Buffalo High School Hockey

            “We played great for two periods of every game,” Buffalo Boys Hockey Coach Mike MacMillan said about the team’s recent holiday tournament in Duluth.

            Unfortunately, there are three periods in hockey and Buffalo’s incomplete effort led the team to two losses and a tie in three tournament games.

            “We’re not putting three periods together and we need to compete for 51 minutes when that puck drops,” said Co-Head Coach Cory Laylin.

            Laylin said that the coaching staff has done its part to ensure that the team is ready to play each and every game. Now it’s up to the players themselves to put forth a full-game effort for each other.

            “We’re trying to figure it out,” he said. “This is an issue that the boys are trying to figure out in the locker room. We’re stressing that they need to play as a team and bring it every time.”

            The Duluth Tournament began on Tuesday, Dec. 28, with a game against Rosemount. Buffalo dominated the first period and led 1-0 after an unassisted goal from senior Christian Illies. But Rosemount took over in the second period and scored three unanswered goals (two on power plays) to take a 3-1 lead.

            “The second period we basically gave them the game,” MacMillan said.

            Buffalo got one goal back in the third period when junior Tyler Burg scored on a power play (junior Jack Becker and sophomore Aaron Rouse assisted), but it wasn’t enough and Rosemount won 3-2.

            The next day Buffalo took on New Prague and came out flat in the first period as the Trojans took a 3-0 lead, but the Bison responded well in the fourth period and tied the game with three straight goals. Scoring for Buffalo were senior Tony Thein (power play), junior Sam Klein, and senior Cody Elletson.

            Klein added a second power play goal early in the fourth period to give the Bison a 4-3 lead, but Buffalo couldn’t hold off the Trojans, who scored to tie the game in the final three minutes of regulation.

            Buffalo and New Prague played an overtime period, but neither team scored. MacMillan said a shootout was held because of the tournament bracket, but the end result for the record books was a tie.

            Blake Schmidt started in net but was replaced by Tim Harkness in the second period. Harkness stayed in goal for the remainder of the game.

            On Thursday, Dec. 30, Buffalo played its final tournament game against Andover and lost 3-2. The Bison fell behind 2-0 before Rouse got the team on the scoreboard with a second period power play goal (assisted by Becker). Andover scored a power play goal late in the second period to take a 3-1 lead, and the Bison got one back late in the third to make it a 3-2 final. Junior Max Willard scored the final Bison goal with assists from Klein and Rouse.

            “It’s a journey, it’s a process, and they’re getting there,” Laylin said. “We learned a lot about ourselves (on the trip). The close games are about building character.”

            The Bison are now 2-7-1 overall and 2-0 in the Mississippi 8 Conference. Conference play resumes this week with a game against the Monticello/Annandale/Maple Lake Moose on Thursday, Jan. 6. The game will be played in Monticello beginning at 7 p.m. On Saturday, Buffalo will host St. Michael-Albertville at 1 p.m.

Article courtesy of the Wright County Journal-Press