WELLS---It wasn't that long ago that the Negaunee Miners were a hockey team that could barely move the puck and routinely got mercied by almost everyone they faced.
Those times are over, as the current Miners team showed a mixture of grit and skill that made them a tough team to beat in the MHSAA Regional Playoffs. Add to that work ethic the goaltending of senior Anthony Moyle, and the Eskymos were in a dog fight.
Indeed, the Escanaba Eskymos had to work hard Tuesday night, and they did so, posting a 3-0 victory in Wells.
Paul Carne, Levin Wunder, and Garth Wickham scored the goals and Jack Valentine stopped all 17 Negaunee shots to earn the shutout in net.
But it sure wasn't easy.
"There was some frustration after the first period," Escanaba Hockey Coach Matt Hughes said. "We were throwing up 15, 16 shots on the Moyle kid, and weren't getting any goals. Give credit to him. He played very well for them. But we were able to get him moving a few times, and that was the only we we could put the puck in the net."
Wunder, Escanaba's captain, was not surprised that the Miners played tough, considering Negaunee had rallied for an upset victory over the Eskymos two weeks ago.
"We knew they were gonna come at us hard all game," Wunder said. "They really worked their tails off for 51 minutes. Their goalie made a pile of saves and he stood tall for them. And thankfully, we worked a little harder than them and we got the 'W'."
The game was scoreless deep into the second period, mostly because of Moyle's work between the pipes. Escanaba fired 27 shots in the first period and a half, and Moyle stopped them all. Finally, the Eskymos got a goal on a back-door play as Wunder passed to Calvin Pinar, who found Carne with the cross-ice pass for an open-net goal.
"We worked on that for 35 minutes yesterday (in practice)," Hughes said. "Just moving the puck, getting them out of position, and you start getting them tired out. It just opens up lanes everywhere, all over the ice. The goaltender gets sick and tired of moving back-and-forth, and on that goal, he wasn't able to get back to the poll quick enough."
"We've been working on the power play quite a bit," Carne said. "Calvin just put it to me perfectly and I had to do was just put it in."
Carne was close to not even being allowed to play in this big game.
"I've been having chest pains, and then Sunday night, I finally went to the ER," Carne said. "And I have a heart arrhythmia. I'm not sure what that is, but I have it. I don't think it's as bad as it sounds. I played through it. I was cleared to play this morning!"
Less than two minutes after Carne scored, Wunder got a sweet pass from Nick Aird and rifled home one of his patented "top shelf" goals to make it 2-0.
And then in the third period, with six minutes left in the game, Wickham closed the scoring with the team's third goal, with assists to Chris LeMire and Hunter LaMarch.
Escanaba had seven power plays in the game, including two on five-minute major penalties. They did not score on either major, and had just one power play goal total.
Escanaba outshot Negaunee (11-12-2), 48-17, with Moyle making 45 saves.
The Eskymos (15-10-1) advanced to the regional semifinals, and will travel to Marquette on Thursday to face the Redmen. Marquette beat Kingsford, 6-3, Tuesday night.
"I'm ready for it," Wunder said. "This is the stuff you play the game for. Rivalry games. I can't be more excited!"
The other regional semifinal is Wednesday night as Saginaw Heritage faces Essexville-Garber.
The two semifinal winners meet in the regional final Saturday in Gaylord.
Thursday's Escanaba-Marquette game from Lakeview Arena will be broadcast live on WCHT-AM (600), and on-line at www.rrnsports.com, starting at 6:45 p.m.
Click the thumbnails in the ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS box above to see photos taken by Mary Gauthier, videos taken by Mike Dagenais, and to listen to radio replays and post-game interviews.
Those times are over, as the current Miners team showed a mixture of grit and skill that made them a tough team to beat in the MHSAA Regional Playoffs. Add to that work ethic the goaltending of senior Anthony Moyle, and the Eskymos were in a dog fight.
Paul Carne, Levin Wunder, and Garth Wickham scored the goals and Jack Valentine stopped all 17 Negaunee shots to earn the shutout in net.
But it sure wasn't easy.
"There was some frustration after the first period," Escanaba Hockey Coach Matt Hughes said. "We were throwing up 15, 16 shots on the Moyle kid, and weren't getting any goals. Give credit to him. He played very well for them. But we were able to get him moving a few times, and that was the only we we could put the puck in the net."
Wunder, Escanaba's captain, was not surprised that the Miners played tough, considering Negaunee had rallied for an upset victory over the Eskymos two weeks ago.
Levi Wunder goal makes it 2-0.
The game was scoreless deep into the second period, mostly because of Moyle's work between the pipes. Escanaba fired 27 shots in the first period and a half, and Moyle stopped them all. Finally, the Eskymos got a goal on a back-door play as Wunder passed to Calvin Pinar, who found Carne with the cross-ice pass for an open-net goal.
"We've been working on the power play quite a bit," Carne said. "Calvin just put it to me perfectly and I had to do was just put it in."
Carne was close to not even being allowed to play in this big game.
"I've been having chest pains, and then Sunday night, I finally went to the ER," Carne said. "And I have a heart arrhythmia. I'm not sure what that is, but I have it. I don't think it's as bad as it sounds. I played through it. I was cleared to play this morning!"
Paul Carne goal makes it 1-0.
And then in the third period, with six minutes left in the game, Wickham closed the scoring with the team's third goal, with assists to Chris LeMire and Hunter LaMarch.
Escanaba had seven power plays in the game, including two on five-minute major penalties. They did not score on either major, and had just one power play goal total.
The Eskymos (15-10-1) advanced to the regional semifinals, and will travel to Marquette on Thursday to face the Redmen. Marquette beat Kingsford, 6-3, Tuesday night.
"I'm ready for it," Wunder said. "This is the stuff you play the game for. Rivalry games. I can't be more excited!"
The other regional semifinal is Wednesday night as Saginaw Heritage faces Essexville-Garber.
The two semifinal winners meet in the regional final Saturday in Gaylord.
Thursday's Escanaba-Marquette game from Lakeview Arena will be broadcast live on WCHT-AM (600), and on-line at www.rrnsports.com, starting at 6:45 p.m.
Click the thumbnails in the ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS box above to see photos taken by Mary Gauthier, videos taken by Mike Dagenais, and to listen to radio replays and post-game interviews.
Negaunee Miners captain Chad Larson sat out Tuesday night's playoff game with a broken shoulder.
