MUSKEGON – The Muskegon Lumberjacks and Chicago Steel are in a battle for first place in the USHL’s Eastern Conference, but the teams played each other a lot earlier in the season, so they have limited opportunities remaining to affect the standings in head-to-head matchups.
The Jacks only have four games remaining with the Steel in the regular season, and two of those will be on Friday and Saturday night at Muskegon’s Mercy Health Arena.
Chicago currently leads the Eastern Conference with a 24-10-8 record (56 points in the standings), Muskegon is second with a 24-12-6 mark (54 points) and Dubuque is right behind both teams with a 24-12-5 mark (53 points).
Of course this weekend’s games will not determine the outcome of the race for first place. That issue will be settled, for the most part, by the outcome of the many remaining games between the three contenders and the lower teams in the conference.
[1]Muskegon and Chicago will only play two more times after this weekend, in a home-and-home series on April 23-24, the last weekend of the regular season. The Jacks will only play Dubuque three more times, on April 8 in Dubuque and April 18-19 in Muskegon.
Chicago and Dubuque will only play one more game against each other in the regular season.
In the short-term, playing the Steel this weekend will give the Jacks a chance to measure the progress they’ve made since they last met up with Chicago on Dec. 11, when the Steel won 6-4.
“It’s absolutely going to be a big weekend,” Hamilton said. “As we always say, the playoffs inevitably will go through Chicago, and this will be an opportunity to see the growth we’ve made as a team, and a great test to see how well we can do in a short series with them, just like in the playoffs.”
Hamilton says winning the regular season battle and taking first place in the conference is not a life-or-death matter for the Lumberjacks.
The big thing, according to the coach, is finishing either first or second, because the top two teams in the conference will get first-round byes in the playoffs, while the third-through-sixth place teams will have to compete in the first round.
With Dubuque recently getting hot and jumping into what had been a two-way race between Muskegon and Chicago, it will be important to win as many games as possible to avoid finishing third.
The big question down the stretch of the regular season will be how much emphasis the Lumberjacks will put on finishing first or second, versus the idea of resting some key players over the last few weeks of the season in preparation for the playoffs.
After all, the ultimate goal is to win the Clark Cup, which goes to the playoff champion, and the Jacks have never won it.
“Dubuque is right in the mix (in the standings), so it will be a three-team race, and all that matters is being in the top two,” Hamilton said. “But we are going to have a grind of a finish, with nine of our final 10 games on the road, and at some point we may have to question how important it is to finish first or second. We may feel it’s necessary to rest some bodies and give some guys some nights off.
“Of course we would like to win the conference and put a banner in the rafters, but we may have to figure in what affect that may have on the playoffs. Right now we just have to win some hockey games so we will be in a position where we have to make those decisions.”
Two great teams that have struggled a bit
This weekend’s games will be a continuation of a season series with Chicago that has been very closely contested. Even early in the season, when the Jacks were struggling and in last place, they’ve played tough against their arch-rivals from the Windy City.
The Jacks have won 2 of 6 games against the Steel, and three of the games have been decided by one goal.
Oddly, this weekend’s battle for first place will be between two very good teams that have been struggling as of late.
After dominating throughout the first three months of the season, the Steel won only two of five games in January, and have won only three of seven in February. Chicago had a tough go last weekend, losing a pair of games to Team USA.
[2]Hamilton said he’s not sure why Chicago has hit the skids a bit in recent months, but he’s not buying the idea that anything is critically wrong with the defending Clark Cup champions.
“Everyone has them circled on the schedule, and they see everyone’s best goalie every night,” Hamilton said about the Steel. “I’m sure they are going to right the ship in a hurry. I’m not sure what’s going on over there, but they are a hell of a hockey team, and they are two points ahead of us in the standings.”
The Jacks have also hit a bit of a rough patch in recent weeks. After winning their first six games in January, Muskegon has won only four of nine games.
Muskegon has split its games over the last two weekends. The Jacks lost to Madison at home on Feb. 11 and rebounded with a win the next night. Last Friday they lost to Youngstown 7-5 on the road after giving up two goals in the last two minutes of the game, then once again bounced back with a 4-2 victory over the Phantoms on Saturday.
The Lumberjacks trailed 2-0 after one period on Saturday, then rallied to take the win. Quinn Hutson scored in the second period for Muskegon, then Ben Strinden scored twice and Phil Tresca added one goal in the third.
The Jacks put on a great defensive performance, outshooting the Phantoms 45-18 and holding the home team to just one shot on goal in the second period.
“We had a bad stretch in the first period, and the guys were not happy with themselves,” Hamilton said. “Then we took over in the second and third periods.
“We lived in their zone in the second period and completely dominated. Their goalie was really good, and we were behind 2-1 after the second still, but then in the third period we found a way to get a few more.”
Hamilton said his team’s ability to bounce back from short losing streaks and disappointing losses in recent weeks is a good sign for the upcoming playoffs, when each series will be short and losing streaks would be fatal.
“This group does not like to lose,” he said. “They’ve been able to respond to some not-so-great things recently and come back and get a win. In the playoffs that’s what you have to do. You’re going to lose some games and you have to rebound the next night.”