Eskymos Struggle In Penalty-Filled Showcase Game

CHEBOYGAN---The Escanaba High School hockey team had a hard time creating offensive scoring chances and lost to the Midland Dow Chargers, 3-1, Friday night, at the Hockey Showcase in Cheboygan.

The Eskymos had plenty of shots on goal, but were unable to take advantage of seven power plays...including two power plays late in the game.

"We put ourselves in bad situations," Eskymo Coach Matt Hughes said. "For lack of a better term, I think we were our own competition tonight. We took the game out of our own hands by taking penalties, and not being strong on things like passes and shots."

Hughes watched as his team struggled to gain any offensive flow, partly because of the numerous penalties, but also by what he thought was a lack of hustle. "We had a lot of shots go off our our blades, and guys weren't catching passes," Hughes said. "Once again, it comes down to effort. We need more effort out of these guys."

Midland Dow was content to mostly dump the puck, with very few offensive rushes through the neutral zone. But it worked out fine for the Chargers as the Eskymos seemed to be stuck in the mud. After a scoreless first period, Escanaba was shorthanded when the Chargers ran a back-door play for a goal by Nick Sleeper at the 38-second mark.

Later in the period, Dow took a 2-0 lead when Casey LaRue scored on a shot from a bad angle that appeared to hit a skate or stick in front of goaltender Jack Valentine.

In the third period, Charlie Zuidema scored a top-shelf goal to bring the Eskymos to within 2-1, but they could not get the tying goal, despite four minutes of power play time.

"They had good penalty killers, but I thought our power play was sloppy," Hughes said. "It was sloppy from the breakout to the entry."

"I think there was a little too much individualism going on, as far as guys trying to force plays that weren't there, and hadn't developed yet," he continued. "That forced the turnover, and they would just ice the puck."

Midland Dow outshot the Eskymos, 8-7, in the first period. The Chargers managed only eight more shots the rest of the game until they scored an empty-net goal by Alex Farrell with five seconds left. He was dragged down on a breakaway near the front of the Eskymo net, and by rule, Farrell was awarded the goal.

Escanaba outshot Midland Dow, 25-17.

Escanaba faces Midland in the second showcase game on Saturday. Game time is noon. It will be broadcast live on WCHT-AM (600), and on-line at www.rrnsports.com.

Click the thumbnails in the ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS box above to see photos taken by Mark Gauthier and to listen to radio interviews.

Date	Time	Opponent	Score	Record

11/20	7:00 PM	at Alpena Wildcats	1 - 2 (L)	0-1-0

11/21	1:00 PM	at Alpena Wildcats	7 - 2 (W)	1-1-0

11/24	7:00 PM	at Kingsford Flivvers	3 - 2 (W)	2-1-0

12/1	7:00 PM	Marquette Redmen	3 - 2 (W)	3-1-0

12/5	5:00 PM	Houghton Gremlins	1 - 0 (W)	4-1-0

12/7	7:00 PM	at Negaunee Miners	13 - 0 (W)	5-1-0

12/12	1:00 PM	Hancock Bulldogs	2 - 5 (L)	5-2-0

12/18	5:00 PM	at Midland Dow High School	1 - 3 (L)	5-3-0

12/19	12:00 PM	at Midland Chemics	5 - 3 (W)	6-3-0

12/30	7:00 PM	Painesdale-Jeffers Jets	8 - 1 (W)	7-3-0

1/3	1:00 PM	Cheboygan Chiefs	8 - 0 (W)	8-3-0

1/8	7:30 PM	Central Algoma, Ontario	4 - 1 (W)	9-3-0

1/9	1:00 PM	Central Algoma, Ontario	9 - 2 (W)	10-3-0

1/15	4:00 PM	Macomb Dakota	5 - 4 (W)	11-3-0

1/16	12:30 PM	Grand Haven High School	10 - 0 (W)	12-3-0

1/19	7:00 PM	at Marquette Redmen	2 - 0 (W)	13-3-0

1/21	7:00 PM	Calumet Copper Kings	2 - 4 (L)	13-4-0

1/28	6:00 PM	at Chelsea Bulldogs	3 - 3 (T)	13-4-1

1/29	10:00 AM	at Romeo High School	3 - 5 (L)	13-5-1

1/30	12:00 PM	at Berkley-Ferndale United	4 - 4 (T)	13-5-2

2/4	7:00 PM	Kingsford Flivvers	4 - 1 (W)	14-5-2

2/13	1:00 PM	at Houghton Gremlins	3 - 3 (T)	14-5-3

2/19	5:00 PM	at Calumet Copper Kings	2 - 2 (T)	14-5-4

2/20	1:00 PM	at Hancock Bulldogs	2 - 3 (L)	14-6-4

2/25	7:30 PM	Negaunee Miners	8 - 3 (W)	15-6-4

3/1	7:00 PM	Marquette Redmen	1 - 2 (L)	15-7-4