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In PWAA, Stillwater falls to the Lumberjacks 4-3

By frederick61, 10/25/14, 12:15AM CDT

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Cloquet goalie Owen Carlson makes the stop

Stillwater Association’s peewee AA team opened a northern swing losing a tough 4-3 game Friday to the Cloquet Lumberjacks.  The game was played at Cloquet’s Northwoods Arena noted for its wonderful massive use of wood beams to span the arena.  Cloquet has its own carpenters when it comes to hockey arenas.  The Lumberjacks beat the Ponies in a battle of two former sawmill towns, one on the St. Louis River in Northeastern Minnesota and one on the St. Croix River in Southeastern Minnesota.  The Ponies continue their northern swing with two Saturday games.  They play a morning game with Duluth East and an early evening game with Hermantown.  Cloquet will host another D2/D8 peewee AA team, Forest Lake, Saturday.

The world of District 2 hockey shifted this past summer.  For years, the district had been stable with 8 or 9 of its associations opting to play peewee A hockey.  But the advent of the peewee AA level two years ago left the D2 associations split between AA and A.  After two years of running a combined single AA/A peewee league and splitting the playoffs, D2 opted to join with D8 for the 2014-2015 season and create a AA and an A league.  D8 took the lead on the AA league, D2 leads on the A league.  The combined D2/D8 AA league has 12 teams, including Stillwater.  The combined D2/D8 A league has 14 teams.  The major impact of the combined district is that St. Paul Johnson, Como, and North St. Paul peewee programs were combined and as result they will field four peewee teams this season (A, B1, B2, and C).

Stillwater, White Bear Lake, and Forest Lake will now play a full league schedule against other peewee AA teams.  The three D2 teams will play Apple Valley, Eastview, Rosemount, Hastings, Eagan, Woodbury, Owatonna, Lakeville North, Lakeville South, and games against each other to round out a 16 game league schedule.  With District 3 combining with District 6 also this year at the AA levels, the 2014-2015 season marks the unofficial split of peewee hockey into AA and A for the regular season.


Brayden Tyman (#14) scores to put the Lumberjacks up 1-0 in the second period.

Period 1: Cloquet’s #30 Shines

The first period of Friday's game was a “seesaw” of action.  Cloquet would be up and on top of the Ponies for a couple minutes; Stillwater would push back and take the top pressuring the Lumberjacks in the Cloquet zone.  Then the game flow would change to wild up and down with each team taking turns rushing the puck.  Both goalies saw pressure; both had to make some tough stops, but Cloquet’s goalie Owen Carlson (#30) had to do everything except stand on his head to keep the Ponies from scoring.  In a good, strong, period of hockey #30 shined and the opening period ended in a 0-0 tie.    

Period 2: Second period of hard skating

The first period had both teams skating hard; the second period had them skating harder.  Both teams played defense well and both teams back checked.  More than once a back checking forward would cut off the space an attacking forward would have on a rush to the net.  The period opened at frantic pace and settled with Cloquet controlling the puck in the Stillwater zone.  For most of the opening five minutes, the Lumberjack forwards would combine their play with a pinching Cloquet defenseman at the point to turn the puck deep into the Ponies zone.  The hard play worked. 


Cloquet's Aaron Moore (#15 left) celebrates scoring to put the Lumberjacks up 2-1.

At the 10 minute mark, a Lumberjack forward took a hard shot on the Ponies’ goalie Ben Dandelet from the left slot forcing him to make a quick stop.  It resulted in a rebound right to the Cloquet’s Brayden Tyman in the right slot.  Tyman one-timed the puck through Dandelet as he tried to move right to cover the open net.  The  score to put the Lumberjacks up 1-0.  Cade Anderson and Caden Crane got the assists.

The lead did not last long.  Ten seconds after the score, the Lumberjacks drew a penalty.  Goalie Carlson went to work again and held the Lumberjack defense together as they scrambled to try to clear their zone.  The pressure was relieved when Stillwater drew a penalty with 14 seconds left in Cloquet’s penalty.  Shortly after, the Lumberjacks went on the power play but Stillwater's penalty killers forced the play in Cloquet’s zone.  With eight minutes left in the period and on the power play, Cloquet’s defense made a mistake.  A defense man behind the Cloquet goal tried to “feather” a pass to a Lumberjack wing breaking in the slot in front of the net.  Stillwater’s Noah Chiebeck picked off the pass and one-timed the puck past Lumberjack’s goalie Carlson.  He scored a shorthanded goal to tie the game 1-1.  Triston Tabucol got the assist.

Twenty seconds later, Cloquet’s Aaron Moore picked up a loose puck behind the Ponies’ net, went for the wraparound shot and ended up stuffing the puck between the Ponies’ goalie Ben Dandelet’s pads to score.  The goal put Cloquet up 2-1.  The second period ended with no further score.  The Lumberjacks had started the second period strong, Dandelet’s play kept Cloquet in check.  After Cloquet took the lead, Stillwater started to attack relentlessly.  They forced the play and had the good shots, but could not beat Cloquet’s goalie Carlson.     


The puck can be seen shinning under the lights on the way to the net to tie the game 2-2. It bounced of Owen Carlson's glove for the score.

Period 3: The Ponies stampede is on, but one Lumberjack turns the game

The ice was cleaned between the second and third periods.  Stillwater came out of the locker ready.  Cloquet came out of the locker room thinking defense.  The Lumberjacks played high in the Stillwater zone and had three players across the Cloquet blue line whenever the Ponies gained control of the puck.

The Lumberjack forward in the center would force the Stillwater forward rushing the puck to the boards where he was trapped by a Cloquet defense man.  It resulted in the Ponies losing control of the puck at the Cloquet blue line until the eleven minute mark.  The Stillwater rush managed to get the puck through the Cloquet defense deep in the right corner.  The puck came to a Pony forward who took a high shot to Carlson’s glove side.  Carlson lost the puck.  A high shot at reasonable speed causes the puck to reflect the light and makes it hard to see.  When Carlson lost the puck, it simply deflected off his glove into the net.  The game was tied 2-2.

A minute later, Cloquet’s Jake Huhta turned the game.  He put the Lumberjacks in control of the game.  The play started when Huhta beat a pressing Pony defense along the boards at the Cloquet blue line and took off with the puck.  He was bound and determine to beat the Stillwater defense and he did turning the left corner of the Stillwater zone.  Huhta headed for the net drawing the lone remaining Pony defense man to him and flipped the puck to Aaron Moore cruising in from the right side.  Moore banged the puck home for a 3-2 Cloquet lead.  Two minutes later, Huhta got the game winner on a Cloquet power play.  This time he cruised in from the left side to one time a rebounding puck into the net.  That goal Cloquet up 4-2 with six minutes left in the game and turned out to be the game winner.


Stillwater's Joe Stengl scores to cut Cloquet's lead to 4-3 late in the third period.

Stillwater’s Joe Stengl made a nice move a minute later cutting into the slot and beat Carlson to cut the lead to 4-3, but the game slowed.  The last minutes of the third period saw two tired teams struggling.  It was a good game considering it was early in the season.

The wooden ceiling at the Northwoods Arena is something to see and if you walk across the narrow alley to “The Barn” you can connect with the carpenters.  Up north for many years, people built their houses with help from their neighbors.  Some would say that is probably not good for the economy, but then you didn’t need a mortgage.  The Barn was built that way and is full of wood structures that you will never see in a modern arena.  After all, Cloquet was all about lumber at one time.


A child is a guest in the house, to be loved and respected — never possessed, since he belongs to God. J. D. SALINGER, "Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters"