Showcase Recap
The Maine Nordiques left the Colisèe at Midnight between Monday and Tuesday to embark on a 5 day journey to Blaine Minnesota to play in the annual NAHL showcase. The Nordiques got into Boston bright and early and touched down at MSP airport just hours later. The Nordiques got settled in with a dinner at Chili’s and a night in the sauna to soothe the pains of travel
Wednesday came fast and with it, the first day of the NAHL showcase which had the Nordiques facing off against the Chippewa Steel
Tommy Heaney sees a D zone draw to his left
Kellen Murphy wasted no time putting in his 4th of the season in his return to his home state of Minnesota, the Steel would respond but Cody Pisarczyk’s first of the season would set the tone. 2-2 after 1
The Nordiques came out in the second firing as Kai Dunits added his first on the man advantage and David Helledy, who loves to score at the Super rink, converted on his snap shot off a great move to put the Nordiques in control. Nick Romeo would go back to back spacing his goals out in the third and Laurent Trepanier would find the twine in his return to the Nords lineup and season debut for good measure as the Nords had no problem dealing with the Steel 7-2. The Nordiques would score the most goals out of any team on night 1 of the showcase and the Nords got treaded to Olive Garden to end the night.
Nick Romeo Gets the player of the game mask
The Nordiques would open the NAHL showcase slate for night 2 as they took on the Minot Minotauros at 11. Carter Richardson made his debut in the Nordiques crease and blanked the Tauros through the first period, however the Nords suffered a similar fate as they also weren’t able to find the twine.
The second period had the Tauros all over the Nordiques to start and they converted to open the scoring. Kellen Murphy would stay hot and add his second of the showcase to tie it but the Tauros would lead by one after two and outshot the Nords 26-6 in the period.
The Nordiques battled in the third as Kim Hilmersson went back to back to give the Nordiques the lead for the time being. The Tauros would keep the pressure on and convert. Overtime would be needed but both teams would battle without scoring so it went to a shootout. Cody Pisarczyk started it off with a goal but the Tauros would get one of their own David Helledy would be denied and the Tauros would score again before Murphy got robbed on a great save and the Tauros would take the extra point for a 4-3 shootout win. The Nordiques recorded a point however in the loss.
Nick Romeo Celebrates after putting home another goal
The showcase kept rolling as day 3 had the Nords taking on the Springfield Jr Blues. The blues found the back of the net first with some sustained pressure but that motivated the Nordiques to push ahead. Cody Pisarczyk would respond seven minutes later to tie it at one after one. The Nordiques would kick off the second period with three straight Nords goals as Helledy and Murphy found the back of the net before Grant Dietz who had a great assist to Kim Hilmersson on the night prior was rewarded with his first of his NA career. The blues scored toward the end of the frame but Charles Tardif’s tally cancelled it out and put the Nords back in control. Cody Pisarczyk would have the lone goal in the third and the Nordiques made quick work of the Blues with a 6-2 victory.
Head coach and GM Nick Skerlick chats with Kristen Krull after his teams impressive performance
The last day of the showcase had the Nordiques waking up at an early time of 7am be at the rink for their 9am game against the Corpus Christie Ice Rays. The Nords got in control early as Kim Hilmerson and Nick Romeo converted in the first to make it 2-0 after the first. Nick Romeo wasn’t done there however as he added another to make it 3-0 Nords after two. Charles Tardif and Grant Dietz doubled up to start the third and gave the Nords a 5-0 lead. The ice rays would battle back however as they scored four straight. With their net empty they put everything they had at the Nordiques and Carter Richardson (who stopped 31/35 shots in his first NAHL win) stood strong in net. The ice rays worked the puck to the point and a shot got blocked by Jake Bernadette who picked up the puck and cashed in on the empty net. Jack Kurrle would then win the resulting faceoff and score on a breakaway to put it away for a 7-4 Nords win.
The Nords celebrate after a win and new organizational record
With their performance the Nordiques set a new showcase record for the organization with 7 out of the 8 possible points being secured and with it, the second best showing in the showcase overall league wide. The Nords will take this weekend off of game action and then hit the road for a matchup with the team who took home the best record of the showcase- Northeast Generals