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Penalties doom Depew hockey in summer league championship
By Steven Dlugosz
 | | HEAD OF STEAM...Depew Stars hockey forward Joe Bodkin skates up the ice Friday in the summer league "Blue" Division semifinals against Lockport. (Times photo) |
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After entering Sunday's "Blue" Division championship with a six-game unbeaten streak, the Depew summer hockey league Stars fell into a pattern of what had been their major weakness this summer - taking penalties.
The top-seeded Stars were knocked off by No. 2 seed St. Joe's at Holiday Twin Rinks, 4-1, as a penalty filled second period severely hurt Depew's comeback chances.
Despite outshooting St. Joe's 127 in the first period, the Stars found themselves trailing, 2-0 after the opposing squad scored even strength and power play tallies.
Five minutes into the second, St. Joe's upped its lead to 3-0 on a tipin goal on the power play. Less that three minutes later, a rash of penalties and referee calls plagued Depew.
Following a scrum after a whistle, Depew was assessed several major
penalties, as four Stars were placed in the penalty box. A referee then ejected Depew head coach Tom Paradowski and assistant Jim Kendall for arguing the call.
When the dust had settled, St. Joe's was granted a five-minute power play and scored a few minutes later to obtain a four-goal lead. St. Joe's finished the second with a 10-2 advantage in shots. Three of the four St. Joe'goals came with the man advantage.
Depew got on the board 4:15 into the third on a goal into the top right corner of the net by Joe Bodkin, with Ryan Full and Antonio Scarpone notching assists.
Despite playing a wide-open style in which they fired 14 shots, the Stars were unable to get any closer in the final period, as a shot off the crossbar and several solid stops by the St. Joe's goaltender hindered Depew's chances.
Shots on goal were even at 28, as Depew's Ryan Clark made 24 saves, including several brilliant stops in the third.
Paradowski said penalty trouble was his team's major chink in its armor.
"It was our downfall all year," Paradowski said. "About two-thirds of all goals against us came when we were shorthanded...St. Joe's played a very strong game. They took advantage of everything that we gave them."
This campaign marked Depew's first season in the High School Stars Summer League, as the locals finished 8-5-1. Paradowski described the inaugural season as "interesting."
"We had a lot of obstacles with vacations and other items," the coach said. "The league didn't really know what to expect from us and scheduled us against a couple of Class 'A' teams. Overall, the kids did well."
The locals advanced to the "Blue" championship on Friday by edging No. 4 seed Lockport, 3-2. After Depew built a 2-0 lead after two periods, the locals held on during a wild third period which featured three goals in a span of 20 seconds.
Lockport got on the scoreboard on a two-on-one break with 10:57 remaining, as a shot and rebound resulted in the puck sliding under Clark and into the net. Eight seconds later, Kyle Gmerek fed Adam Kapowicz, who fired a shot past Lockport's goalie to again give Depew a two-goal advantage. Twelve seconds later, Lockport seized the momentum back by scoring on another two-on-one to climb back to within a goal.
From that point on, Clark stepped up for Depew, making a point-blank save on a Lockport power play and later a big glove save on a slap shot.
The Stars opened the scoring midway through the first period when Brian Aichinger hit Joe Gorski with a perfect breakaway pass and Gorski wristed a shot past the Lockport goaltender.
Late in the second, Aichinger scored on a delayed penalty in front of the net, as Alfredo Scarpone assisted.
Depew outshot Lockport, 31-22, as Clark made 20 stops, many of them highlight-reel quality.
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