Feature Story
Alexandria Blizzard back in business
Competitive but struggling to find the
win column, the Alexandria Blizzard was rewarded for its efforts last weekend
with two morale-boosting victories over the Southern Minnesota Express.
“It was a great weekend for our players’
confidence,” said Blizzard coach-GM Brad Willner,
whose team improved to
On Friday, Luke Nesper
and Noah Nemgar each tallied a goal and an assist as
the Blizzard doubled up the Express, 4-2. Michael Lickteig added two assists in the win, and goaltender Ryan Leets steered aside 18 shots.
The next night,
“We’ve been playing well and just not
getting it done in the third to win,” said Willner,
whose team got December off on the right foot with a 6-2 win over
Fargo-Moorhead on Dec. 1. “We finally have a calmness spreading throughout the
team and playing to win instead of playing not to lose.”
The Blizzard’s top line of Lickteig, Nesper, who is on a
seven-game point-scoring streak (13 points), and Jerry Freismuth
has motivated the team in more ways than one.
“They’ve really been playing well
together,” said Willner. “They’re all veteran leaders
of this team, both on and off the ice. Those guys have kept the team positive
during the tough times and have instilled a never-quit attitude in the locker
room.”
Grimstead, Nemgar and Brandon Bahnemann have also proved to be an effective line
combination upfront, along with the trio of Zurek, Jascha Pettit and Kyle Clement.
“Those two lines stepped up big on
Saturday and spurred our comeback,” said Willner.
The Blizzard still occupies the
last-place spot in the NAHL’s Central Division, but Willner in encouraged with the team’s renewed attitude the
past few weeks.
“I thought we had a good team going into
the season and I didn’t expect to be where we are,” said the coach. “We’ve
played well enough to win games, but somehow found ways to lose them.”
“We were beating ourselves but we’ve finally
broke out of that funk and are finding ways to win. We
have a different attitude on the ice. I think we finally have the confidence to
win.”
Still time to right the ship, Willner is confident he has the right pieces in place to
mold a contender.
“I like our guys and think we have the
talent here, it’s just a matter of adjusting to junior hockey and that’s
starting to happen,” said Willner.
“You cannot take a shift off during the
game. All the teams in our league are great and you have to be ready to play
for 60 minutes if you expect to win in the NAHL.”
Despite
“I think more interest will come if we
can continue to win,” said Willner.
And for the Blizzard, that means a tough,
honest effort night in and night out.
“We need to continue to compete and work
our systems,” said Willner. “We just need to play
smart hockey and not get too cute or try to make the pretty play. We just need
play gritty hockey and score when we get chances.”
Let’s Play Hockey
wants to publish your hockey stories. From tournament reports, to feature
stories on teams, players or coaches, to opinion pieces on the game of hockey, Let’s
Play Hockey accepts submissions from readers throughout the hockey
community. To submit your hockey story and/or photo(s), e-mail us at editor@letsplayhockey.com.