Welcome game 5 of season 46 of the SMJHL! This game was a clash of the Detroit Falcons against the home team, the Anaheim Outlaws. Last season, Detroit had the most overall wins and tied for most overall points scored during the regular season. The Falcons played their way through the playoffs and finished as runner-ups for the cup, losing to the St. Louis Scarecrows in the finals. Anaheim finished the regular season in the bottom three for wins with a 9-16-0 record for home games. Now, as the first game of the new season for both teams, they were itching to put their new strategies and rosters to the test after a fresh new SMJHL draft.

Before we begin, lets take a quick look at the starting lines:



The first period started with a bang: Dzelme won the neutral faceoff and his right wing, Fujikawa, took his first shot which resulted in a goal to the Outlaws in the first 12 seconds. For another 10 minutes there was back and forth between the teams, with each goalie doing a good job of shutting down the plays and reducing momentum. The ever-hard-to-pronounce Przemysław Brzeszczyczkiewicz got a penalty for hooking, but Detroit was successfully able to kill the penalty. Half-way through the period, and within 2 minutes from each other, the forwards Dylon McIntyre and Martijn Westbroek, both from the fourth line, scored goals for Anaheim. There were 2 more non-overlapping penalties, but both teams put up solid defenses while short-handed. In all, the first period was a good offensive performance for Anaheim.

Goal Recap:

Anaheim Outlaws, Hiro Fujikawa 1 (Osbert Whacker 1) at 0:12
Anaheim Outlaws, Dylon McIntyre 1 (Osbert Whacker 2, Mathias Seger 1) at 10:40
Anaheim Outlaws, Martijn Westbroek 1 (Corey Kennedy 1, Thomas Speardane 1) at 12:29


The beginning of the second period was somewhat uneventful. However, around the 5 minute mark the Falcons started to heat up. Franz cooper threw his body around and was able to wrestle possession of the puck from Anaheim to bring the offense into the Outlaws zone. After a save by Hunt, Raino Kyllonen (Det) got the face-off to Kit Smeb, who took a shot which Kyllonen deflected into the goal, putting the Falcons on the board. About 8 minutes later, Kyllonen won another Outlaw-zone face-off and immediately scored after retrieving Kit Smeb's loose puck. And again, only a minute later, Zvejnieks's face-off win to Franz Cooper secured another goal for Detroit. Detroit's use of the offensive-zone face-off 1-2 punch in the second period tied it up nicely to make a more exciting and competitive game.

Goal Recap:

Detroit Falcons, Raino Kyllonen 1 (Kit Smeb 1) at 5:07
Detroit Falcons, Raino Kyllonen 2 (Kit Smeb 2) at 13:23
Detroit Falcons, Franz Cooper 1 (Kalvins Zvejnieks 1) at 14:32


Within the first two minutes of the third period, Collin Gibbles scored a goal for Anaheim. For the next 14 minutes, things got heated between Detroit and Anaheim, incurring three more penalties. Again, both teams put up solid defenses while short-handed, as neither team was able to convert a penalty into a goal. By the 17 minute mark, Gabster TheMagnificent had scored a sneak-attack goal for Detroit after Mike Hunt hadn't needed to save a shot for 7 minutes. With the game now tied at 4 - 4, the game went into overtime.

Goal Recap:

Anaheim Outlaws, Collin Gibbles 1 (Osbert Whacker 3) at 1:27
Detroit Falcons, Gabster TheMagnificent 1 (Stolp Skottson 1, Espen Knutsen Jr. 1) at 16:33


Overtime was fairly uneventful. Both teams put up such solid defenses that only 1 shot made it to a goalie, Hasek, who stopped it without rebound.


In the shootout, Marc Palicka, Franz Cooper, and Kit Smeb (Det) went up against Mike Hunt (Ana) while Hiro Fujikawa, Jerry Mander, and Max Rockatansky (Ana) went up against Jakub Hasek (Det). Hasek stopped every shot for Detroit, and Hunt let in 1 shot by Cooper to lead to a Detroit win over Anaheim.

Goal Recap:

Detroit Falcons, Franz Cooper in Round #2


Overall, both teams showed off their new rosters by putting on a clinic in penalty killing and displaying their teams' aptitude for carrying momentum through, even in disheartening 0 - 3 situations. The Falcons show off their champion-level roster not only with a win, but by also forcing Anaheim's goaltending to face 10 more shots than their own netminder. This could not have been easy on Mike Hunt, which likely contributed to Cooper's game-winning goal in the shootout.

Three Stars:

1 - Raino Kyllonen (DET)
2 - Osbert Whacker (ANA)
3 - Collin Gibbles (ANA)