Sunday, Feb 24, 2019

Saint Paul, Minnesota – Jason Zucker of Las Vegas scored his 15th goal of the season in the second period then teammate Ryan Donato scored on a wrist shot in OT to help the Minnesota Wild beat a red hot St. Louis Blues team 2-1 here at the XCel Energy Center on Sunday night.

Allen, Texas – Zach Pochiro scored his 29th goal of the season and then added an OT/Shootout goal to help the ECHL Allen Americans beat the Utah Grizzlies 5-4.  Zach now has 30 goals this season – he leads all Las Vegas players away from home this winter.

Sunday, Feb 24, 2019

City National Arena – Las Vegas

Mountain West League

Final Score

NORCAL ICE RAIDERS 5

at

VEGAS JESTERS 2

First Period –
Goal – Todd Brautigam from Michael Cichy
Second Period
Goal – Tyler Bush from Kody Holmes

Jesters goalie – Danny Kirkovich

//Tommy Caputo is new head coach of the Jesters and he really liked the effort of the Jesters against the NorCal Raiders, an awesome, rugged club which has a tremendous edge to its games as they power about the ice…”We played much better in this game than we did in the first game of this series,” Caputo said. He liked the play from star d-man Richie Crossley of the Jesters….Kody Holmes is one of the best Jesters; he attacks the net at high speed, is a creator of opportunities for the team…Defenseman Richard Prekop played well – liked his positioning a lot…Michael Cichy worked hard and got an assist for the second straight game…Our #1 Star went to Jesters goalie Danny Kirkovich who had an awesome game making tremendous saves against a power like the NorCal Ice Raiders which raised their season record to 14-0-0…The hometown crowd at City National Arena was really into this game. About 99% there were Jesters fans….

— Lee Samuels, reporting from the Blue Line

Saturday, Feb 23, 2019

By Bethany Drysdale

Boulder, Colorado – Day Three of UNLV’s Colorado road trip would be the fourth and final matchup against Colorado University Buffaloes. Taking the ice at the Boulder Recreational Center the Rebels looked to put the series away with another win. Coming into this game UNLV had scored 19 goals against the Buffs. Senior Captain Cody Williams was sitting on 99 career goals going into this game, looking for his 100th. The Buffaloes came out stronger in the first period with their starting goalie returning for this game after serving a suspension previously for violating team rules. UNLV goalie Ben Giesbrecht was tested 16 times in the first, stopping every shot on goal. After seventeen minutes of play, Joe Kaszupski and Tristan Mayer went 2 on 2, with Kaszupski scoring the first goal of the game.

The second period was more physical than the first. As frustration began to build on the Colorado side, they found themselves down 5 on 3 when Bas Assaf scored the second goal of the game from the point. Assisted by Kameron Fink and Tristan Mayer with 12:57 left in the second, the Rebels continued to play their strong, fast play. Colorado finally scored their first goal in two nights with 9:10 left in the second, going top left side on Giesbrecht. More physical altercations throughout the second carried over to the third period. 

Forty seconds into the third, it appeared Joe Kaszupski had scored the third Rebels goal, but it was waved off after an officials review. Zach Lawson with 13:00 minutes left in the game, made an awesome one man line through the Buffs’ defense, only to miss glove side. The Rebels played the full sixty minutes with the same speed and strength in which they started the game. It also worked in the Rebels favor as Colorado played a man down on penalties. With 8:20 left in the game, UNLV was out-shooting Colorado 11 to 3, looking to more points on the board. The Buffs pulled their goalie with 90 seconds left in the game, but even with the extra attacker, the Rebels sealed the win.

The Rebels will travel to Stony Brook, New York, next weekend to finish the regular season. The solid 3-0-0 weekend in Colorado should help them in the standings, going into the tournaments. Follow the Skating Rebels on Twitter @UNLVREBELHOCKEY for links to their broadcasts, as well as a link to their GoFundMe to raise monies for the ACHA D1 National Tournament.

Bethany Drysdale was voted by our readers as the Best Hockey Writer on Vegas Hockey

Flash Final Score
City National Arena, Las Vegas

Saturday, Feb 23, 2019

Mountain West League

NorCal Ice Raiders 5
Las Vegas Jesters 1

Shots on Goal – NorCal 38-17

Las Vegas goal – Joe Magarelli

Assist – Michael Cichy

Sean Wise scored 2 goals including game-winner for NorCal Ice Raiders

Saturday, February 23, 2019

Final Score – Overtime – St Albert Saints 3, AA Vegas Jr Golden Knights 2 — Tyler Atchison, Jack Lackas score for Vegas; Logan Perez in net

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Quebec – The 4-0-0 AA Vegas Jr Golden Knights 12u team will take on St. Albert Saints of Alberta, Canada today in a Final 4 game at the Quebec International Peewee Tournament.

Teams from 19 countries are in this tournament.

Tyler ‘Fuzzy’ Atchison of Las Vegas is the #1 scorer in the tournament with 6 goals, 4 assists; Jack Lackas is the #2 scorer with 2 goals, 6 assists; Chayse Laurie has 3 goals, 2 assists and Trevor Abele has one goal. 

Tyler Atchison’s older brother Erik plays for the WHL Spokane Chiefs – one of the very few Las Vegas players who have been in that league.

Vegas goalie Logan Perez is 4-0-0.

The gold medal game will be on Sunday.

Back home the AA Las Vegas Jr Golden Knights peewees practice and play home games at the Las Vegas Ice Center on Flamingo Avenue and at the SoBe Ice Arena on North Rancho Drive.

Kevin Mulcahy is head coach, Larry Lackas assistant coach, Kevin Atchison is team manager.

Stat of the Day

The dynamic Cody Williams of Las Vegas has 99 career goals for the UNLV Rebels who are on the road vs Colorado University tonight in Boulder, Co.

Saturday, Feb 23, 2019

Las Vegas – Goal scorer Michael Cichy returns to the lineup for the Vegas Jesters tonight for a showdown game against the unbeaten NorCal Ice Raiders at the City National Arena, 6:30 pm faceoff.

Cichy, 20, was injured weeks ago. He is in his first season with the Jesters who are 6-6-0 overall in the Mountain West League. Cichy played junior hockey previously with the Wisconsin RapidKings, Atlanta Capitals, Wisconsin Muskies and the Ironwood Yoopers in Michigan.

NorCal Ice Raiders are a powerful force with a 12-0-0 record.

This is a two-game weekend with the finale scheduled here on Sunday.

—

Mountain West Standings

NorCal Ice Raiders 12-0-0, Vail Yetti 3-0-2, Vegas Jesters 6-6-0, Pikes Peak Vigliantes 1-1-0, Breckenridge Vipers 3-4-0, San Diego Skates 4-6-0, West Coast Seals 3-6-1, North County Checkers 1-8-1

Friday, February 22, 2019

Allen, Texas – Zach Pochiro’s goal into an empty net in the third period clinched a 7-5 win for the ECHL Allen Americans over the Utah Grizzlies on Friday night at the Allen Event Center. The Allen Americans were clinging to a one-goal lead late when the Grizzlies pulled their goalie and Pochiro, from Las Vegas, scored. It was the 27th goal this season for Pochiro and the second straight win for the Allen Americans. The crowd tonight was 3444.

Duluth, Ga. – In a stunner Vito Carlo and Gunner Moore of Las Vegas each had two assists for the NA3HL Atlanta Capitals in a riveting 5-4 OT/Shootout win over the 33-3-1 division leader Texas Brahmas here Friday at the Atlanta Ice Forum. The Atlanta Capitals have clinched a playoff spot with a record of 23-16-4.

Friday, February 22, 2019

By Bethany Drysdale

Boulder, Colorado – The #11 UNLV Rebels took on the #19 Colorado University Buffaloes at the Boulder Recreational Center. The last meeting between the two teams back in September produced two wins for the Rebels and they hoped to continue their win streak here Friday night. For the Buffs the stakes were even higher in this game, needing a win as well as Jamestown and Alabama losses to keep their playoff hopes alive but the Buffs did not get the result they needed. Ben Giesbrecht started in the Rebels net getting the shutout win after his big shootout win the previous night. Early in the first period, it was all Rebels, dominating puck possession, solid forechecking and creating turnovers in the neutral zone. Scoring first for the Rebels with 8:40 left in the first period was Tristan Mayer, assisted by Bas Assaf. The Rebels lead was never in question, from that point on. 

Colorado struggled in the second period, with sloppy puck passes and could not keep possession. With 5:20 gone in the second Cody Williams took advantage of a 5 on 4 opportunity to score five-hole as a Buffs player made his way to the bench giving the Rebels a 2-0 lead. Speed and momentum favored UNLV all night as they quickly scored three more goals. Tristan Mayer scored the third goal, assisted by Joe Kaszupski and Sean Plonski with 12:27 left in the second. Forty seconds later it was defenseman Tommy Harrison putting the puck in the elbow gap, as he skated at an odd angle while scoring the Rebels fourth goal. The Rebels were on the final seconds of a power play when they scored their fifth goal. John Moeller, assisted by Mayer and Williams, connected to put the Rebels in excellent position going into the final period.

The final period started with the Rebels on the power play, putting several shots on goal. D’Andre John put the game beyond reach halfway in the third period, adding the sixth and final goal. A big hit in the Buffs zone, knocking a CU defenseman out of position, and a juicy rebound gave John the perfect opening for his goal, assisted by Zach Lawson and Jordan Rea.  The Rebels third and fourth lines got more ice time in the final minutes of the game, setting up more shots on goal. Outplaying the Buffs all game long, the Rebels can use this momentum going into the Saturday night game here.

Watch the Rebels on Saturday night 6 pm pacific time to do it all over again, as they play their third and final game of the weekend. Each win this weekend and the two games against Stony Brook in New York next week are important for UNLV’s positioning in the upcoming ACHA Divsion 1 tournament in Texas.

Tonight’s Best Game

Friday, Feb 22, 2019

ACHA D1

FINAL

#11 UNLV REBELS 6

at

#19 COLORADO UNIVERSITY 0

Williams Village Recreational Center, on campus, Boulder, Colorado

//1st period – UNLV dominating in first period; Colorado not doing much really – Giesbrecht strong in Rebels net; First period over….

//2nd period – Colorado more heated at beginning of period…UNLV scores – long range, from left side – then UNLV scores again to take 3-0 lead….Tommy Harrison scores to give UNLV 4-0 lead…Colorado’s Matt Adams scraps with Bryce Woodward of Rebels near center ice…Adams goes into penalty box…it’s all UNLV in this one.

//3rd period – Colorado broadcasters say there is no way their team is going to ACHA D1 National Championships – noting Colorado needed two wins over UNLV this weekend to hope to get into the tournament….quiet third period; no heat coming from Colorado…

===

UNLV scoring

UNLV goal – Tristan Mayer from Bas Assaf

UNLV – Cody Williams – 99th career goal

UNLV – Tristan Mayer from Joseph Kaszupski, Sean Plonski

UNLV – Tommy Harrison

UNLV goal – John Moeller from Tristan Mayer, Cody Williams

UNLV goal – D’Andre John

UNLV goalie – Ben Giesbrecht – shutout victory

======================================

//Breaking News – Ben Giesbrecht will start in the net tonight for UNLV… Rebels goal scorer Cody Williams goes into this game with 98 career goals.

//This will be a two-game weekend series here; UNLV earlier beat Colorado 6-3, 7-0 on home ice at City National Arena. Eric Ballard is head coach at Colorado. Coach Ballard has had success in many other programs as well. UNLV has four regular season games to play before going into the ACHA D1 U.S. National Championships in Frisco, Texas next month.