EAST ALTON – There certainly was a reason why O'Fallon was one of the top teams in the Mississippi Valley Club Hockey Association's Class 2A this season.
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The Panthers made their case in Tuesday night's MVCHA Class 2A All-Star Game at East Alton Ice Arena.
The Panthers' Graham Sudduth scored three times and had an assist and two Panther teammates also scored as the Blue team, made up of O'Fallon, Columbia and Collinsville players, defeated the Red team, made up of Edwardsville, Bethalto and Freeburg/Waterloo players, by an 8-2 count.
“I think the kids were excited,” said Panther coach Patrick Roy, who coached the Blues. “The first period was everyone getting used to playing together, then the second and third periods really opened things up. I think the kids get excited for it and it's a nice little break between the regular season and the playoffs.
“I'm proud of the fact that the O'Fallon team was responsible for six of our eight goals; I can't really ask for anything more than that. I was really impressed with the kids from Collinsville and Columbia, though; both of those teams have great players.”
“It's fun to get to play with the guys that you compete against throughout the year,” said Edwardsville coach Jason Walker, who coached the Reds. “It was fun. It's more of a laid-back atmosphere and it's perfect right before the playoffs to get to play with guys that you don't normally get to play with; I think the boys enjoyed it.”
Walker has coached both the Tigers' MVCHA team and the Mid-States Club Hockey Association team this season; while it's kept him busy, Walker has enjoyed the experience. “It's been a blast,” Walker said. “At Edwardsville, we've got a good group of guys and we've had fun with it at both levels; tonight was one of the highlights of the year to this point to see those kids play in this game. The league's got some talent, for sure; it's got a great future.”
Sudduth got his first goal of the game at 6:19 of the first of three 17-minute periods when he skated in and got a shot past Freeburg/Waterloo goaltender Peyton Hamilton to put the Blues ahead 1-0, with assists going to Panther teammate Hayden Ourada and Columbia's Trey Walton. The Blues extended their lead quickly in the second period when Collinsville's Cory Sperry and Columbia's Garrett Poole scored seven seconds apart early in the second period for a 3-0 lead.
The Reds got on the board not long after the Poole goal when Bethalto's Nolan Kahl from assists from Edwardsville's Sam Gibbons and Mark Tucker to cut the lead to 3-1, but the next two goals went to the Blues, from Ourada and from Columbia's Cam Nowak on a penalty shot with 18.7 seconds left in the period to make it 5-1 in favor of the Blues.
Sudduth finished off his hat trick in the third period, scoring off assists from OTHS teammates Ethan and Hayden Ourada on the second goal and from Hayden Ourada on the third goal. Edwardsville's Will Schumer and the Panthers' Jack Wallace, from fellow Panther Logan Drolei, had goals sandwiched by Sudduth's goals in the period.
The Blues had 52 shots on goal, while the Reds managed to get off 25 shots. Collinsville's Zach Stenger, Columbia's Chase Taake and O'Fallon's Kristin Smith played in goal for the Blues, while Hamilton, Bethalto's Kyle Wesolowski and Edwardsville's Dylan Twardy all saw time between the pipes for the Reds.
The Class 1A and 2A playoffs both get under way Thursday, with Bethalto meeting O'Fallon and Collinsville taking on Freeburg/Waterloo in opening-round series in Class 2A; the Class 1A first round has East Alton-Wood River meeting Triad and Alton taking on Highland. All series are best-of-three, with Edwardsville and Columbia getting first-round byes in Class 2A and Belleville and Granite City getting Class 1A first-round byes.
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