Steele County Blades to Welcome Fans to Home Opener

The Steele County Blades junior hockey team opens its home schedule Friday, October 9 at 7 pm at Four Seasons Centre in Owatonna. And you are invited. The Blades said this week fans are welcome, up to the 250 allowed at indoor functions by the Minnesota Department of Health. The ticket gate opens at 6:30 pm.

Fans are asked to leave the arena immediately at the conclusion of the game, rather than mingling or visiting with the players afterward. Steele County hosts Hudson in the game. The Havoc won the Midwest West division title last winter in the US Premier Hockey League.

Steele County is 2-1 after a trip to the Wisconsin Dells last weekend. The Blades peppered the Ducks goalies with 149 shots over the two-game series, winning 3-1 and 10-1. Steele County dropped their opener September 30 at the Minnesota Mullets 7-4 after surrendering an early 3-0 lead.

In their weekend trip to central Wisconsin, the Blades got behind in Friday's opener 91 seconds into the first period. Joey Bunton (Danville, IL) scored his first Blades' goal midway through the period. Steele County added a goal in the second and third periods as Porter Templin (Salt Lake City, UT) and Pierce Lee (Delta, British Columbia) each notched their first goal of the season for the 3-1 win. The Blades outshot the Ducks 72-31.

The shot differential tilted even more toward the Blades in Saturday's rematch with the Dells, 77-20 and the Blades sailed to a 10-1 victory. Charlie Smith (Waterdown, Ontario) had a hat trick plus an assist. Ethan Secord (Bellingham, WA) scored two goals. Connor Lee (Sydney, Australia) had two goals and a helper. Defenseman Evan Axell (Plymouth, MN) had three assists and leads the team in points with seven assists.

Josh Brown (Minnetonka, MN) was the goalie Friday for the Blades. Jeffrey Mailhot (Quebec) played Saturday.