HOUGHTON---One sure way to light a fire under Levi Wunder is to glue his butt to the bench. The leading goal-scorer in Escanaba hockey history had to sit for more then ten minutes on Saturday after taking a penalty that irritated his coach.
But the junior center came back with a vengence, scoring four goals and leading the Eskymos to an 11-3 win over the Grand Blanc Bobcats at the Jeffers New Year's Showcase at Michigan Tech University's Student Ice Arena.
Wunder scored seven goals in the two games over the weekend in Houghton, and raised his goal total to 22 in 12 games.
"I took a slashing penalty and it was a selfish penalty," Wunder admitted. "It shouldn't have happened. He (Coach Matt Hughes) took care of it the way he should have.
"He sat me for the first ten minutes of the second period. The first few minutes, I was still pretty upset because I couldn't go out there and help my team," Wunder said. "But after a while, I stayed positive, and said 'I'm gonna get back out there'."
Eskymo Coach Matt Hughes says it doesn't matter which guy takes a bad penalty: the result will be the same, with a few minutes sitting on the bench.
"When you go out there and take a selfish penalty, that's not going to earn you much ice time," Hughes said. "But Levi Wunder responded exactly the way I thought he would. He was flying, and he put the puck into the net."
Wunder scored the natural hat trick after his exile to the bench, getting his team's fifth, sixth, and seventh goals.
And later, Wunder tallied his team's tenth goal. He added two assists for a total of six points in this game, following Friday night's hat trick.
Wunder wasn't the only one to take an untimely penlaty. Linemate Charlie Zuidema was whistled for a late roughing penalty, giving Grand Blanc a rare 4-on-3 power play.
The Eskymos killed it off, but Hughes was still displeased with the lack of discipline.
"Hopefully, we took care of that problem by putting two-thirds of our top line on the bench for over half of the second period," Hughes said. "Both boys responded the way I thought that they would.
"As a coach, I tell these guys that everything we do is for a purpose. Don't put me in a position to not play you. Give me a reason to play you."
On the scoreboard, it was not only the Levi Wunder Show, as plenty of other Eskymos tallied against the downstate team.
T.J. Myrick and Dylan Gauthier both scored in the first period, and then in the second period, Hunter LaMarch and Jeff Lyle scored.
For Lyle, a senior, it was his first Eskymo goal, set up nicely by Wood. Moments later, Wood got a set-up of his own off a pass from Wunder, and Escanaba led, 5-0.
"It was a 2-on-2, so I didn't want to go right up to the net," Wood said. "So I hung back a little bit. The rebound came right out. They, for some reason, still went to Levi. The puck was laying there for me."
Wunder scored late in fhe second period, and then he scored again just 38 seconds into the third period. That goal make it 7-0, and the Eskymos appeared to be ready to claim their second straight mercy-rule shutout victory. But, not so fast!
Grand Blanc got goals from Mason Walker and Jack Clary 31 seconds apart early in the third period, and all of a sudden, it was 7-2.
"We just had a lot of breakdowns," Eskymo senior Steve Wood admitted. "They started out in the offensive zone and rushed it toward our net, and they put it in."
More than six minutes later, Wunder won a one-on-one battle in the neutral zone and beat the goalie for an unassisted goal.
Then, 21 seconds after that goal, Wunder hustled after a loose puck. He got it over to Wood, who scored on his backhand through the five-hole to make it 9-2.
"Levi beat the defenseman to the puck and made a nice pass," Wood said. "I just put it in, I guess."
Wunder was picked the game's #2 star, while Wood got the #1 star honors.
Grand Blanc's Foster Grahn skated right around the Eskymo defense 30 seconds after Wood's goal and slapped one past a startled goaltender Nick LeMire (with defenseman Matt Casey on him) to cut the Escanaba lead to 9-3 with 7:42 left.
But it didn't take long for Escanaba to end the game. Wunder scored his fourth goal of the game on the power play with 6:23 left, then senior Dominic Aos got a loose puck, made some guys miss, and scored the game-ender with 4:34 left in the third period.
"I got the pass and I walked around one guy," Aos said. "I put it through the legs (of the defenseman) and I went to the backhand, and it just went in."
"Once he got to about center ice, he realized that it was a one-on-one," Hughes said about Aos.
"He got his feet moving a little quicker, brought the puck through the guy's stick, brought it to his backhand, kind of drove to the net, and put it 'five-hole'."
Aos's goal, and his hustle, earned him the game's #3 star.
With the win, Escanaba (9-3-0) has won four straight games for the second time this season. The Eskymos host Calumet next Saturday night at the Wells Sports Complex. Game time is 7:00. It will be broadcast live on WCHT-AM (600), and over the Internet at www.rrnsports.com.
Click the thumbnails in the ARTICL HIGHLIGHTS box to see photos and videos taken by Mary Gauthier, and to hear radio replays and interviews.
Wunder scored seven goals in the two games over the weekend in Houghton, and raised his goal total to 22 in 12 games.
"I took a slashing penalty and it was a selfish penalty," Wunder admitted. "It shouldn't have happened. He (Coach Matt Hughes) took care of it the way he should have.
"He sat me for the first ten minutes of the second period. The first few minutes, I was still pretty upset because I couldn't go out there and help my team," Wunder said. "But after a while, I stayed positive, and said 'I'm gonna get back out there'."
Levi Wunder hat trick goal makes it 8-2
"When you go out there and take a selfish penalty, that's not going to earn you much ice time," Hughes said. "But Levi Wunder responded exactly the way I thought he would. He was flying, and he put the puck into the net."
Wunder scored the natural hat trick after his exile to the bench, getting his team's fifth, sixth, and seventh goals.
Wunder wasn't the only one to take an untimely penlaty. Linemate Charlie Zuidema was whistled for a late roughing penalty, giving Grand Blanc a rare 4-on-3 power play.
The Eskymos killed it off, but Hughes was still displeased with the lack of discipline.
"Hopefully, we took care of that problem by putting two-thirds of our top line on the bench for over half of the second period," Hughes said. "Both boys responded the way I thought that they would.
"As a coach, I tell these guys that everything we do is for a purpose. Don't put me in a position to not play you. Give me a reason to play you."
TJ Myrick gives Eskymos 1-0 lead
T.J. Myrick and Dylan Gauthier both scored in the first period, and then in the second period, Hunter LaMarch and Jeff Lyle scored.
For Lyle, a senior, it was his first Eskymo goal, set up nicely by Wood. Moments later, Wood got a set-up of his own off a pass from Wunder, and Escanaba led, 5-0.
Jeff Lyle goal for Eskymos
Wunder scored late in fhe second period, and then he scored again just 38 seconds into the third period. That goal make it 7-0, and the Eskymos appeared to be ready to claim their second straight mercy-rule shutout victory. But, not so fast!
"We just had a lot of breakdowns," Eskymo senior Steve Wood admitted. "They started out in the offensive zone and rushed it toward our net, and they put it in."
More than six minutes later, Wunder won a one-on-one battle in the neutral zone and beat the goalie for an unassisted goal.
Then, 21 seconds after that goal, Wunder hustled after a loose puck. He got it over to Wood, who scored on his backhand through the five-hole to make it 9-2.
"Levi beat the defenseman to the puck and made a nice pass," Wood said. "I just put it in, I guess."
Wunder was picked the game's #2 star, while Wood got the #1 star honors.
Dylan Gauthier goal
But it didn't take long for Escanaba to end the game. Wunder scored his fourth goal of the game on the power play with 6:23 left, then senior Dominic Aos got a loose puck, made some guys miss, and scored the game-ender with 4:34 left in the third period.
"Once he got to about center ice, he realized that it was a one-on-one," Hughes said about Aos.
"He got his feet moving a little quicker, brought the puck through the guy's stick, brought it to his backhand, kind of drove to the net, and put it 'five-hole'."
Aos's goal, and his hustle, earned him the game's #3 star.
With the win, Escanaba (9-3-0) has won four straight games for the second time this season. The Eskymos host Calumet next Saturday night at the Wells Sports Complex. Game time is 7:00. It will be broadcast live on WCHT-AM (600), and over the Internet at www.rrnsports.com.
Click the thumbnails in the ARTICL HIGHLIGHTS box to see photos and videos taken by Mary Gauthier, and to hear radio replays and interviews.
