North Shore Storm PeeWees are District 11 champs!

Congratulations to the North Shore Storm PeeWee B team on winning the PeeWee district championship. Here's a report on the action from Shane Hoff:

Last weekend, the North Shore Storm won the District 11 PeeWee B hockey championship in dominating fashion by beating Duluth East Black, 9-2. 

The Storm found themselves down 2-1 toward the end of the first period but a big top shelf goal by Hunter Gomez tied it up and less than a minute later Ayden Althaus gave the Storm the lead with a key short-handed tally to finish the first period up 3-2. 

In the second period, the momentum built as Jake Stadler and Althaus each scored on the power play, making it 5-2. 

The Storm came out strong in the third with Althaus and then Stadler both completing hat tricks and Andrew Wehrman and Braylen Hoff each contributing a goal apiece. Stadler and Hoff each also earned three assists apiece with Wehrman and Hunter Rex adding important helpers. Alexa Harrison made several nice saves for the Storm in net to get the “W” and the defense in front of her was superb! 

Earlier in the season, the Storm beat East Black by scores of 8-5 and 5-3 so considering the latest 9-2 rout, it seems the team may be peaking at just the right time. 

This talented, hard-working, group is playing with a high level of confidence right now. They are looking to carry that into the North Region Tournament in Coleraine, March 1-3. 

The District 11 championship gives North Shore a number 1 seed in that tournament and they will face off against the number 2 seed from District 12, Grand Rapids, at 4 p.m. this Friday with Ethan Fransen getting the nod to start between the pipes. 

The competition will be very strong as the Storm PeeWees look to be one of only two teams that advance and represent our Region at the State Tournament March 15-17 in Plymouth. 

At the beginning of this season, Coaches Nick Bjerken, Nate Stadler, Matt Cook and Zach Harrison said their goal was to develop all their players to be contributors this time of year and it’s fun to see that come to fruition.  The focus they’ve instilled in the kids has been about playing their game – not worrying about their opponents, referees or anything else out of their control.  The coaches consistently tell the kids that if they play their game they can match up with any team in the state.   

The North Shore Storm PeeWee team includes players from the Silver Bay and Cook County areas at ages 11-13 years old.  Wish them success if you see them around!  They and their coaches have certainly earned it and we are very proud of them all!