The Marquette Electricians (12-8-4 overall, 2-0-0 NLHL) came out flying this past weekend against the Soo Indians in the inaugural weekend of NLHL action. Led by forward John Aho the Electricians scored 14 total goals in the two games, while allowing the Soo Indians (2-20-0 overall, 0-2-0 NLHL) only three in the same amount of time.

Electricians Head Coach Mike Dagenais was happy with the results, citing early leads as the biggest advantage, “We always seem to do well after we get the first goal, especially if we pad it with one or two more,” Dagenais told the Mining Journal after the game.

Aho scored four points in game Saturday night, setting a NLHL record with two goals and two assists before going out the next night and topping it with two goals and three assists. “John is starting to put the puck in the net more now than he did in the beginning of the season, and we’re going to be expecting more of him,” Dagenais said of the NLHL leading scorer.

In Green Bay and Houghton over the weekend the Thunder Bay Kings were pushing hard to stay undefeated against NLHL teams. The second half of their road trip was tough because of three regulars being out of the line-up, but strong goaltending and a team effort was enough for the Kings.

On Friday the Kings scored one goal in the first and two more in the third to put the Gamblers in a whole they couldn’t get out of. Strong effort’s to put the puck in the net resulted in missed opportunities, Gamblers Head Coach Michael Buchan said after the game, “We had plenty of chances, but could not beat the Thunder Bay goaltender.”

Saturday started out with a bang for the Kings who scored three first period goals. The remainder of the game featured an all-out effort by the Gamblers, but a controlled defensive system helped the Kings keep the Gamblers to only one goal, while adding two more on the power play.

The Kings then made the day-trip to Houghton to play a two-game series against the Ojibwa Eagles. The bus legs and a late start (10 p.m. after the Michigan Tech / Alaska-Anchorage game) gave the Eagles an immense advantage in the first period as Justin Reilley and Alex Roy scored first period goals for the Eagles. The Kings would strike back through scoring two in the second, and adding a power play marker in the third. The Kings scored an empty netter and claimed a 4-2 win.

Looking to make it six straight NLHL wins the Thunder Bay Kings got an early lead over the Eagles Sunday morning. They carried a 1-0 lead all the way into the third period when finally the Eagles got on the board to tie it at 1-1. The Kings saw their one goal lead return minutes later, but the Eagles tied it up at two before the Kings blinked. Finally with three minutes to go the Thunder Bay Kings scored again to get a 3-2 lead, a lead they finished with.

The Kings finished 6-0-2 in their NLHL schedule and will not be seen again in exhibition play by any NLHL teams this year. The Marquette Electricians and Green Bay Jr. Gamblers will play a pair of games next weekend in NLHL regular-season action.

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This past summer two MWEHL teams found themselves on the outside looking in, and instead of throwing in the towel, they used the resources around them to create a new opportunity. Now nearly four months after announcing the formation of the Northern Lakes Hockey League, action is beginning.

The first official games for the NLHL will be played Saturday, November 1 at 4:00 p.m. in Lakeview Arena in Marquette, Mich. The Soo Indians (2-18-0) will be on the road looking to upset the Marquette Electricians (10-8-2) before the Electro’s faithful. The teams will meet again at 10:00 a.m. Sunday for the finale of the two-game series.

Last weekend the Soo Indians climbed out of a hold that has had them struggling all season when they dominated the Phantom Fireworks in Chicago, Illi. last weekend. The 7-3 win took hard work and was exactly what the young team needed. After losing 13 players to the NAHL, NOJHL or one of several eastern leagues they’ve spent a lot of time figuring out their identity.

Last month Indian’s Assistant Coach Jerry Harwood commented on the struggles, “With the players we have, I am very confident that we will be successful shortly.”

It looks like the time could be now for the Indians, who will be playing in the U.P. for three of their next four weekends. That schedule includes a home NLHL series against the Ojibwa Eagles the weekend before Thanksgiving.

However, before the Indians can have real success, they’ll need to get by the Marquette Electricians. The Electricians are unbeaten in five of their last six games including two straight wins against East Coast opponents during the Chicago Fury tournament last weekend.

The Electrician’s just missed the quarterfinals of the Fury Tournament, but two weeks prior got all the way to the finals during the AHR tournament, which was also in Chicago. The team tied both of their NLHL pre-season games against the Thunder Bay Kings. Both games fought hard until the last buzzer went off.

The team has been led by Wolff Belanger who has 22 points on the season including nine goals. Artern Shtalenkov has also been clutch for the Tro’s with five game winning goals on the year, putting more than half of his goals as the difference maker.

However, Head Coach Michael Dagenais says the team is more than that. “We had 19 guys all pulling in the same direction, which was evident in our success,” said Dagenais after the team beat Amherst 7-0 last Sunday.

The Indians and Electricians have met up twice this year, both during the Superior Cup in Houghton, Mich. During both games the Electricians were able to put up four goals, while the Soo Indians scored only one in the first before being shutout completely in the second game.

The other three NLHL teams will also be in action this weekend as the Thunder Bay Kings (12-3-3) will finish up their portion of the NLHL schedule making trips down to Green Bay and then Houghton. The Kings are 2-0-2 in NLHL play including a two-game sweep over the Soo Indians.

The Kings took last weekend off before moving on to their Canadian league game against the K&A Wolverines at their home rink in Thunder Bay. The Kings were out shot 35-27 in the game but scored two third-period goals to finish the game tied at three, marking their third straight tie.

The first game of the weekend is a 7:00 p.m. start in Green Bay against the Jr. Gamblers. The Gamblers (4-12-2) finished with three wins during the Chicago Fury tournament including an overtime win in their second game that could be the momentum shift the team needs going forward this season.

Gamblers Head Coach Michael Buchan is aware that one good week doesn’t make the season, “we need to build off our success and continue to work on the mistakes that we did make.”

After taking on Green Bay Saturday at 9:30 a.m. the Kings will make trip to the Copper Country to take on the Ojibwa Eagles (12-7-2). The game will be an excellent opportunity for both the Eagle’s players and King’s players to show off their skills as the teams will be playing directly after the Michigan Tech Huskies and Alaska-Anchorage Seawolves play in their WCHA game.

The Kings won the season series last year beating the Eagles in two games, while the two teams tied their third match up. They will finish the NLHL weekend with a 10:00 a.m. start time Sunday morning.

Be sure to check back to northernlakeshockey.com to see all the action from this weekend.

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After much debate by the NLHL Board the league rules and by-laws are finally complete. They can be found by going to about and clicking the link on the bottom, or by clicking here.

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For two NLHL teams the Chicago Fury tournament was just what the doctor ordered, for two others, salvaging one win was at least a good step against tight competition. Overall the NLHL teams earned eight wins and one tie on the weekend.

The best team on the weekend was the Green Bay Jr. Gamblers (4-12-2). The Gamblers started their weekend tough, playing against the 12th rated Chicago Fury who scored three goals in the first period en route to a 7-0 win over the Gamblers. From there the Gamblers turned it on, especially against the Pittsburgh Viper Stars where two Viper Stars goals in the first period weren’t enough to top them. CJ Eick and Ryan Belonger were on their mark for the Gamblers hitting passes and shots to lead the team a 3-2 game, including a clutch goal in overtime. The team continued the effort against Amherst where Eick and Belonger each scored two more goals to win 5-1 behind 30 saves by Gamblers goalie Jordan Lehr. The Gamblers final game was against Brantford, and the Gamblers came out flying scoring six goals to win the game 6-3.

It was an amazing come back weekend for the Gamblers, after losing the first game they came out flying. Head Coach Michael Buchan credited that to the players on his bench, “We know we have a good team and we wanted to prove it. We felt if we continued to work hard things were eventually going to bounce our way. The players kept a positive attitude and it paid off.”

Coach Buchan was also quick to compliment their new goaltender, Jordan Lehr, who played his first three games as a Gambler this weekend going 3-0 with a 94.4 save percentage and under 2.00 goals against average.

Playing in the other division the weekend was the Marquette Electricians (10-8-2), who also started out with a hard loss. They found themselves on the wrong end of a 5-0 blowout on Thursday night, but they didn’t let that pace the weekend, instead they bounced back Friday and tied a very good Lake Forest Academy team 2-2 Friday, then topped Boston Advantage 3-2 Saturday before coming in and completely dominating Amherst in their second straight win over east coast teams.

Coming from the east end of the U.P. the Soo Indians (2-18) finally snapped their 17-game losing streak in their consolation game against Phantom Fireworks. They came out firing on all cylinders and scored seven goals, three more than they had done in any game this season. Add a breakout offensive performance with solid defense and the Indians found themselves with a 7-3 win for their eight hour bus trip home. Besides their first win, the team played well in a 1-2 loss to Boston Advantage and fought hard against CYA and Lake Forest Academy in two three-goal losses.

The Ojibwa Eagles continued to play solid defense this weekend allowing under three goals a game, however struggles on offense kept them to only one win on the weekend. The win came on a hat trick by second-year forward Evan Loughman. Loughman found his fouth, fifth and sixth goals of the season to lead the Eagles to a 6-2 win over the Amherst Nights. The Eagle’s leading scorer Alex Roy also added two assists on the game. The team suffered a 2-1 loss to the Pittsburgh Viper Stars in the first game, a 4-1 loss to the Chicago Fury Saturday and a 0-2 loss to Omaha Energy in the consolation game. Jordan Roy stopped 100 shots on the weekend, playing in all four games.


Thursday October 23
Pittsburgh Viper Stars 2, Ojibwa Eagles 1
Chicago Fury 7, Green Bay Jr. Gamblers 0
CYA 5, Marquette Electricians 0
Boston Advantage 2, Soo Indians 1

Friday October 24
Marquette Electricians 2, LFA Prep 2 (ot)
Ojibwa Eagles 6, Amherst 2
Green Bay Jr. Gamblers 3, Pittsburgh Viper Stars 2 (ot)
CYA 5, Soo Indians 2

October 25
LFA Prep 4, Soo Indians 1
Marquette Electricians 3, Boston Advantage 2
Green Bay Jr. Gamblers 5, Amherst NY 1
Chicago Fury 4, Ojibwa Eagles 1
Soo Indians 7, Phantom Fireworks 3
Omaha Energy 2, Ojibwa Eagles 0

October 26
Marquette Electricians 7, Amherst NY 0
Green bay Jr. Gamblers 6, Brantford 3

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We’ve been doing a lot of work here at northernlakeshockey.com to prepare for the upcoming inaugural season of the Northern Lakes Hockey League. One of the things we’ve prided ourselves on is the constant effort in keeping the public informed of the latest NLHL information. We’re covering the league in a fashion that no other Midget AAA league is able to, a true pioneer in our market.

With the schedule just a week away from beginning, the NLHL has decided than an expansion of staff will allow greater visibility, more coverage and better quality of work. Because of that thought, the NLHL is now searching for rink reporters who will be able to cover games locally in all four NLHL locations; Marquette, Mich., Sault Ste. Marie, Mich., Houghton, Mich. and Green Bay, Wisc.

If you’re interested in sports journalism, or just a hockey fanatic, we’d love to have you as part of our staff. If you’re interested in the position, please e-mail a resume and cover letter to us, nlhl@northernlakeshockey.com.

Requirements:
Reporters must attend and write game recaps to all local games
Reporters should be familiar with writing in A.P. style
Reporters should be fluent in hockey and the vocabulary that goes with it
No experience necessary, but a desire to learn is favorable

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One weekend after starting the 2008-2009 NLHL exhibition schedule, all four NLHL teams are on the road. This time the team’s are participating in the Chicago Fury tournament in Chicago, Illi. The tournament begins tonight with all four teams in action and will end on Sunday after all participating teams have played at least four games.

The tournament put the Ojibwa Eagles (11-4-2) and Green Bay Jr. Gamblers (2-11-2) and Marquette Electricians (8-7-1) and Soo Indians (1-11-0) in the same divisions. However, the tournament arrangement does not have the teams meeting, and instead has them playing the same schedule.

The Electricians and Indians are playing a very difficult schedule against three teams who are currently recognized in the top 50 of the computer rankings. The Electricians and Indians toughest game will be against Lake Forest Academy (9-3-0). LFA has already swept the Soo Indians in a two-game series and is currently ranked 17 in the nation.

The Electricians open up their schedule against 20th rated Chicago Young Americans (14-6-3), while tonight the Indians will be matched up against Boston Advantage (6-9-0), who is rated No. 38 in the nation.

On the other side of the coin the Eagles and Gamblers will play an easier schedule with two games against very beatable teams. However, the biggest challenge of the weekend will be the host team, the Chicago Fury. The Fury are 13-6-0 this season and are rated No. 12 in the nation. The team is one of the best full-season teams in the nation year-in and year-out and should give both the Gamblers and the Eagles a chance to win a big game.

The Eagles start their tournament off against the Pittsburgh Viper Stars (11-8-3), while the Gamblers will finish their schedule against Amherst (3-10-1), a team from New York.

For more information on the tournament, check out the Chicago Fury’s website, http://www.chicagofury.com.

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After completing the two-game sweep in Sault Ste. Marie, Mich. the Thunder Bay Kings (12-3-2) moved to Marquette for a two-game series with the Marquette Electricians (8-7-3). The two teams have been closely matched for years and that was highlighted last year with two ties in regulation.

This season that effort continued as Saturday night the two teams couldn't come up with a winner as they played to a high-scoring 4-4 finish. The teams rested for the night on the tie before meeting up this morning at 10 a.m. at Lakeview Arena for a rematch. The game resulted in another tie, this time a 3-3 finish.

More information on these games as well as highlights from the Gamblers and Eagles weekend's will be released later this week. Check back to northernlakeshockey.com for updates.

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After spending a full day in the bus traveling along the northern ridge of Lake Superior the Thunder Bay Kings (12-3-0) found them selves at Taffy Abel Arena, home of the CCHA’s Lake Superior State Lakers and also NLHL’s Soo Indians (1-15-0).

The bus legs showed right away for the Kings, as Travis Payne rushed the puck on a shorthanded situation to give the Indians an early 1-0 lead. However, it was just a couple moments later when Mitchell Fox put home a power play goal to tie the game at one. From that point on it was all Thunder Bay as Andrew Wiebe, Joe Szura, Justin Veltri, Mitchell Fox, Spencer Hogan, and Matt Grove all scored for the Kings, giving them a 6-1 win. Colin Dzijacky got the win for the Kings stopping 20 of 21 shots against him.

The Injury-ridden Indians played better this morning giving a good challenge the Kings including limiting them to only 21 shots, 13 better than Friday night. The challenge though was stopping the offensive efforts of the Kings, an effort that was unsuccessful as the Kings were able to put in four goals. Travis Payne was able to double his goal total from Friday night scoring twice in the game.

Indians assistant coach Jerry Harwood was happy with the team’s improvement Saturday, “Thunder Bay was all over the puck in the first game and we were sitting back on our skates. In game two, though, the kids played much better.”

Thunder Bay will hit the ice again tonight at 5 p.m. against the Marquette Electricians (8-7-1) in Marquette.

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This weekend the NLHL will officially start pre-season activities with a road trip from NLHL affiliate team, the Thunder Bay Kings. Their NLHL schedule includes trips to all four NLHL team’s home rinks throughout October and November. Next season the Kings will join the NLHL as a full team. The Kings are on of the elite programs in Canada hosting teams from pee-wee’s through midget’s. They’ve been home to many NHL players including Jordan, Marc and Eric Staal.

The Kings play in the Jr. B/Juvenile/AAA League that takes place in Canada with teams all over southern Canada. The team has been great so far this year coming out of the gates with a 10-3-0 record including a 3-1 record at the Fall Classic in Marquette, Mich., and 5-2 record within their league in Canada.

They’ve been led on offense this season by Andrew Wiebe who has six goals and eight assists so far this year while maintaining a +8 rating. Leading the team in assists this year is Marshall Fox, who is averaging nearly an assist a game with nine. Colin Dzijacky is leading the team between the pipes with a .920 save percentage, 2.18 goals against average and a 5-1-0 record while also boasting two shutouts. Spencer Malone is also having a good season though holding a .910 save percentage, 2.45 goals against average and 4-2-0 record.

The action will begin Friday night when the Soo Indians (1-11-0) host the Kings at 7 p.m. at Taffy Abel. They’ll continue the two-game series at 9 a.m. Saturday morning. In one game against each other this season the Kings defeated the Indians 7-1.

After the series against the Indians, the Kings will play against the Marquette Electricians (8-7-1). They’ll play at 5 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m. Sunday. The two teams have not yet met this year, but played two hard fought games last season during the Superior Cup. Over two games of regulation and overtime play wasn’t enough to decide the better team last season as they tied 0-0 in round-robin play before the Electricians won 4-3 in a shootout to decide the Superior Cup Champions.

Check back to www.northernlakeshockey.com throughout the weekend for more updates.

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The struggles for the Soo Indians (1-11-0) continued over this past weekend during their two-game series against the Lansing Capitals (10-3-1). The hometown crowd wasn’t enough on Saturday night as the team fell to the No. 38 ranked Capitals 7-2 before ending up short again 6-2 Sunday afternoon. The Indians were the only NLHL team in action over the weekend.

Looking ahead to this weekend, both the Ojibwa Eagles (6-3-0) and Marquette Electricians (5-5-0) are heading down to Vernon Hills, Illi. to play in the AHR Challenge Cup, a tournament hosted by EHK Sports. The tournament is the first of a two Midget AAA hockey tournaments hosted by EHK, the second is taking place in Dallas, Texas November 26-30. The Eagles and Electricians will be playing the same schedule, a four-game set against solid nationally-acknowledged teams from around the country.

The Electricians will start the tournament on Friday Oct. 10 against Omaha Energy (2-2-0) at 4:45 p.m. They will move on to play two games Saturday, the first against the Colorado Outlaws (0-7-0) at 1:45 p.m. and then against Lake Forest Academy (4-3-0) at 7 p.m. The schedule will finish up when they play No. 91 ranked Motor City Machine (2-9-1).

The Tros have high hopes for the weekend, and a lot of that is riding on the backs of their two goaltenders, Andrew Mills and John Hill. Mills has played the majority of the games so far and has an impressive 92.4 save percentage and 2.22 goals against average. “There is no doubt that Mills has performed very well so far this year,” said Marquette Electricians head coach Michael Dagenais, “all-in-all the coaching staff could not ask for a better duo of net minders.”

Though the goaltending has been excellent, the team is aware of the need for improvement, “we hope to improve on power play opportunities, which has been very weak as of late, and hope to play harder in the defensive zone, resulting in giving up fewer goals” said Coach Dagenais.

The Eagle’s schedule runs about an hour later than the Electricians on the weekend including a 6:30 p.m. start Friday against Lake Forest Academy, a team that swept the Soo Indians three weeks ago and is currently ranked 44 in the nation. Saturday the team will play back-to-back games starting at 3:30 p.m. against inter-state rival Motor City Machine before moving on to the Omaha Energy at 8:45 p.m. Their final round-robin game will be played at 11:30 a.m. against No. 95 ranked Colorado Outlaws.

The Green Bay Jr. Gamblers (2-8-1) is in the middle of a two-weekend off-time before the get back going against the Chicago Fury (9-5-0) on October 23 and 24.

The first wave of computer rankings came out this weekend and the Marquette Electricians led the way for the NLHL teams with a ranking of 62 out of over 100 teams. The Ojibwa Eagles were second with a ranking of 74. The Green Bay Jr. Gamblers opened up their rankings at 86 while the Soo Indians are at 94.

Scores from the past two weeks:

September 25
Ojibwa Eagles 4, Green Bay Jr. Gamblers 2
Cleveland Barons 8, Soo Indians 2
Marquette Electricians 7, Indiana Jr. Ice 4
Honeybaked 2, Ojibwa Eagles 0

September 26
Sudbury Wolves 5, Green Bay Jr. Gamblers 4
Thunder Bay Kings 7, Soo Indians 1
Calgary Edge 4, Marquette Electricians 3
Oakland Jr. Grizzlies 8, Ojibwa Eagles 4
Honeybaked 6, Green bay Jr. Gamblers 2

September 27
Michigan Elite 5, Soo Indians 3
Marquette Electricians 2, Team Ohio 2
Oakland Jr. Grizzlies 5, Green Bay Jr. Gamblers 1
Ojibwa Eagles 5, Sudbury Wolves 3

October 4
Lansing Capitals 7, Soo Indians 2

October 5
Lansing Capitals 6, Soo Indians 2

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