Feature Story

Feature Story

Cold, snow fails to cool off All-Star Game

By Jon Garver

Lake-effect show. Temperatures in the 30’s one day and below zero the next. These are staples of Green Bay in January and the USHL found out the hard way.

The USHL held its annual Prospects/All-Star Game at the Resch Center in Green Bay on Tuesday, Jan. 29. The week started out with mild temperatures, but by game time, a full-fledged winter storm had gripped the Fox Valley, threatening the post-game travel arrangements of some of the participants and forcing some fans to stay away from the event.

“By the time the puck dropped, the snow had slowed down, but an hour before that it was coming in sideways with all the wind and I’m sure that had a lot to do with some people staying away,” said USHL president Gino Gasparini. “But the ones that did come out got to see a pretty good game with an exciting finish, and that’s what you hope for in things like this.”

Inside the Resch, it was Team RBK (East Division All-Stars) defeating Team CCM (West Division All-Stars) by a score of 6-5 in a shootout. Sioux City’s Alex Tuckerman, although a member of the losing team, was named the winner of the Ron Woodey Award, which goes to the game’s most valuable player. Tuckerman had a pair of goals for Team CCM. Sioux Falls’ Jake Hansen was named Player of the Game for Team CCM and Indiana’s Greg Squires was the Player of the Game for Team RBK.

After a slow start, things picked up and Team RBK jumped out to a 2-0 lead, thanks to goals by a pair of Waterloo Black Hawks. Brock Montpetit scored first at 7:53 to make it 1-0. Seconds later, Blake Kessel got his own rebound and pushed it past Sioux City goaltender Josh Robinson to make it 2-0 at 8:37. Four minutes later Team CCM got on the board when Jake Hansen used a nifty individual effort to put one past Brady Hjelle to make it 2-1. Team RBK got the two goal lead back less than two minutes later when Chicago’s Brian O’Neill went upstairs to make it 3-1. Team CCM closed out the scoring less than a minute later as Sioux Falls’ Nick Dineen scored to make it 3-2 at 15:23.

Each team scored twice in the second period. Alex Tuckerman scored his first of the game just 54 seconds into the period to tie it at 3-3. Just 38 seconds later, however, Indiana’s Paul Carey put Team RBK back ahead 4-3. Cedar Rapids’ Tyler Thompson made it 5-3 when he scored at 6:28. Tuckerman then scored his second of the game at 10:46 to make it 5-4. Team CCM tied it up at 16:12 of the third period when Sioux City’s Spencer Heichman banged home a rebound to make it 5-5.

Greg Squires and Waterloo’s Brett Olson scored for Team RBK in the shootout and Waterloo’s Matt DiGirolamo turned aside all four shooters he faced to give Team RBK the 6-5 victory. It marked just the second time that the USHL Prospects/All-Star Game has been decided by a shootout.

“Early on, there wasn’t a lot happening and you didn’t know what we were going to end up with, but then the players turned it on, worked hard and gave everyone a great show,” Gasparini said.

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