by: Ken Oda, minotauroshockey.com
Blaine, MN – The Minotauros open the NAHL Showcase with Wichita Falls Wildcats at 7:15 p.m. on Wednesday. This will mark the second time that the Tauros and Wildcats will meet all time. The Tauros earned their first ever franchise victory over the Wildcats on the third day of the 2011 NAHL Showcase. The game will be the third of the year for both teams, the Tauros enter off of a pair of extra time losses to Brookings while the Wildcats picked up a split in Topeka over the weekend.
For the Tauros this marks the first time that they enter the Showcase having played regular season games. Last weekend Head Coach Marty Murray leaned on veteran players and will presumably do so again this week. Christian Mohs already has two goals and an assist on the season; last season he posted four goals and two assists at the Showcase. Johnny Walker also had a big Showcase last season with three goals, he had a goal and an assist in Brookings over the weekend. Another vet, Chase Springman, had a goal and an assist as well over the weekend; he also had another goal disallowed. Newcomer Owen Larson added a pair of goals on Friday night to key the overtime forcing comeback.
For the Wildcats Adam Goodsir and Jeff Baum each have two goals on the young season, while Ben Lown leads the way with three assists. Overall 14 Wildcats have at least one point through their first two games of the season. Last season the Wildcats finished with a 39-16-5 record; their 83 points were three more than the Tauros 80.
In net both teams gave each of their goaltenders a start over the weekend. For the Tauros Jon Flakne stopped 23 of 27 in a shootout loss while Lucas Murray stopped 34 of 37 in Saturday’s overtime loss. For the Wildcats Julian Sime stopped 26 of 30 in a loss while Justin Kapelmaster stopped 24 of 26.
Wednesday night’s game will be watchable on fasthockey.com, and you can listen live on KRRZ 1390 AM in Minot, and Prostyle Productions streaming world wide.