Clippers edged out by Griffins in their first game
The Briercrest Clippers opened their season on Friday night at the Barkman Arena. The team played the previous two-year defending champs, the Grant MacEwan Griffins. The two teams played in a one way, but hard-fought game with the Griffins coming out on top with a 9-1 victory. Friday night was not only special for the Clippers with player introductions, but also a night to remember Briercrest alum Darcy Haugan. Before the puck drop, the Clippers had a moment of silence to remember Darcy who passed away in the tragic Humboldt Broncos bus crash; Darcy was the head coach for the Broncos at the time of this accident.
The Griffins opened the game with a goal half way through the period from #7 Nolan Yaremchuk, assisted from #3 Taylor Bilyk and #6 Andrew Kartusch. The Griffins pulled off another two quick goals in just over a minute apart, scoring for the Griffins were #21 Brett Njaa and #19 Cam Gotaas. Near the end of the period, Grant MacEwan’s #19 Cam Gotaas scored his second of the night off of a deflection from #10 Cameron Reagan. Taking a 4-0 lead against the Clippers into the 1st intermission.
In the 2nd period, the Griffins kept battling, increasing the score off the bat to 5-0 from #19 Cam Gotaas, earning his hat trick goal. Despite the efforts from the Clippers, the Griffins offense was unstoppable, ending the 2nd period with a 7-0 lead. Clippers goalie, #40 Dan Dekoning took on 50 shots going into the intermission after two periods of play.
The last period of play was tight, with a pair of goals being scored from the Griffins, #18 Nicolas Correale scored in the period, and another goal was scored by #21 Brett Njaa. The Clippers were not shut out, #20 Russell Olson scored in the last minutes of the game to put the Clippers on the board. After going back and forth throughout the period, the final score was 9-1.
The player of the game for Briercrest Clippers was #20 Russel Olson, scoring the lone goal for them.
- Article written by William Dmytrow