The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Ice Breakers end their 16-game losing skid
The Ice Breakers’ 16-game losing streak is history, and it is safe to say they can play in Mentor for the next three centuries and never stop a slide the same way they beat the Delaware Thunder, 6-5, on March 8.
The game-winning goal that put the Ice Breakers on top, 5-4, was scored by newcomer Kodiak Whiteduck 2:30 into the third period.
Whiteduck is a newcomer in the truest sense of the word. He was signed over the weekend and arrived at Mentor Civic Ice Arena between the first and second period after making a 10-hour drive from Quebec. He dressed quickly in his No. 15 blue Ice Breakers uniform — no name on the back yet — and joined his teammates for second period shifts.
Those same teammates who were on the ice after he slipped the puck under the left pad of Delaware goalie Aaron Taylor 1 minute, 20 seconds after the Thunder tied the game at 4-4 mobbed Whiteduck as though he has been with the team all along.
“I left at five o’clock in the morning from Kitigan Zibi, Quebec,” Whiteduck said. “It’s an Indian reservation in the Anishinabeg community. I missed the first period so I had a little jet lag. But then I got my legs under me. It was very cool to help the boys and finish up strong.”
So there was that, and much more.
Jake Mullen, acquired March 2 in a trade with Carolina, made his first start in goal for the Ice Breakers. He turned back 39 shots, but more than that he has quickly established himself as a true No. 1 goalie. The Breakers haven’t had one since Austyn Roudebush moved up to the SPHL on Jan. 16.
Mullen was 9-2 with Carolina. The Thunderbirds have the best record in the FPHL at 36-6-2-5. The Ice Breakers (15-300-3) are fourth in the East and eighth in the league. Mentor is in position to make the playoffs, but the chance to win a championship would have been much better for Mullen had he not
been traded. Still, he is attacking his new job with vigor.
“I think the trade surprised everyone, but I keep my head down and play hockey,” Mullen said. “Wherever they send me, I’m going to play my best.
“I wouldn’t say I’m a hero. I would just say I can come in and help. Obviously our team scored six goals, so it’s obviously a team effort. It’s not just me.”
There is one more twist to this story.
Austin Weber, another trade deadline acquisition for the Ice Breakers, scored at 3:37 of the second period to tie the game at 3-3.
The scoreboard in the West Rink went out at that instant. Workers tried, but were unable to repair it.
That left two options: Suspend the game and resume it next weekend in Delaware or move it to the East Rink in the Mentor Civic Ice Arena.
No one from Mentor wanted to finish the game in Delaware because the
Thunder (12-31-1-1) is the team the Ice Breakers must stay ahead of to secure a playoff spot.
The game and the fans moved across the lobby to the East Rink, and after an hour delay the game resumed.
Weber broke the 3-3 tie on a slapshot from just inside the blue line on a power play with 15 seconds left in the second period. The 4-3 lead carried into the intermission, prompting a clever fan to make a sign in green crayon between the second and third period reading: “Ice Breakers undefeated in the East Rink.”
The sign proved prophetic, although fans had to hold their collective breath after Delaware cut the Breakers’ lead to 6-5 with 10.5 seconds left. The Thunder, however, did not get another shot on goal.
“We’re a team that’s not going to give up,” Coach Sebastian Ragno said. “Like I said before, we have guys that want to be here. We have a lot of heart in that locker room. We’re not scared by being down by a goal.”
The Ice Breakers’ next five games are on the road. They play at Delaware March 13, 14 and 15 and at Delaware March 20 and 21.