Havre Ice Hawks sweep Helena Big Horns

Over the first few weeks of the season, the Havre Ice Hawks high school hockey team has hovered around .500 with several ups and downs. But at the Havre Ice Dome this past weekend in a doubleheader against the Helena Big Horns, the Ice Hawks put together a consistent performance to defeat Helena, 7-2, on Friday and, 5-2, on Saturday.

"We played pretty well," Havre head coach Chase Hanson said. "They were two fun games to not only coach but to watch, so I say overall it was a good weekend."

The Ice Hawks started the weekend in dominant fashion Friday night. Just over a minute into the game, Austin Boyce scored a goal to give Havre the lead. A few minutes later, Rhett Wertheheimer scored to extend Havre's lead to 2-0. Tanya Ralph and Stephen Preputin then scored a pair of goals for Havre. Boyce then scored again to make it 5-0. Before the opening period came to an end, Ciaran Courtnage scored to give Havre a 6-0 lead heading into the break.

"We had nice, easy support passes, 10-15 foot passes and we moved that puck around and we forced the other team to just watch hockey," Hanson said about their start to the game. "The hot start was good teamwork and puck movement."

However, the Havre offense failed to produce any goals in the second period. But the defense remained strong as the Ice Hawks only allowed a goal from Brooklyn Pancoast to hold onto a 6-1 lead heading to the final period. A minute and a half into the third period, Theron Peterson scored an insurance goal for the Ice Hawks. A few minutes later, Shay Schroeder scored for Helena but Havre did not allow a comeback for the 7-2 victory.

The Ice Hawks did not miss a beat in their 5-2 win over Helena Saturday morning. In just the first minute of the game, Preputin scored two goals to give Havre a 2-0 lead thanks to the good puck movement between him and his teammates such as Trayden Riley and Decker Hanson.

"Trayden Riley, Stephen Preputin and Decker Hanson, they came out hot together," Chase Hanson said. "They were moving that puck around and having some fun."

A few minutes later in the period, the Big Horns responded with a goal from Ethan Guge. But through the rest of the first period and most of the second period, the Ice Hawks kept the Big Horns at bay with their defense.

"In our defensive zone, we made them play wide. Didn't give them the quality stuff through the middle. Low-percentage shots is what we gave them," Hanson said.

In the last minute of the second period, Preputin scored another goal to complete the hat trick and give Havre a 3-1 lead. While he had a stellar game, he gave the credit to his teammates such as Riley who assisted on all three of his goals.

"Every goal that I had was set up from smart passes, smart plays and communication on the ice," Preputin said. "That's really what hockey is about and I appreciate every ounce of my teammates for that."

In the third period, Havre and Helena exchanged goals. Boyce first scored to extend the lead to 4-1. After Michael Girard scored a goal on a power play for Helena, Michael Emge scored a goal to give the Ice Hawks a 5-2 lead that they held onto for the win.

Preputin finished the weekend with four goals for Havre. Boyce also had a strong weekend with three goals and three assists. Jacob Herring and Riley also recorded three assists over the weekend. Goalie Clara Holland finished the weekend with a .905 save percentage with only four goals allowed.

With the sweep, the Ice Hawks improved to 5-3 this season. As they move forward in the season, Hanson wants his team to learn from what they did well this weekend and build on that.

"It really showed them what happens when they move the puck together well, when they're supporting each other, when they're coming all the way back and give an easy 10-15 foot passes versus trying to really spread that ice out," Hanson said. "We're going to keep building on that puck movement."

The Ice Hawks now head into their holiday break and they will return to the ice when they play on the road at the Flathead Fusion Jan. 7.