Photos: Lucas Szyszka (#33) braces for a shot. Hunter Hayes and Ben Aucoin celebrate a goal. Hayes (#18) heads up ice. Teddy Richardson (#25) celebrates his goal on Saturday.
Weekend Recap: After a weekend off, the Windigo returned home to host its annual Stick-it-to-Cancer benefit weekend. The Windigo sweep of the Springfield Jr. Blues propelled the Windigo to 67 points, maintaining their lead in the Midwest Division standings. Fairbanks split their series on the road with Janesville and Chippewa completed a home sweep over Anchorage. As a result, Fairbanks sits in second place in the Midwest Division with 60 points. Anchorage fell to third with 58 points and Chippewa maintained the 4th and final playoff spot with 52 points.
Friday, February 21 – Jr. Blues 0 at Windigo 4: Hunter Hayes continued to shine for the Windigo, scoring twice in the first period. For his first goal, Hayes applied offensive zone pressure while on the forecheck and knocked the puck off a Springfield player’s stick. Ben Aucoin picked up the loose puck and passed it to Braydon Beahm, who was parked in front of the net. Beahm tapped the puck over to Hayes for him to jam into the net. The trio struck again seven minutes later. Aucoin took the draw in the offensive zone, and eventually gained control of the puck behind the net. He passed to Beahm, who released a shot from the far faceoff dot that bounced off the goalie. Hayes batted the waist-high rebound into the net. Windigo defense Mario DiMaggio scored his 7th goal of the season with just under a minute remaining in the opening period to put the Windigo up 3-0. Zach Cline pinned a defender behind Springfield’s net. Logan Nickolaus picked up the loose puck and found DiMaggio all alone in the middle of the high slot. DiMaggio released a quick wrist shot that found its mark just inside the near post. The Windigo outshot Springfield 13 to 4 in the first period. An evenly played second period saw both teams place 7 shots on net, none of which tickled the twine. Cline scored a goal of his own to put the Windigo up 4-0 just over seven minutes into the final frame. Lucas Szyszka was perfect in net for the Windigo, stopping all 16 shots faced on his way to his 6th shutout and 22nd win of the season. Wisconsin outshot Springfield 31 to 16 in the contest.
Saturday, February 22 – Jr. Blues 1 at Windigo 4: Saturday’s game picked up where Friday’s game left off, with the Windigo scoring twice in the first 9 minutes of play. Teddy Richardson scored his 7th of the season, and first in six games since returning from an injury he suffered in November. John Halverson won a draw in the defensive zone. Defenseman Riley Joslin picked up the puck and passed it to Richardson as he broke out of the defensive zone. Richardson carried the puck up ice along the far boards and gained the offensive zone. Richardson’s shot from the far hashmark hit Springfield’s netminder and dribbled into the net. Hunter Hayes made in 2-0 in favor of the Windigo when he buried a rebound of a shot from the point by Joslin. Former Windigo player Luke Sawicky scored with 13 seconds remaining in the first period to bring Springfield to within a goal. John Halverson put the Windigo back up by two goals 9:10 into the second period. Declan Burns and Sam Misak executed an efficient breakout from their defensive zone. Misak made an indirect pass off the boards to Halverson in the neutral zone. Halverson headed up ice, weaving his way through three Springfield players. Halverson’s shot from close range found the back of the net just inside the far post. Midway through the final frame, Zach Cline and Ronnie Hill worked to free up the puck during a battle in the corner. Hill gained control of the puck and passed it to Logan Nickolaus as he approached the goal crease. Nickolaus jammed the puck home for his 13th goal of the season to secure the victory for the Windigo. Beau Altman got the start in net and made 18 saves enroute to his 8th win of the season. Altman is sporting a 1.836 goals against average and 0.93 saves percentage. Wisconsin outshot Springfield 31 to 19 in the contest.
Coach’s Comments: Windigo head coach John Mitchell had the following to say after the weekend series: “It was great to get back home after the Top Prospects Tournament. After a very short week of practice and 7 of our players arriving back from Top Prospects late Wednesday, I wasn’t sure what to expect this weekend. For the most part, we played smart hockey and maintained a good pace. Springfield is a tough competitor and is much improved over last year. They are battling for playoff position too. it was great to get the sweep and put up 4 more points in the divisional standings. Our goaltending was solid once again. Szyszka was superb. His 22 wins and 6 shutouts puts him in the top few goalies in the league. Hunter Hayes has been on fire since we picked him up at the trade deadline. He’s a smart player and seems to know where the puck is going to be. John Halverson has been another good addition. His goal on Saturday was a great effort. He’s been scoring nearly a point a game for us during the 12 games we’ve had him. Our penalty killing unit was exceptional once again this weekend. We are leading the league in penalty killing efficiency. We continue to struggle on the power play. We’re only scoring on18% or of our power play opportunities this season, and, lately, it’s been much less than that. I’m very pleased that we are picking up the points when we should. I like the direction we’re headed.”
Hunter Hayes Named Bauer Midwest Second Star of the Week: Windigo forward Hunter Hayes registered 3 goals (2 on Friday and 1 on Saturday) to lead the Windigo to the sweep over Springfield. For his efforts, Hayes was named Bauer Midwest Second Star of the Week. In four games since joining the Windigo prior to the trade deadline, Hayes has scored 5 goals (3 of which were game winning goals) and added 1 assist. He also earned a +6 plus/minus rating with the Windigo. In 38 games with the Minnesota Mallards earlier this season, Hunter registered 13 goals, and 10 assists.
Up Next: The Windigo hit the road for a two game set against the Minnesota Wilderness on February 28 and March 1. You can watch the games live, or on demand, at www.nahltv.com. The Windigo are home next on March 7 & 8 when they host the Chippewa Steel. The games vs the Steel start at 7pm. Tickets are available at the door or at: www.wisconsinjuionrhockey.com/tickets.