The Robertson Cup Game 1
Wilderness’ Billy Exell bearing down on Even Smith for the game winner in 133rd minute of play
In a tough, hard fought, game Friday night the Minnesota Wilderness beat the Austin Bruins 2-1 in the opening game of the Robertson Cup Finals played in front of a packed arena of Bruin fans wearing the black and gold. It took four, 20 minute, overtime periods to decide the winner as both goalie Brock Kautz and goalie Evan Smith did everything but stand on their heads to shut down their opponent’s offensive. With the clock winding down well past midnight and the game threatening to enter the seventh hour of play, game officials were debating what to do. The Wilderness’ Billy Exell save them the agony of that decision with seven minutes left. He beat the Austin defense on the right side and attacked Smith in the Bruins net at the top of the right crease beating Smith low through his leg pads to end the game. The Wilderness hold a 1-0 edge in the three game series and it is sudden death tonight for the Bruins as they return to Riverside for another 7:00 PM start.
The Wilderness' Billy Exell scores the game winner in the last minutes of the fourth overtime period in NAHL's opening game of the Robertson Cup Finals played at Austin's Riverside Arena.
The NAHL brought a great game of hockey to Minnesota last night in the first ever Robertson Cup Final played in Minnesota. The NAHL has been in existence for over 40 seasons and have provided a place for junior aged hockey players to play and hone their skills in front of scouts. This past season, all three of the NAHL’s Minnesota based franchises made the postseason playoffs for the Robertson Cup. Two (the Austin Bruins and the Minnesota Wilderness) made it to the championship series and Austin got to host all three games at Riverside. At 5:30 Friday night the Austin fans started to arrive and get their seats. Little did they know, they would be rooting for their team seven hours later. Cinderella would have long gone home. The Bruins management opened the gates and put on a great show. The coaches worked their strategies, but as the game wore on past midnight, it was the players who performed and entertained the packed arena. It started out being about the cup, but in the end it was hockey with each bench hoping the next line out would score.
The Robertson Cup will not leave Minnesota this year.
Period 1-The chess match begans
The mind games were played by both teams in the first period. Austin used their home ice advantage to match lines and immediately threw two different lines at the Wilderness’ top line led by Darian Romanko. Romanko’s line would often face either Nico Sturm’s line (with Alex Pettersson and Jacob Kullberg) or the Bruins Jade Miller line with Luke Forfar and Alex Jasiek at wings. Mostly Minnesota tried to match Romanko with Miller at the start of the shift and get Sturm’s line out before the end of the shift. The strategy worked in the opening period. Romanko was shut down. The Wilderness countered with a passive defensive strategy. When Romanko was off the ice, the Wilderness forwards would get the puck low in the Bruins’ zone and never attack keeping their wings back at the blue line and their centers holding a spot between the hash marks and the Austin blue line with the objective of generating a counterattack in the neutral zone beating an aggressive Austin defense.
The Wilderness “passive” approach worked. They got some good scoring chances on Smith, but could not beat Smith in the eight shots they got on net. But the passive approach also gave the initial momentum to the Bruins on their breakouts. The Bruins offense used that to build up their attack. By the end of the first period, the Bruins were beating the Wilderness defense in neutral ice forcing Kautz to make the big stops (9 first period saves). The opening period ended in a 0-0 tie.
Austin management put on a show for Friday's opening game. Saturday's game starts at 700 PM as things get tense for the Bruins.
Austin's Jacob Kullberg/Kallered SWE shot from top of the crease is driven right by Wilderness goalie Brock Kautz/Rochester MN.
Period 2-Bruins checkmate
Neither team changed their approach to the game in the second period. Austin continued to match lines and frustrate the Wilderness’ top line led by Romanko; the Wilderness played passive especially with Romanko off the ice. Strum’s line was beginning to assert itself against Romanko, but the game was still a tough defensive battle with outbreaks of scoring terror. Both goalies would make the big stops, but sometimes a crazy bounce of the puck would set up an open net shot that would be missed.
For the second period, the teams switch goals putting their goal the furthest from their bench. The offense of each team has the advantage if they can “trap” the other team’s defense in that team’s zone protecting the net while they switch lines. With five minutes left in the second period, the Wilderness trapped the Bruins in the Austin zone and started to get them to scramble chasing the puck. The Wilderness switched lines and continued to pressure the now tired Bruin defenders. Austin cleared the puck firing it into the Wilderness side of the ice. The Bruins thought the puck would go deep and their forwards went to the bench. Instead, Minnesota defenseman Wayland Williams stepped up picking the puck up at the Wilderness blue line and fed Isak Bergland breaking along the right boards turning the play into a 2-on-1 rush. Bergland drew the defense and passed to Alex Toscano in the slot. Toscano beat Smith to put Minnesota up 1-0. It was checkmate for Minnesota. The question now was could the Bruins counter and beat Kautz in the third period.
In what would have been the game overtime winner for Austin, this hard shot by Luke Forfar/Darien IL beats Kautz but bounces off the right pipe
Period 3-The knights counter and the rouks stonewall
For the first 16 minutes of the third period, the battle continued. As the third period clock counted the seconds, the Wilderness became more defensive and the Bruins offense became more aggressive and both goalies stonewalled the offense. With six minutes to go, the Wilderness had a great opportunity to score, but Smith stopped the first shot with a great save and Riese Zmolek stopped the second shot clearing the puck. That turned the play and a minute later, the Bruins’ JC Maclean beat Kautz to tie the game 1-1. Each team had their shot to end the game and send everybody home at 9:30 PM. Both missed open shots. Regulation ended in a deadlock, 1-1. The Wilderness had the edge in shots on goal 21-19.
Austin goalie Evan Smith makes this stop on the Wilderness' Wayland Williams' shot with 9:13 left in the seventh period. Two minutes later, the Wilderness would score on a solo by Exell on the right.
Overtime-A four period game of checkers
Somewhere in the middle of the first overtime, the game became a game of checkers. Strategies were still being tried, but the “legs of the wolf” were tired. The goalies continued to play well, but the forwards were starting to hang on to the puck longer and shooting less. It was becoming a game of the strongest or the luckiest. The first 20 minute overtime ended in a tie. The dynamic started to shift in the second overtime. The legs of the Austin defense tired, they were slower to beat back the Wilderness forwards. At the end of the second and third overtimes, Romanko’s line really dominated play. Austin’s goalie Smith had to step up and made some great stops on solo rushes often developed low in the Bruins’ zone. Kautz was not exactly picnicking at the other end. He had to survive his moments of terror, but the Wilderness defense was more successful. They were keeping the Austin forwards wide on the attack as the four overtimes were played. With midnight come and gone and a quandary being developed on what to do, the Wilderness finally scored. With seven minutes left on the clock, Billy Exell got the game winner with defenseman Wayland Williams getting the assist.
Billy Exells celebrates scoring the winner in front of a stunned Austin crowd.
As two Austin fans commented, all settled in comfortable seats at the glass wrapped in a blanket, “I wonder if they will let us sleep here, the next game time is not that far away”. Saturday’s game at Riverside is “do or die” for Austin. But whatever happens this weekend at Riverside, the Robertson Cup stays in Minnesota.