Culver’s Cup a strong test for Pines hockey

The annual Culver’s Cup hockey tournament in Madison last weekend proved to be a strong test for the Northland Pines varsity boys hockey team as the team now moves into the New Year. 

Pines nearly knocked off Division 1 Co-op Fox Cities Stars in a 7-5 back-and-forth affair on Dec. 29 after opening the tournament with a dominant 10-1 win over Milton. 

“It was a good game against a very good team,” said Pines coach Zach Otto. “It took us a bit to adjust to a faster pace of hockey, but I’m happy with how they responded after trailing by two goals at two different times during the game.” 

The Stars got off to a fast start, scoring twice in the first five minutes of the game. 

But the Eagles settled in with a Cooper Saari unassisted power play goal at 8:24, then tied the game at 2-2 with 34 seconds left in the period when Saari scored from an assist by senior Josh Graves. 

Fox Cities got the lead back with two goals in the first 5:44 of period two. 

Michael Schmidt’s unassisted tally at 8:34 cut the Eagles’ deficit to 4-3, and that’s how they went to the third period. 

Pines got even at 4-4 at the 7:56 mark of the final period, when Chayce Jellen set up Oliver DePuydt’s shorthanded goal. 

The Stars took the lead back at 12:23, but just over a minute later, Bodie Bakken lit the lamp with helpers from Nicholas Hahn and Jazek Jantzen, and it was tied again at 5-all. 

It took just over a minute for Fox Cities to retake the lead at 6-5 and force the Eagles to empty their net. 

The Stars scored 39 seconds later and then ran out the remaining seconds to claim the win. 

“We had several other scoring chances and rang the post a couple times, but overall, it was a good experience for our young team that continues to improve,” stated Otto.  

The Eagles opened the Culver’s Cup with a 10-1 win over Milton on Dec. 27. 

“Slow start, but kicked it into gear in the second period,” said coach Otto. “Seven different goal scorers is a good, positive takeaway here,” he said.

The Red Hawks got on the board just under 5 minutes into the game, but another puck never got past Evrett Leslie after that. He finished the game with 15 saves. 

After the 1-0 deficit, Saari and Sam Shrock tallied goals at 8:51 and 9:47 to take a 2-1 advantage into the second period. The Eagles lit the lamp six times to stretch their lead to 8-1 after two, with Saari picking up the hat trick with two more goals in the middle frame. The scoring concluded with two goals in the third period. 

Pines was also scheduled to play a West Salem team that chose to leave Madison early due to weather concerns. 

The Eagles are now 9-2 overall as the team won’t hit the ice for another game until Tuesday, Jan. 6 . They will return with a Great Northern Conference game at Waupaca and will travel to play Lakeland Thursday, Jan. 8, at 7 p.m. before heading to Hayward Saturday, Jan. 10, for a 3 p.m. puck drop.