IRON MOUNTAIN---The Escanaba High School hockey team closed the regular season Thursday with a dominating performance against a potential playoff opponent.
The Eskymos fired 53 shots on goal and beat the Kingsford Flivvers, 7-2, at the Mountain View Ice Arena. Levi Wunder scored four goals to pace the offense.
Derek Chaillier added five assists and his defensive partner, Calvin Pinar, had three assists.
"Their goalie played exceptionally well tonight," Eskymo Coach Matt Hughes said of Wes Paupore. "He made a lot of key saves and kept them in the game. Our kids were getting a little frustrated, then we sccored early in the second period and that got the ball rolling."
Escanaba took advantage of an early power play as Chaillier let go a low shot that Paupore stopped. Steve Wood scored on the rebound to make it 1-0.
Less than three minutes later, Chaillier found Wunder on a breakaway. Wunder rifled a short-side shot past Paupore, and it was 2-0. But the Flivvers cut the lead in half late in the period as Marcus Andrews scored an unassisted goal.
So, even though the Eskymos outshot the Flivvers, 23-4, in the first period, the Escanaba lead was just 2-1. In the second period, the Eskymos took control of the game.
Chris LeMire scored just 1:42 into the period, then the team's smallest player, sophomore Jack Williams, made his mark on the game.
He put on a big check at the Kingsford blue line, then moments later, Williams scored on a wrap-around from behind the net. All of a sudden, Escanaba led, 4-1.
"He played very hard," Hughes said of Williams. "He did everything that the coaches asked of him. Everything that we've talked about, especially with this Kingsford team having a good goaltender. We told the kids to go hard to the net, and Jack did."
"One of my few hits that were actually successful," Williams joked. "But, I had a clean lane, and it didn't seem like the guy was gonna go anywhere left or right, so I might as well put the body on him."
And that goal?
"I was coming in, and a good friend of mine on the other team, Alex Shanks, had the puck," Williams said. "He misjudged the angle 0n the 'bank', it came right to me, the goalie was out of position, and I got really lucky because I started stumbling on the wraparound."
Hughes rewarded Williams by moving him from the fourth line to the second line.
"He made a nice hit and he tracked the puck down," Hughes said. "He kept his feet moving, and took a couple, three, four hard strides, got around the net and wrapped it around. It was a very, very nice goal. A hard-working goal."
Williams was picked as the game's #3 star.
Less than a minute later, Wunder scored his second goal of the game, and it was 5-1.
Kingsford got that goal back as Andrews made a nice pass aross the goal mouth to Dan Willman. Willman's goal at the 8:02 mark made it 5-2. But later in the period, Wunder took a pass from Chaillier and scored his hat trick goal on a breakaway.
The only goal of third period was also scored by Wunder, just 63 seconds into the period. And that goal was also set up by Chaillier. He assisted on all of Wunder's goals.
"It's good when we're on," Wunder said of his play with Chaillier. "We just seem to find each other. We've been playing together for a long time. To have that confidence that when you give him the puck, it's gonna come back. He made some great plays."
Hughes liked what he saw from Wunder.
"He was on a mission," Hughes said of Wunder. "He was finding open ice, and our defensemen were hitting him on the tape, which is very nice to see. We talked about moving the puck, and being more precise with our passes. When you hit Levi Wunder when he's moving full speed, it's a job in itself. And he put himself in good positions."
While Wunder was the game's #1 star, Chaillier wasn't far behind as the #2 star.
"He gathered the puck and started moving his feet up-ice," Hughes said. "He put tape-to-tape passes, and really moved the puck well tonight. It was very nice to see that. You expect that from your captain. He should be making those plays on a daily basis."
"I should have had like three goals," Chaillier said, shaking his head. "We came out kind of flat in the first period and we picked it up throughout the game and started burying the puck. It was a good way to go into the playoffs."
The only reason that this game was not a mercy-rule contest was the play of Paupore in net. The Kingsford goaltender, playing on Flivver Senior Night, made numerous tough saves throughout the game, and ended up with 46 saves on 53 shots.
Paupore shared the #2 star with Chaillier.
"He played a good game," Chaillier said of his friend, Paupore. "He was solid. He didn't have a lot of help. We put a lot of shots on him."
The final shots on goal ended up being 53-11 in favor of the Eskymos.
Escanaba finished the regular season with a 15-7-3 record. Kingsford is 3-20-0.
"I think we're just about where we thought we'd end up," Wunder said of the Eskymo record. "I think 15 wins is good, not a disappointing season at all. We could have won a few more games. It's not over yet. We've got playoffs coming up now!"
The Eskymos host Negaunee in the first round of the Division Two Regional tournament Tuesday night. Game time is 7:00.
It will be broadcast live on WCHT-AM (600), and on-line at www.rrnsports.com. Kingsford travels to Marquette for its playoff opener, also on Tuesday night.
Click the thumbnails in the ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS box above to see photos and videos taken by Mary Gauthier, and listen to replays and interviews.
The Eskymos fired 53 shots on goal and beat the Kingsford Flivvers, 7-2, at the Mountain View Ice Arena. Levi Wunder scored four goals to pace the offense.
"Their goalie played exceptionally well tonight," Eskymo Coach Matt Hughes said of Wes Paupore. "He made a lot of key saves and kept them in the game. Our kids were getting a little frustrated, then we sccored early in the second period and that got the ball rolling."
Escanaba took advantage of an early power play as Chaillier let go a low shot that Paupore stopped. Steve Wood scored on the rebound to make it 1-0.
Less than three minutes later, Chaillier found Wunder on a breakaway. Wunder rifled a short-side shot past Paupore, and it was 2-0. But the Flivvers cut the lead in half late in the period as Marcus Andrews scored an unassisted goal.
Steve Wood scores to give Escanaba a 1-0 lead.
Chris LeMire scored just 1:42 into the period, then the team's smallest player, sophomore Jack Williams, made his mark on the game.
"He played very hard," Hughes said of Williams. "He did everything that the coaches asked of him. Everything that we've talked about, especially with this Kingsford team having a good goaltender. We told the kids to go hard to the net, and Jack did."
"One of my few hits that were actually successful," Williams joked. "But, I had a clean lane, and it didn't seem like the guy was gonna go anywhere left or right, so I might as well put the body on him."
And that goal?
Jack Williams goal makes it 4-1
Hughes rewarded Williams by moving him from the fourth line to the second line.
"He made a nice hit and he tracked the puck down," Hughes said. "He kept his feet moving, and took a couple, three, four hard strides, got around the net and wrapped it around. It was a very, very nice goal. A hard-working goal."
Less than a minute later, Wunder scored his second goal of the game, and it was 5-1.
Kingsford got that goal back as Andrews made a nice pass aross the goal mouth to Dan Willman. Willman's goal at the 8:02 mark made it 5-2. But later in the period, Wunder took a pass from Chaillier and scored his hat trick goal on a breakaway.
The only goal of third period was also scored by Wunder, just 63 seconds into the period. And that goal was also set up by Chaillier. He assisted on all of Wunder's goals.
"It's good when we're on," Wunder said of his play with Chaillier. "We just seem to find each other. We've been playing together for a long time. To have that confidence that when you give him the puck, it's gonna come back. He made some great plays."
Levi Wunder hat trick goal makes it 6-2.
"He was on a mission," Hughes said of Wunder. "He was finding open ice, and our defensemen were hitting him on the tape, which is very nice to see. We talked about moving the puck, and being more precise with our passes. When you hit Levi Wunder when he's moving full speed, it's a job in itself. And he put himself in good positions."
"He gathered the puck and started moving his feet up-ice," Hughes said. "He put tape-to-tape passes, and really moved the puck well tonight. It was very nice to see that. You expect that from your captain. He should be making those plays on a daily basis."
"I should have had like three goals," Chaillier said, shaking his head. "We came out kind of flat in the first period and we picked it up throughout the game and started burying the puck. It was a good way to go into the playoffs."
The only reason that this game was not a mercy-rule contest was the play of Paupore in net. The Kingsford goaltender, playing on Flivver Senior Night, made numerous tough saves throughout the game, and ended up with 46 saves on 53 shots.
Wes Paupore more saves for Kingsford
"He played a good game," Chaillier said of his friend, Paupore. "He was solid. He didn't have a lot of help. We put a lot of shots on him."
The final shots on goal ended up being 53-11 in favor of the Eskymos.
"I think we're just about where we thought we'd end up," Wunder said of the Eskymo record. "I think 15 wins is good, not a disappointing season at all. We could have won a few more games. It's not over yet. We've got playoffs coming up now!"
The Eskymos host Negaunee in the first round of the Division Two Regional tournament Tuesday night. Game time is 7:00.
It will be broadcast live on WCHT-AM (600), and on-line at www.rrnsports.com. Kingsford travels to Marquette for its playoff opener, also on Tuesday night.
Click the thumbnails in the ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS box above to see photos and videos taken by Mary Gauthier, and listen to replays and interviews.
