This was a strange week for the boy’s hockey team, first a visit to Tartan (4-9) where they took down the Titans 4-1 which was followed by a trip to Hill-Murray where the Pioneers thumped them 0-9. Hastings currently sits in fourth place for the Metro East Conference at 6-9.
At Tartan
The last few years, trips to Tartan High School have rarely been fun or convenient for fans and teams. The school itself has been undergoing a major reconstruction project that is interrupting a lot of things at the school. What is completed is absolutely gorgeous and the end product will be amazing for their students and staff, but logistically, it is a nightmare to visit the school with extremely limited parking and counter-intuitive temporary building access.
On the ice, Hastings faced a Tartan team ravaged by illness. 14 players were out due to a bug that hit the locker room. The Titans were so shorthanded, they were forced to cancel the junior varsity game and Hastings capitalized. It appears as though the coaching and manager staff is a bit thin too with details from the game not being readily available at press time.
What we do know: the first period and second was the Jon Harris show as far as goal scoring. Harris logged the hat trick in the first period with assists going to Brayden Krauth and Matt Sherry on his first two goals. The lack of information shared from the Tartan coaching staff means we do not have the official book on who assisted Harris on the third goal, and we do not officially know who scored the fourth goal. Smelser faced 18 shots all game stopping 17 for a .944 save percentage. Penalty details were not provided either. If that information becomes available, we will provide that next week.
At Hill-Murray
If anything, at times, the universe can be cruel and humbling at the same time. Hastings knew they caught Tartan at a tough time and the boys showed a lot of respect on the ice in that 4-1 win, but the game against the Pioneers swapped their spot on the scoreboard and it was Hastings that looked like they were missing 14 players.
Hill-Murray is ranked as the number two team in the state according to the coaches’ poll and number four in the state according to QRF. For reference, Hastings is the 78th team by QRF. The game against Hill was expected to be one of the toughest games Hastings will have this season, and it was.
The Pioneers scored four goals in the first, three in the second and only two in the third with the running time rules in place for the third period. They also outshot Hastings 47 to 5. Penalty wise, the game was not clean at all with both teams having 14 penalty minutes on seven infractions. Many of the penalties were coincidental minors so technically, both teams only had three powerplay opportunities each. Hill-Murray capitalized on one of the three powerplays.
Smelser and Charlie Stoffel split time in net, Stoffel faced 39 shots, stopping 31 for a .816 save percentage, Smelser faced nine shots, stopping seven for a .778 save percentage.
Up next
Hastings will host Tartan on Jan. 18 for a 2:00 p.m. puck drop and they will travel to Hopkins on Jan. 21 for a 7:00 p.m. start before returning home to face Simley on Jan. 23 at 6:30 p.m.