutive goal to put the Windigo in the lead for good. The league’s leading playmaker, Elliot Gulley, passed the puck to Beahm as he maneuvered his way between two defenders in the low slot. Making it look easy, Beahm redirected Gulley’s pass into the net. Felix Haibock scored his first goal as a Windigo to increase the Windigo lead to 6-4. The Wilderness pulled their goalie for an extra attacker. Haibock fed Zach Cline with a pass to exit the defensive zone then joined him on a two-on-one rush. Cline selflessly passed the puck back to Haibock to allow him to score his first goal of his junior career. The Wilderness scored with 1:06 remaining to make the final minute of play meaningful for both sides. The Windigo controlled the play for the remainder of the game to escape with their 15th win of the season. Seventeen year-old Wesley Jefferson-Swint made his first appearance in net for the Windigo and went the distance earning his first win with 25 saves. Valdemar Anderson took the loss for the Wilderness, saving 23 or 28 shots faced.
Coach’s Comments: “I liked the way we closed out both games this weekend with strong third periods. I think that reflects the depth of talent we have on this team,” said Windigo coach Bryce Reddick after the game on Saturday. “We battled hard both nights. The Wilderness are a talented team and kept responding to our goals. We had some breakdowns in coverage right in front of our net, especially on Saturday. Good teams will make you pay for that. What can you say about a performance like Beahm had this weekend? Eight goals in two games against a quality opponent is an impressive accomplishment. You can’t overlook the importance of Gulley’s heads up play that creates those scoring chances. Gulley time and again seems to be able to thread his passes through traffic right to Beahm’s stick. Those two are clicking well together. I’m sure both of them will tell you it’s a total team effort and that is true. The guys are really starting to come together as a team. Looking ahead to next week at the Wilderness, we’ve got our work cut out for us. They will be seeking revenge on their home ice. It should be another great series,” concluded coach Reddick.
Up Next: The Windigo hit the road on Friday to face the Wilderness for two games at the Northwoods Credit Union Arena. Follow the Windigo while they are on the road on NATV. Subscribe at https://nahltv.com. The Windigo are home next on November 29 and 30 taking on the Chippewa Steel. Both games start at 7pm at the historic Dome in Eagle River. Tickets are available online at www.wisconsinjuniorhockey.com/tickets or at the door commencing 1 hour prior to the opening faceoff.
