Maulers show new side of talent

Last night was the final game of the 3 game series against the Ogden Mustangs and the boys showed every one in attendance what they are capable of during their shifts. The team sticks to together very well and puts up one heck of a fight. These boys are fighters and there is no denying that. The fight always lasts until the final buzzer. I thought that the team had a great physical game all throughout this weekend as well as a technical one. Their passes improved, the overall puck handling was great, and they always seemed to find each other on the ice. I greatly admire the sense of team they have as well. They work well with each other, they connect fantastically, and they are always there until the end, no matter the circumstances, as 1 team. Even though the Mustangs took home 2 out of 3 wins, I want everyone to know that these weren't the easiest games they had played. The boys made them work for the biscuit every period and definitely showed their incredible skill and talent. I know I might say this quite a bit but I mean it every time. I am very proud of these boys and what they are accomplishing. Pats yourselves on the back and let's give them a round of applause because the Maulers are a great group of players this year that have an undying passion and drive to win.

Veteran Matt Chamberlain got your Maulers on the board at 2:23 in the first. Assists were given out to rookies Tanner Todd and Edward Pollon. Ogden then responded with a goal of their own from the stick of Dusty Watt 7:30 in. The last goal of the first was assisted by Sean Haltam.

There was no scoring in the second.

Swedish defenseman #2 George Babos of the Mustangs recorded a hat trick in the third period, and the first goal came on a power play 3 minutes and 27 seconds into the period with assists from Seth Giles and Sean Haltam. His second goal came again at 7:05 when Carson Duggar helped him find the back of the net. Captain Anders Nord fought back and put one last goal up for his team on a power play 2 minutes and 41 seconds later. Corey Schafer had the assist. Babos completed his hat trick 19:06 into the third with an assist from Cam Russell. This was the last goal of the game.

I was able to catch up with Anders Nord, Matt Chamberlain, and Assistant Coach Joren Johnson after the game. I asked Anders how the last goal played out for him and said, "Schafer just walked in and took a shot and I happen to be right there." I also asked what went through his mind after this happened. He said, "Hopefully got the momentum going and we can make a comeback before anything happens." I also talked with Matt and asked him what happened out on the ice as he scored the Maulers' first goal of the night. He replied, "Well I mean I blocked a shot and saw my line mate Tanner Todd go down the ice and I thought to myself that I can't get off, I have to support the puck here, just I need to pull in and have a nice shot and it shot right off the pad right to me so it was one of those easy ones I couldn't miss." Also what went through his mind when this happened? "Probably about time to score, missed my chance last night." The last person I was able to talk with was Joren and I asked him what he thought of the boys' performance. He said, "We've got a lot to learn, we started the game pretty well tonight which we hadn't been doing lately, but we were dumping the puck too much, we're a puck possession team, and we are dumping the puck too much. And when we are dumping it, we're not going and getting it. Just basically giving up the puck too much." I then proceeded to ask how things will change for the Spartans. "We're just going to have to dig deep in practice for the next 2 weeks and get back to what we do. I think we got away from it, panicked a little bit, and we got away from how we play." Thanks Anders, Matt, and Joren for talking with me! The Maulers won't have another game until the 22nd-24th when they will be dueling the Spartans in Southern Oregon. If you can make sure to watch it on FastHockey.com because this will be quite the match up! S.O. Spartan Jason Henry will be facing off against his team as of late last year so it will be exciting to see how the team responds.

Maulers and Mustangs during warm ups

Statistics:

PENALTIES:

Period 1:

 Missoula Maulers - Joey Porco (Head Contact) 2 Minutes, 3:29

 Ogden Mustangs - Tommy Pokorney (Roughing) 2 Minutes, 3:29

 Ogden Mustangs - Jon Mencer (Interference) 2 Minutes, 7:27

 Missoula Maulers - Corey Schafer (Roughing) 2 Minutes, 7:27

 Missoula Maulers - Niko Pukkila (Tripping) 2 Minutes, 12:56

 Ogden Mustangs - Seth Giles (Head Contact) 2 Minutes, 15:16

 Missoula Maulers - Erich Jaeger (Cross Checking) 2 Minutes, 18:35

 Ogden Mustangs - Jon Mencer (Head Contact) 2 Minutes, 18:35

 Ogden Mustangs - Craig Moore (Checking from Behind) 2 Minutes, 19:05

 Ogden Mustangs - David Clements (Cross Checking) 2 Minutes, 19:31

Period 2:

 Ogden Mustangs - Tommy Pokorney (Tripping) 2 Minutes, 7:08

 Missoula Maulers - Derek Griffin (Roughing) 2 Minutes 16:12

Period 3:

 Missoula Maulers - Josh Chamberlain (Cross Checking) 2 Minutes, 0:00

 Missoula Maulers - Corey Schafer (Tripping) 2 Minutes, 0:42

 Missoula Maulers - Corey Schafer (Unsportsmanlike Conduct) 2 Minutes, 0:42

 Ogden Mustangs - Sven Johnson (Too Many Men) 2 Minutes, 4:54

 Ogden Mustangs - Jon Mencer (Head Contact) 2 Minutes, 8:46

 Ogden Mustangs - Jon Mencer (Slashing) 2 Minutes, 13:35

 Ogden Mustangs - Jon Mencer (Unsportsmanlike Conduct) 2 Minutes 13:35

 Ogden Mustangs - Jon Mencer (Unsportsmanlike Conduct)(Misconduct) 10 Minutes, 13:35

 Missoula Maulers - Erich Jaeger (Unsportsmanlike Conduct)(Misconduct) 10 Minutes, 20:00

 Ogden Mustangs - Tommy Pokorney (Unsportsmanlike Conduct)(Misconduct) 10 Minutes, 20:00

 Missoula Maulers - Joey Porco (Head Contact)(Major)5 Minutes, 20:00

 Missoula Maulers - Joey Porco (Head Contact)(Game Misconduct) 10 Minutes, 20:00

SHOTS ON GOAL:

 

Missoula Maulers - 25 total

Ogden Mustangs - 46 total

POWER PLAYS:

Missoula Maulers - 1 for 8

Ogden Mustangs - 1 for 5

GOALTENDERS:

#30 Michael Mcdaniel for Missoula Maulers: 59:16 minutes played, 46 shots on goal 42 saves

#31 Connor Webb for Ogden Mustangs: 60 minutes played, 25 shots on goal 23 saves

ATTENDANCE:

An amazing 1,512 fans!