It wasn’t pretty, but it was a win.
That was the sentiment of Brandon hockey coach Tim Stone after the Blackhawks won their opening game of the season, defeating Port Huron 6-4 Nov. 18 at the Polar Palace in Lapeer.
Brandon got a boost from some new blood, as sophomores Kyle Doan and Nick Foren, both first-year players on the Brandon varsity, scored two goals each. Juniors Chris Nelson and Matt Cinader scored the other Brandon goals.
The Blackhawks jumped out to a 3-0 lead early in the first period, as Doan scored both his goals and Foren one of his two goals within the first eight minutes of the contest, but Port Huron came back with two goals later in the first (by Jon Blake and Nick Jowett) to cut the Brandon lead to 3-2.
However, Foren scored his second goal of the game with 11:14 left in the first period as the Blackhawks took a 4-2 lead at the end of the period.
Nelson then scored 55 seconds into the second period to put Brandon up 5-2, but Port Huron scored twice later in the second to get back on in the game.
Port Huron scored their third goal with 10:11 left in the second. Despite the Big Reds? Doug Smith serving two minutes in the penalty box for charging, Blake still scored a shorthanded goal, his second of the game.
Smith then scored another goal for the Big Reds with 9:19 left in the second as the Blackhawks? lead was trimmed to 5-4 at the end of the period.
The score remained that way through the rest of the game until Cinader’s empty-net goal in the third period iced the game for the Blackhawks.
Stone said the Blackhawks tightened things up defensively between the second and third periods.
‘The goal was to make them (Port Huron) spend time in their zone and not spend time in the neutral zone,? he said. ‘We worked on making them play in their end.?
Stone said bright spots for the Blackhawks were the play of Doan and Foren and the fact three of the Blackhawks? four lines scored a goal. In addition, he said junior goaltender Jeff Hammond played ‘very well? for the Blackhawks.
‘He made several big-time saves for us,? he said.
On the flip side, Stone said the Blackhawks still have some work to do, particularly with regard to their play in their own zone.
‘The kids knew at the end of the game that they hadn’t played as well as they could,? he said. ‘Port Huron is a real physical team. Sometimes you have to change how you play.?
The Blackhawks were scheduled to take on Davison at the Perani Arena in Flint Wednesday, Nov. 23, after this issue of The Citizen went to press.