Gronborg Kicks Things Up Another Degree in The Cage

With the Jr Steelheads series over, all of the games are finished except for the Las Vegas shoot out for the year of 2013. Sitting in the stands watching the boys play last night, I saw something in their eyes that I hadn't seen before. That was pure aggression and power. It seems that the team took some of my advice that I put out in the last blog and put it to very good use in this game. One of the great things to see in this game was Sebastian finally back in the net! He certainly saved the team from a lot of potential goals and on top of all that his net was crashed multiple times with 8 or 9 guys piled on at once! I am telling you, he is a fighter who never stops no matter the circumstances. Gronborg is as tough as nails and never fails to surprise me. As a hockey writer I have met with numerous players and I always love to meet the goaltenders especially and Sebastian Gronborg is at the top of my list with no doubt. He is definitely the complete package. Last night, he seemed more and more determined with each second that passed and his talents have improved vastly since the Zoo last saw him which was quite a while ago. His butterflies have gotten a lot better, his catching is cleaner, and it appears that he is even more confident in the net than he was at the start of the season. I certainly hope Missoula sees more of our star Swedish goaltender and could the famous and honorable Swedish Sensation name be passed down another generation to this lucky tendy? Hopefully (he has my vote) but we will just have to see what the public thinks as well! Congratulations on your incredible performance Sebastian! Before I head to the game review, I would like to compliment the rest of the team for their performances tonight. The defenseman are in no doubt starting to play more aggressively  and are starting to toughen up their game but there is still work that needs to be done. What they really need to do now, in my opinion, is just take the reins of the game and work in a way that is productive yet comfortable for them. I believe that they have what it takes to be strong and durable blue liners, but they just need to "plant" their feet in games and take control. Lastly, we have the forwards. They have stepped up their game as well, that was evident, but again they are still not up to their absolute best. They were attacking and rushing the puck more which was fantastic but they were still spread out and not close enough for each other to throw successful passes. I believe that if they would just drive through opposing forces and worry less about the play itself, they will be more successful. All in all, everyone did great and was heavily determined to win this game.

Kyle Williams drew first blood for the Steelheads when he scored his own short handed goal at 6:24. He was assisted by Anton Virtanen and Jesper Jensen. Your own Derek Griffin tied things up at 9:57 when he put the Maulers on the board, assisted by Max Rebholz and Nikita Sheptytskyy. This was the final goal of the first period.

The Steelheads scored again to start off the second at 11:49 from the stick of Jan Blasko. He had apples from Macky Power and Kyle Williams. Our fantastically talented Ukrainian forward Nikita Sheptytskyy netted a goal of his own immediately after at 11:49 in fact. He had help from Niko Pukkila and Erich Jaeger. The Jr Steelheads closed the scoring for the second with Jesper Jensen's goal at 16:07. Kyle Williams and Jan Blasko were given assists on that play.

Randy Patzner scored for Idaho when his goal came at 2:44. Hunter Lester and John Moritz were there to help him out on that one. The last Maulers goal came from Joey Sundgren at 13:32 which was unassisted. Oskar Af Bjur scored for the Jr Steelheads at 18:41 when Jesper Jensen and Philip Wong helped him rush the puck. The last goal of the game was from the stick of Dak Dice on an empty net at 19:01. Assists were given to Jan Blasko and Anton Virtanen.

The next home game will be January 2nd-4th when the Missoula Maulers host the Phoenix Knights. All games will be at 7:30 pm MST at the Glacier Ice Rink so make sure you don't miss out on any of that! The Las Vegas shoot out will be from December 17th-21st, which I will be covering as well. Good luck to the boys in that as they play many teams out of their division. In fact here is their schedule:
December 17th: vs. New Mexico Renegades @ 3:45 pm
December 18th: vs. San Diego Gulls @ 12:15 pm
December 19th: vs. Long Beach Bombers @ 4:45 pm
December 20th: vs. Tulsa Jr Oilers @ 2:30 pm
Then once that is all over, the boys are off on their Christmas holiday! It has been an exciting year of Maulers hockey so far with out a doubt! Enjoy a few pictures from the game!

The two Swedes Henrik and Sebastian during a play in the second!

Nikita Sheptytskyy and the other boys helping out with the Teddy Bear Toss

Sebastian Gronborg stands ready 

Statistics:

PENALTIES:

Period 1:

Idaho Jr Steelheads - Bryan Hodges (Interference) 2 Minutes, 2:36

Idaho Jr Steelheads - Philip Wong (Kneeing) 2 Minutes, 6:17

Missoula Maulers - Joey Porco (Slashing) 2 Minutes, 16:41

Period 2:

Idaho Jr Steelheads - Jan Blasko (Unsportsmanlike Conduct) 2 Minutes, 2:27

Missoula Maulers - Joey Sundgren (Unsportsmanlike Conduct) 2 Minutes, 2:27

Idaho Jr Steelheads - Philip Wong (Checking From Behind) 2 Minutes, 3:17

Idaho Jr Steelheads - Anton Virtanen (Unsportsmanlike Conduct) (Misconduct) 10 Minutes, 4:54

Missoula Maulers - Sebastian Gronborg (Interference) 2 Minutes, 6:14

Idaho Jr Steelheads - Bryan Hodges (Unsportsmanlike Conduct) (Misconduct) 10 Minutes, 7:19

Missoula Maulers - Tanner Todd (Unsportsmanlike Conduct) (Misconduct) 10 Minutes, 7:19

Missoula Maulers - Craig Buford (Hooking) 2 Minutes, 11:49

Idaho Jr Steelheads - Oskar Af Bjur (Cross Checking) 2 Minutes, 13:38

Missoula Maulers - Nikita Sheptytskyy (Interference) 2 Minutes, 16:38

Period 3:

Missoula Maulers - Derek Griffin (Cross Checking) 2 Minutes, 3:54

Missoula Maulers - Joey Sundgren (Hooking) 2 Minutes, 8:37

Missoula Maulers - Tanner Todd (Slashing) 2 Minutes, 8:37

Missoula Maulers - Austin Auzzinnaro (Interference) 2 Minutes, 11:46

Idaho Jr Steelheads - Jan Blasko (Roughing) 2 Minutes, 11:59

Idaho Jr Steelheads - Luc Gensler (Hooking) 2 Minutes, 14:39

SHOTS ON GOAL:

Missoula Maulers - 21 total

Idaho Jr Steelheads - 53 total

POWER PLAYS:

Missoula Maulers - 0 for 6

Idaho Jr Steelheads - 0 for 8

GOALTENDERS:

#1 Sebastian Gronborg for Missoula Maulers: 59:02 Minutes played, 52 shots on goal 47 saves

#1 Sean Healy for Idaho Jr Steelheads: 60 Minutes played, 21 shots on goal 18 saves