Havre Ice Hawks starting to pick up steam as new year begins

The Havre Ice Hawks high school hockey team has been away from home recently, playing their last six games on the road, with trips to Glasgow, Great Falls and Kalispell.

Coaches often say that splitting games on the road is considered a success and by that standard, the Ice Hawks did well on their road trip, as they won three and lost three games. Havre opened its trip by splitting games in Glasgow Dec. 23. The Ice Hawks lost the first game 5-2 and won the second 4-2.

In the first game between the two teams, Glasgow grabbed an early 1-0 lead, but Havre tied the game with an August Eacker goal. Glasgow reclaimed the lead, but Eacker again tied it on a goal assisted by Dexter Beck and Cole Hanson. Yet, the Ice Dawgs put three goals in net in the third period to get the win. Kinzee Peterson had 37 stops in net for Havre.

In the second game of the doubleheader in Glasgow, the Ice Hawks got off a to a great start, getting first-period goals from Trent Shettel and Ethan Roberts to go up 2-0. In the second period, Roberts beat Glasgow goalie Colton Pewitt for a second time to give the Ice Hawks a 3-1 advantage. Later, in the third period, Roberts completed a hat trick, scoring with under six minutes to go to help Havre ice the win. Peterson got 32 saves and earned the win.

Following a week break, the Ice Hawks traveled to Great Falls for back-to-back games Dec. 29 and 30. In the first game, Havre grabbed an early lead on a goal by Donovan Cooper, yet Great Falls answered to tie the score at 1-1 at the end of the opening stanza.

In the second period, Roberts scored an unassisted goal, while Shettel also scored after being assisted by Hanson and Eacker. In the third period, Beck added another goal. Donovan Cooper managed an assist and Peterson got the win after turning away 16 shots.

The next night, Great Falls drew first blood, but the Ice Hawks answered with goals by Hanson and Shettel to go ahead 2-1 after the first period. Hanson added a goal in the second period and in the third, Roberts scored another to give Havre the 4-2 win, its third in a row. Bayron Merker added two assists in the win. Roberts and McLain each had one. Peterson finished with 24 saves.

And to close out the series of road games, the Ice Hawks went to Kalispell to take on the Flathead Fusion. In the first game last Friday, the Fusion scored five first-period goals to take a 5-2 lead into the second. Hanson got one of the goals in the first period. The other was scored by Roberts who scored two more to get his second hat trick in four games. Yet, it wasn't enough to overcome Flathead and the seven goals it scored in a 7-4 win. Shettel pitched in with two assists in the loss. Peterson ended up with 29 saves.

Saturday, the two teams met again in Kalispell, but unfortunately for Havre, the Fusion offense was even better, scoring 10 goals in the first 37 minutes of play on their way to a 10-2 win over Havre. Roberts got the Ice Hawks on the board with two goals in the second period. Rhoda Peterson and Beck each had one assist. Peterson notched 33 saves in defeat.

During the six-game stretch, Roberts managed two hat tricks and scored a total of 10 goals in six games. Havre is currently sixth out of 10 teams in the Montana high school standings. The Ice Hawks will host Bozeman inside the Havre Ice Dome Jan. 19-20.