Portage Classic

A very festive atmosphere at the Wings arena tonight with a puck drop ceremony, chuck-a-puck fundraiser and the two ADs squaring off in a shooting competition. The crowd at Wings Stadium looked to be 2500 strong, and there were tons of families with little kids, including one seven-year old who kept yelling, "You suck, 35!" at Huskies' goalie Barry Toornman during the second period. And yes, the fans even danced when they put on "YMCA."

The game itself could have been better. PC really took it to PN, and the score could have been wider than the 4-1 final margin if not for Toornman, who, as the picture above proves, almost literally stood on his head. (Yes, he made the save!) Not to add any unnecessary drama, but the word is that he was sick and was throwing up between periods.

Portage Central scored its first two goals on the powerplay, with sophomores Matt Ragains netting the first less than two minutes in and Max Taylor scoring the second at the 5:55 mark. PN had a chance to cut the lead in half on a 5-on-3 powerplay, but Mustangs goalie Brogan VandeVelde gloved a low laser of a shot by the Mustangs Brandon Walker at the 3:30 mark. When the penalties were killed, PC's Erik Hoffman scored to put the Mustangs up 3-0.

Northern came out in the second period fired up and scored on its first shot with Matt Duris netting the PP goal, assisted by Doug Wheelwright. As Northern continued to press offensively, PC started flying players out the zone, which lead to a breakaway goal by Jared Hook at 8:05 of the second period (assists to Chris Sandmeyer and Brett Bergy). While that was the end of the scoring, it was by no means the end of the chances, as PC had another breakaway 30 seconds later that Toornman turned aside. For the rest of the second and the remainder of the third, the puck spent a lot of time in the Huskies' defensive zone. Toornman did yeoman's work, as did PN defensemen Walker and Nick Kruse. Shots were 27-19 in favor of PC. In sum: a great night for high school hockey and I'll bet it will be a great memory for every player on both teams. Kalamazoo Gazette's coverage is here. Pictures are below. To view the photos in full-size, double-click.