Steele County Blades Drop Season Opener
The junior hockey is underway for the Steele County Blades, who lost 3-2 to the Minnesota Moose in Blaine Saturday night. The Blades built a 2-1 fIrst period lead on a pair of goals from Zach Bettmeng (Sioux Falls, SD). The second period went by scoreless.
In the third the Moose evened the game at 1:34 and scored the winning goal at 10:03. The Blades were out shot 50-29. Nick Mizen (Newcastle, Australia) made 47 saves. The teams traded penalties through the night and each had 32 minutes of infractions. Each team scored once on the power play.
The Blades play their first home game Saturday September 30 against the Dells Ducks at 7:30PM in the smaller, west rink at the Four Seasons Centre in Owatonna. The team will hold a bigger celebration during their Saturday October 7 game against Wisconsin Rapids in the east rink at 7:30PM. They will also play the Riverkings Sunday October 8 at 3PM.
Coach Nick Adamek says the Blades are primarily a young team, although they do have several players back from last season. Adamek says they have four players under the age of 17 on the roster at this time. There could still be some roster adjustments during the season.
The Blades play in the United States Premier Hockey League, Midwest-West Division. Opponents include the Moose, Blue Ox and Mullets, all from the north metro. Four teams in the division reside in Wisconsin. Hudson, Wisconsin Rapids and the Dells are all carryovers. The Wisconsin Muskies, based in Spooner, are new. The Ironwood, MI Yoopers are also part of the division.