Escanaba Wraps Up Hockey Season With Banquet

ESCANABA---The Escanaba High School hockey team celebrated a successful season with its annual post-season banquet Monday night at the House of Ludington.

Despite having only a dozen skaters, the Eskymos compiled a better-than-expected record of 16 wins, 10 losses, and one shootout loss.

The highlight was a four-overtime road victory over the Kingsford Flivvers in the regional semifinals.

The Eskymos eventually lost to Marquette, 6-2, in the regional championship game after playing the state-ranked Redmen to a 2-2 tie until late in the second period.

The Eskymos’ Most Valuable Player was senior goaltender Dylan Ziemke, who complied a 7-10-0 record against the toughest opponents the team faced all season. He had a 3.49 Goals Against Average and an 89.1% saves percentage.

“It feels great being picked as MVP,” Ziemke said. “I didn’t think I was gonna get it, seeing as a forward usually gets picked for MVP. And we had a lot of great players this year. It could’ve gone to any of them. The fact that the coaches picked me is very humbling, and it’s just very nice to think about.”

The team’s Offensive Player of the Year award went to senior Jayger LaMarch, who led the Eskymos in goals with 25 goals. He added 19 assists for 44 points. LaMarch also got the coveted Ovid Provo Award from the Escanaba Junior Hockey Association.

LaMarch’s younger brother, junior Sawyer LaMarch, was given the “Little I” award for his team play. He routinely spent long stretches on the ice killing off penalties, and had the huge goal in the fourth overtime in the playoff win over Kingsford.

LaMarch led the team with 35 assists and had a team-high 54 points altogether.

“We had a great season, man,” Sawyer LaMarch said. “We only had, what, 13 skaters, two goalies. We just had a whole new coaching staff. And we were just under-rated. We did our thing, played our game, and came out with a winning season. We got really close. Staying in hotels on those overnighters, and on the road trips on the bus. We all knew each other. It went great.”

And for the second straight year, he also won the team’s Academic Award, after posting another 4.1 grade point average. LaMarch shared that award with former teammate Braden Sundquist last year. Sundquist did not play this year due to injuries.

“It’s special to me,” LaMarch said of the award for his high grades.

The Defensive Player of the Year award went to junior Gunner Bourdeau. He battled through penalty problems all season long, but logged large amounts of ice times all season long, with his defensive partner Brett Labre. Bourdeau, with a hard shot from back at the blue line, led defensemen in scoring with 24 points.

Bourdeau also won the Defensive Award as a sophomore last season.

Eskymo Captain Karson Krutina also brought home two awards. He won the Hobey Baker Character Award winner. This award is given to one player for every high school team in the country. Krutina was further recognized for his leadership and team play by winning the “Mikey D Character Award”.

Krutina was third on the team in goals with 17, second in assists with 24, and third in points with 41.

The LaMarchs’ cousin, junior Brayden Martineau, was picked as the “Player of Tomorrow”. He led the Eskymos in scoring for a time early in the season this year, and ended up fourth on the team with 15 goals and 16 assists for 31 points.