North All-Star soar in shootout
On the same night the NHL All-Star Game was decided in a shootout, the Metro All-Star Game at West Meadows Ice Arena was also decided in the same dramatic fashion.
The Metro North All-Stars rallied from a 4-1 third-period deficit to defeat the Metro Northwest All-Stars 5-4, including 1-0 in the shootout.
Metro Northwest jumped out to a 1-0 lead when Buffalo Grove junior forward Alex Grupe poke-checked the puck away from the defender and fired a wrist shot past Glenbrook South goalie Troy Carroll (13 saves).
Conant goalie Danny McKenzie (7 saves) made a glove save to protect the Northwest lead. Late in the first, Carmel junior forward Thomas Gray added another goal for the Northwest for 2-0 lead heading into the second period.
The North got on the scoreboard early in the second when Highland Park senior forward Dylan Tischleder put one past Buffalo Grove senior goalie Lucas Lambert (7 saves) to cut the lead to 2-1. The Northwest added 2 more goals in the second, 1 by Fremd junior forward Eric Freeburg and another by Rockford senior forward Alex Edwards to give the Northwest a 4-1 edge.
In te third period, the North All-Stars fired 14 shots at Fremd senior goalie Pat Fitton (11 saves). The North cut the lead in half less than two minutes into the period. Deerfield senior forward Elliot Hardy hooked up with his teammate, senior forward Dave Kaplan, to make the score 4-3 with just under 10 minutes to go in the game.
With about 51/2 minutes left, Hardy scored thanks to a great pass from St. Viator junior defenseman John Scully to tie the game 4-4, which is how it ended in regulation.
The Northwest fired 12 shots, but nothing eluded Stevenson senior goalie Mitchell Levinson (15 saves), who was named MVP.
Conant coach John Conenna made the call for a three-man shootout. Levinson stopped the Northwest's first 2 attempts, while the North's first shooter, Tischleder, put his shot past Fitton. The Northwest's last chance was Freeburg, who made a move sweeping across near the crease, but Levinson made a beautiful kick save as the North avenged last year's 5-4 loss to the Northwest.
Conant/Hoffman Estates/Schaumburg: The Cougars ended the season 5-6-3 in fifth place in the Metro Northwest. Their first playoff game was a 1-1 tie against Mundelein.
"We were up 1-0 for most of the game," said Conant coach John Conenna. "They tied it with about six minutes left and that's the way it ended."
The Cougars rebounded to beat Carmel 3-2, as senior goalie Danny McKenzie made 27 saves.
"He really shined that night." said Conenna, whose team played Mundelein on Wednesday night.
Buffalo Grove/Hersey/Wheeling: Buffalo Grove/Wheeling not only had to deal with losing many key players from last year's team, it took in Hersey this season.
"The kids really didn't know who was going to lead them," Wagner said. "It was tough for the first half of the season, but we've really turned things around and the kids are playing well as of late."
BGHW ended the season 7-7-1, fourth in the Metro Northwest.
In the Metro Northwest playoffs, BGHW lost 4-1 to Fremd and 10-0 to Rockford.
"The game against Fremd our guys played tough," Wagner said. "Fremd just kept coming at us and we just didn't have an answer. The game against Rockford was a mental problem. Our guys rolled over and just didn't even seem like they want to play."
BGHW played Prospect/Rolling Meadows/Elk Grove/Palatine (PREP) on Wednesday night.