2004 Clark Cup Game Commentaries

Storm win game one in overtime, 4-3 to take the series lead 1-0

Kearny, NE (3.31.04): In net tonight will be Dwight LaBrosse for Des Moines and Peter Mannino for Tri-City. The Storm come out and pepper LaBrosse and are able to get one past him with a centering feed from Ryan Dingle to Bill Thomas at the 12:02 mark. But 2-1/2 minutes later Marty Mjelleli ties the game at 1 apiece wit ha centering feed from Adam Miller. The Bucs were out shot in the period, 13-7 but where it counts, it was tied 1-1.

The Bucs' get the go-ahead goal at the 2:45 point of the second when Joe Piskula fed the puck ahead to Mike Neilon who found Mjelleli to give the Bucs the 2-1 lead. There was no more scoring in the period. Once again the Bucs were out shot 13-5, but on the scoreboard, they lead 2-1.

Early in the period Davis Drewiske goes off for holding and the Storm capitalize on the man advantage, Thomas from Jake Obermeyer and Steve Wagner. At the 9:54 mark, Mark Van Guilder finds himself on a break and buries the chance to give the Storm the 3-2 lead. But with less then 2 minutes left in the game Neilon ties the game at 3-3 piece with assists to Alan Dorich and Jesse Lane. The Bucs were out shot again this period 14-4, but it was tied on the scoreboard as we head to overtime.

8:40 into the first overtime, Van Guilder was able to get one past LaBrosse to give the Storm the 4-3 win and the 1-0 lead in the best of five series. Written by Kevin Kasel.

Bucs season ends with loss to Tri-City

Urbandale, IA (4.3.04): The twenty-fourth season of Des Moines Buccaneers hockey ended in disappointing fashion Saturday night, as the Bucs dropped game three of their playoff series against Tri-City, 6-1 at the Metro Ice Sports Arena. The Bucs, who qualified for their 18th consecutive playoff berth with a superb second half of the season, were eliminated in the five game series after dropping the first two games of the series in Kearney, NE earlier in the week.

The evening started on the right note for the Bucs, as Adam Miller scored on a breakaway just twenty-three seconds after the opening face-off. Des Moines lost the lead a minute and a half later on a Tri-City power play goal, and they were never able to recover the momentum. Tri-City scored twice more in the first period, taking a 3-1 lead into the first break, then followed it up with an unanswered goal in the second frame, and two more in the third period.

Despite the rough ending to the season, the Bucs will be able to look back at the 2003-04 season with pride, as they fought back from an eleven-point deficit to the Lincoln Stars with just twenty-two games remaining to reach the post-season. The Bucs now begin looking forward to their twenty-fifth anniversary season, which will begin in September. Written by Dustin Godsey.