The Muskegon Lumberjacks turned the regular season into a USHL playoff run.
By Dave Hart
LocalSportsJournal.com
The Muskegon Lumberjacks had lofty goals this hockey season.
With a strong roster, there were aspirations among the organization that this could be their year to finally hoist the Clark Cup as the United States Hockey League’s playoff champion.
While Muskegon did prove to be a contender, the 14th season ended with the Jacks falling short.
The Lumberjacks finished the regular season 38-22-2, good for 78 points and a second-place tie with the Green Bay Gamblers. Muskegon earned the second place slot, having a higher combination of regulation and overtime wins than the Gamblers.
The Lumberjacks earned a bye in the first round of the playoffs before playing in a highly entertaining best-of-five series with Green Bay that ended in the fifth and deciding game in double overtime.
Muskegon made it to the Eastern Conference finals, but ran into a major speed bump as top seeded Dubuque gave the Lumberjacks all they could handle, winning all three games in a complete sweep in the series. The Lumberjacks and Fighting Saints both joined the USHL the same season.
“The run we were able to make was a tremendous experience and growth opportunity for all of our players,” said Lumberjacks coach Parker Burgess. “That is something they can take with them when they move on to college or pro hockey.”
Yes, the experience and growth were big to the organization, but the goal remained to win the Clark Cup.
“We felt all year that this was a team of destiny and a really special group, and I think in our hearts we were going to end this with a lot of happy tears,” Burgess said.
Potent offense
The Lumberjacks scored a total of 254 goals during the 62-game regular season, which was good for second-best in the Eastern Conference and third in the USHL.
Muskegon was led by Matvei Gridin, who was fourth in the league with 38 goals. Gridin, 18, is from Kurgan, Russia and is highly ranked in the NHL Central Scouting ranks among North American skaters. Gridin led the league in points with 83 and he was also tied for fourth in the league with 45 assists.
The Lumberjacks had another two 30-goal scorers in Sacha Boisvert (36) and Joe Connor (31).
Justin Solovey also was solid offensively with 25 goals while captain Cody Croal added 23 to give Muskegon five players with more than 20 goals in the season.
The Lumberjacks also had playmakers as veteran Ethan Whitcomb was second on the team in assists (44) just behind Gridin. Croal (37), Boisvert (32), Connor (29), Xavier Veilleux (29) and David Klee (25) each had more than 25 assists.
Revolving door in net
The Lumberjacks struggled early on to find a No. 1 goaltender who could lead the Jacks between the pipes during the Clark Cup playoffs.
Muskegon used a total of seven goaltenders. The Jacks started the season with Paxton Geisel, who played 11 games for Muskegon before leaving for Denver University. Lukas Swedin played 14 games for Muskegon before leaving for the North American Hockey League.
The Lumberjacks found their man as their seventh starting goalie. Shikhabutdin Gadzhiev made his debut early in January on the road against the Fighting Saints.
Gadzhiev played in 30 games for the Lumberjacks, posting an 18-10 record with 3.18 goals against average. He started in all eight playoff games. Muskegon finished 3-5 in eight playoff games.
“He is an enthusiastic kid,” Burgess said. “He loves hockey and his energy was welcomed throughout the locker room.”
First-round bye
The Lumberjacks clinched a postseason berth back in March. That was welcomed since the Jacks missed the playoffs the previous season.
Muskegon climbed the standings throughout the season and were in a position going into the last couple games to earn one of the top seeds. The top seeds earned a bye in the opening round of the postseason.
The Lumberjacks won the final two games of the season against the Chicago Steel to help secure second place, but they also received some welcomed help from other teams in the league. The Madison Capitols helped Muskegon by defeating the Gamblers in overtime on the second to last game of the season, then outlasted Green Bay in a shootout to force the tie for the second-place spot.
The Jacks earned the tiebreaker by earning a combination of 35 regulation and overtime wins over Green Bay, which only had 31.
Jacks outlast Gamblers
The Lumberjacks opened the postseason with Green Bay, which survived the opening round and moved in alongside Muskegon in the second round.
Muskegon lost the opening game of the series at home 4-3, but bounced back with a 4-1 win on its home ice to even up the series before a pair of games in Green Bay.
Gadzhiev earned a shutout in Game 3 by stopping all 28 shots faced in a 2-0 victory.
The Lumberjacks looked to end the series in Game 4, but fell short after giving up a game-winning goal with less than a minute left in regulation. Green Bay stayed alive with a 2-1 victory.
Muskegon hosted the most important game of the series, needing a comeback win to advance to the Eastern Conference Finals. The Jacks trailed 3-1 heading into the final period before Solovey scored early in the third period then Connor scored the game-tying goal with just over a minute left in regulation to send the game into overtime.
Both teams failed to score during the first 20 minutes of overtime, forcing a second overtime.
Whitcomb’s goal 4:30 into the second overtime put Trinity Health Arena into a frenzy as the Jacks advanced to the Conference Finals.
“It was special for everybody,” Parker said of the double OT victory. “Winning a Game 5 in double overtime and either team could have won that game.”
Fighting Saints just too much
The Lumberjacks were swept in the best-of-five Conference Finals as Dubuque cruised. Muskegon never did enjoy a lead in the series and were outscored 12-6 in the three matchups.
The first two games of the series were close as Muskegon lost the opener 4-3 in overtime and suffered a 4-3 regulation loss in Game 2.
The Fighting Saints ended the Jacks’ season at Trinity Health Arena with a 4-0 victory to complete the sweep of the series and end Muskegon’s memorable season. Dubuque moved into the Clark Cup finals against USHL regular-season champion Fargo and lost in four games in the finals.
