MUSKEGON - Because of all the skilled players on the roster, and some really nice wins over the past few months, it was easy to forget that the Reeths-Puffer hockey team was very young this season, with only three seniors on the roster.
In the excitement of the Division 1 regional tournament, it was also easy to forget that the Rockets had a very up-and-down season, which is not unusual for a talented young squad.
They lost three in a row early in the season, followed by a four-game winning streak, followed a while later by a three-game winning streak. They ended the regular season with a five-game losing streak.
The best days are definitely in the future for the still-developing Rockets.
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None of that mattered on Wednesday, however, because the Rockets desperately wanted to beat their rivals from Mona Shores and capture the Division 1 regional championship trophy that hung in the balance.
R-P's Hayden Taylor. Photo/Nick Fuller
It didn’t work out that way. R-P had some penalty issues in the first period, gave up two goals, then struggled to muster much offense in the second and third periods in a 3-1 loss in front of a huge crowd at Muskegon’s Trinity Health Arena.
Reeths-Puffer finished the season with a 13-13-1 record.
Several Rockets left the ice in tears, following the very fast, physical and emotional battle, played in front of a crowd that appeared to be very close to a sellout.
Big student sections from each school packed the stands and made a lot of noise, creating an even more intense environment.
There was lots of pushing and shoving between the players on the ice, lots of penalties, and even a few punches thrown here and there.
R-P's Tyler Cuti. Photo/Nick Fuller
It was the type of game that a team very much wants to win, and it stings pretty badly when it doesn't happen.
“It’s emotional when you work hard for four months, put everything you have into it day-in and day-out, and it ends like that,” said Reeths-Puffer head coach Bill Zalba. “I told the guys before the game to leave it all out on the ice, and they did that. It was a game that they never will forget.”
Zalba knows his team has a very bright future, with the vast majority of players expected back next season, including a number of standouts like Hayden Taylor, Jordan Benkert, Tyler Cuti and Bear VanDyke.
But he also said it's very tough to say goodbye to the team’s three seniors – Eli Cuti, Connor Anderson and Kaeden Benner - who all made huge contributions to the Rockets.
“It’s definitely nice to know that you have a lot of returning players, but we’re also losing some pretty key players,” he said. “You can’t replace guys like that. They emulate what Reeths-Puffer hockey is. They bleed green and white and they will be sorely missed.”
R-P's Rohan Moyer battles along the boards. Photo/Nick Fuller
The first period was pretty wild, and the Rockets struggled in the early going, after they were whistled for three penalties in the first five minutes of the game,
The first penalty led to a Mona Shores power play goal by Nathaniel Barnett, just short of two minutes into the contest.
The Rockets managed to kill off the other Sailor power plays in the period, but being shorthanded for so long kept them pinned in their own zone for an extended period.
That led to the second Mona Shores goal, about eight minutes into the game, scored by Cullen Conrad from close range.
“You never want to start out a game with three penalties in the first five minutes,” Zalba said. “It makes you rearrange your game plan. Certain guys have to play a lot more minutes earlier than you anticipated, and it affects them later because it exhausts them.”
R-P's Connor Anderson. Photo/Nick Fuller
R-P broke through with 3:48 left in the first period when Dom Switzer cashed in with a shot from the right of the Sailor net. Michael Flanagan assisted on the goal.
The first period ended with the Sailors up 2-1.
There was no scoring in the second period. R-P goalie Bear VanDyke stood strong, turning away eight Sailor shots, while the Rockets struggled to answer offensively, managing only two shots on goal.
Mona Shores got the final goal just over three minutes into the third period, when Kyle Malt found the mark.
The Rockets had a couple of late power plays, but failed to cash in. Mona Shores had a 4-2 advantage in shots on goal in the third period.
Coach Zalba credited Mona Shores for playing very tough defense, which made it hard for the Rockets to sustain much offense.
R-P Coach Bill Zalba addresses the team. Photo/Nick Fuller
“That’s what they do,” he said. “They are a very sound defensive team that clogs up the middle of the ice, and we knew that going in. Our game plan was go get pucks behind their defensemen, and it just didn’t happen enough. And on the opportunities we did have, we just didn’t get the bounces.”
Zalba said the goal is for the emotional loss to pay dividends down the road.
“I told the guys, there is winning and there is losing, and they have to be able to take this experience and use it as fuel for next season,” the coach said.
“I am a big Kobe Bryant guy. I watch a lot of his speeches, and he had a good one that said he enjoyed losing because it was an opportunity to get better and work on weaknesses he didn’t know he had.
”We lost and we’re going to work on things that we need to do better.”