Friday night the boys made the trip up to Blaine to take on the Moose for their season opener. The WarHawks faithful were out in big numbers to see their new team play. You could feel the excitement in the arena build as the warm up clock wound down. It’s one of the greatest feelings in sports, before the beginning of a hockey game. No one’s won, no one’s lost. It’s pure joy and hope.Then comes what we are all waiting for. Puck drop, here we go!
Moose got on the board first and quick, scoring just 1:50 into the game. Then, about 3 minutes later, there was a loose puck in the crease. A WarHawk jumped on it resulting in a penalty shot. The Moose player took the puck down the slot, swerving back and forth trying to throw off Jacob Brumm who was in net. At the last second, Ericson from the Moose made a move to his forehand to make it a two goal deficit. Now it’s time to see what this new WarHawks team is made of. Someone forgot to tell the Jackson cousins they were down two. With 9:12 left in the 1st, Kaiden Jackson (1)(M. Jackson 1) won the faceoff on the left side. Max Jackson brought the puck to the high slot and fired it on net. KJ grabbed the rebound, beating the Moose tendy on his glove side to get the boys on the board and score the season’s first goal! At the end of the 1st period, with 4 minutes left, the Moose took a penalty. WarHawks power play went out knowing they could tie it up and tie it up they did. 30 seconds into the power play, the Hawks executed the perfect 1-3-1 power play. Stensrud had the puck in the high slot by the blue line. He fed the puck to Woods on the half wall, passing to M. Jackson in the slot. Jackson passed to Gabe Adams (1)(M. Jackson 2, Woods 1) who had a beautiful one timer to even the game up.
The Moose scored 5 minutes into the 2nd period and again with 5 minutes left. There were a ton of chances for the good guys in the 3rd period but puck luck wasn’t on our side. The Moose scored an empty netter with 46 seconds left in the game. The game ended 2-5. Brum had a 88% save percentage.
Saturday the boys went to their rival, Granite City. There was something different about the Hawks when the game started than on Friday’s game. The nerves were settled and they were out to play. 6 minutes into Saturday night’s game, the boys were playing 4 v 4 due to a scrum after the whistle. No shocker there, these two teams aren’t very fond of each other. 50 seconds into the 4 v 4 Stensrud makes a beautiful centering pass to Holtz and the puck missed his stick by an inch to get the game’s first goal. 13 seconds later the Jacks steal the puck in the neutral zone and make a zone entry on the left side, scoring from the face off dot. With a little over 10 minutes in the 1st, the Hawks get a 5 v 3 opportunity. 12 seconds into the 5 v 3, a very similar power play goal accrued like on Friday night. Stensrud has the puck up in the high slot, passes to E. Domagala who fed the puck to Max Jackson (1)(E. Domagala 1, Stensrud 1). Max fires and hits the back of the net high blocker side. 1-1. Unfortunately, the Jacks scored with just 14 seconds left in the 1st. Reinforcing the adage, the most dangerous time in hockey is the first and last minute in a period.
Second period starts with a lot of chances for both teams. Sam Moen stood on his head more than once to keep the Hawks within 1. Halfway through the 2nd period, the Jacks go on a power play. With only 20 seconds left in the PP, the Jacks had a back door tap in to make it a two goal lead. Soon after, the Jacks take a 5 minute major and give the boys a huge opportunity to get back on the board. With a little over a minute left in the 5 minute penalty, Max Jackson (2) (Woods 2) gets a loose puck in the neutral zone and has a give and go with Woods. M. Jackson makes a move in the slot for a shot on net that bests the Jacks tendy low glove for his 2nd goal of the night.
Unfortunately, that wasn’t enough to get the Dub against the Jacks Saturday night as they scored 3 in the 3rd. Talking with coach Payton after the game, he said the game felt more like a 3-2 game and he was right if you were there or watching on NAHL TV. It never felt like the boys were out of the game. Moen had a 84% save percentage.
The WarHawks are back on the road for their 3rd game of September on the 26th when they take on the Mason City Toros. First home home game is October 3rd against the Alexandria Blizzard. Get your tickets here:
