Michigan Upper Peninsula Veterans Hockey Club center Dominick Nettell chases a puck just after a faceoff during a game against Minnesota Saturday at Dee Stadium in Houghton. (Daver Karnosky/Daily Mining Gazette)

HOUGHTON — Determined to not have a repeat of last year, the Michigan Upper Peninsula Veterans Hockey Club kept the Minnesota Warriors off the board for the first five minutes of the game. Over the remaining 55 minutes of game time Saturday night at Dee Stadium, the MUPVHC scored eight times, including a hat trick by winger Dominick Nettell, to skate away with an 8-4 win.

For the MUPVHC, getting off to a better start, especially coming off a loss last weekend in Ironwood, was important.

“That was great,” said Nettell about the more even start. “We came on a lot better than we did last year. Last year, I thought we came out a little bit flat-footed, but we knew what more to expect this year, so it’s a lot of fun.

“I think we had a whole different attitude coming into this one. It was a lot of fun.”

Of course, it helped that Nettell struck twice in a matter of 16 seconds, the first coming on a wrist shot from below the right faceoff dot. Then the second on a breakaway after the ensuing faceoff.

“I got some really nice feeds,” he said. “I was coming through with speed, and that’s kind of my thing.”

Nettell’s hat trick goal came 7:17 into the second period off a feed from winger Casey Polkinghorne, which made it 4-1 at the time.

Exactly two minutes later, winger Chris Luoma found the net, ending the night for Minnesota starting goaltender Sam Lynch. He took a pass from center T.J. Maleport and he roofed a shot just under the crossbar.

Luoma also added an assist in the final minute of the game when he found linemate Mike Seratti crashing the net with a pass for the game’s final tally at 19:47.

As memorable as the two points were Luoma, he pointed out just how proud he is to represent the Copper Country as a member of the MUPVHC.

“Our community is great regardless, whether you’re a vet or not,” he said. “We’re a tight-knit community. We always have been that way. So having the (Michigan Tech) Pep Band come out, the fans too, it’s really incredible the support we get.

“The moment I joined this team last year, I could just feel the local presence right away. It’s unbelievable support. I’m truly honored to put the skates on for this team, and serve the community for a good cause.”

Luoma’s comments touch on something far more important than the final score of the game. Games like the one Saturday hold a much bigger meaning.

“It means a lot having all the vets come out, the fans, it’s huge,” he said. “The fundraising, too, for a good cause, there’s nothing more than that. It means a lot. It’s great to do this for the community, and the local vets and everything, and have guys from outside the area come up. I mean, it’s really incredible.”

Early in the second period, the MUPVHC jumped out to a 3-0 lead when Maleport scored shorthanded at 4:30. Minnesota responded just 38 seconds later on a shot from the point, but they could not overcome that three-goal lead.

Maleport also figured in one more goal in the middle frame when he fed the puck over winger Garrett Impola for a goal at 10:17 on the first shot that alternate captain Jeremy Koelln saw, making it 7-1.

The Warriors scored a goal just seconds into the third period, and added two more before Seratti sealed the win for the locals.

However, while they lost the game, Minnesota is excited about the budding rivalry that is forming with the MUPVHC.

“We grew up in Minnesota,” said coach Travis Bennett. “Minnesota’s known for hockey. We come up here and this is an atmosphere. You come up here, you’re big bad in Minnesota, you expect to come out and win, and we don’t. It’s really turning into, I think, this is early stages of a long rivalry where we’re going to see this place sold out, maybe even Tech’s going to be sold out. But, this is becoming a rivalry game for us on the ice.”

Last year, Minnesota brought a short bench, and scored three goals in quick succession. This year, they came with nine forwards, two defensive pairs and two goaltenders, and it still wasn’t enough.

“So, this year we filled our roster, came nine forwards, four ‘D’ (defensemen) and two goalies, and we’re like, ‘All right, we’re going to stick with them,'” Bennett said. “They hit us with the neutral zone trap, and they waited until they had their moments to strike. When they had them, they struck, they were striking. It’s really just this great rivalry back and forth.”

However, while the Warriors have fallen to 0-2 in Dee Stadium, that is not stopping them from enjoying the entire experience.

“The real thing here is the camaraderie,” said Bennett. “We have family members, my family came up. I told them all about this last year and they were so excited. My brother loves it up here, always looking for the Yooper Light. My whole family came up. My three year old’s here, my fiance’s here, my mom’s here, my brother and his girlfriend are here. They came up, they’re staying at Keweenaw Waters. I don’t know if I said that right, but now this is becoming a thing where we’re starting to bring family and friends to watch this game.

“We’re hanging off on the ice. The guys are showing up at the Airbnbs the night before, with pizza and beer, and we’re joking around and we’re healing each other as veterans. You guys are up here raising money, and you’re not even keeping the money. You’re giving it back to the community, which is even better. So, it really meets that mission statement that as the Warriors, we said our mission statement is, ‘We turn hockey into healing for our disabled veterans.’ Well, that’s what we’re doing up here. We like to serve our country and our community.”

MUPVHC co-captain Jon French agreed with Bennett.

“Being able to show off, and bring other brothers in from another state, they had pasty, and they hit Luigi’s, they went up to the Italian Fire Hall. They went to Michigan Tech,” he said. “(We) showed them around town. We went and we had an Ambassador pizza with them, buy a bunch of pizzas and stuff. They had KBC (Keweenaw Brewing Company) beverages.

“It’s cool that the whole community supports, not just us, but both teams in general. The outpour from the community is just outstanding.”

At the same time, French loves that the MUPVHC has players from all over the U.P.

“To be sitting in there in that locker room, and just looking across, and it’s like, yeah, that guy drove three hours to play, that guy drove six and a half hours to come,” he said. “We don’t see each other all that much, but when we get on the ice, it’s just something special. It’s something special.

“We’re all a bunch of kids. We’re not veterans. We’re hockey players. Minnesota has just an extraordinary team, and it’s Minnesota hockey. So it’s U.P./Minnesota hockey. We have a pretty good rivalry and all. They had a really good team. They’re always good. They’re always competitive.”

French and Bennett both spoke after the game about how their respective teams both understand what it means to each of their team members to have their hockey clubs, where veterans can be a part of a team away from the military.

“(It) makes us proud that we represent all the Upper Peninsula,” French said. “We have so many people backing us, and, a lot of times, you feel like they just back you because you’re a veteran, but they back us because we’re a good hockey team.

“What they don’t understand is it’s hard to express how much this team means to every single one of those guys. We have some guys going through some hard times, and they’re coming to practice, they’re coming, they’re driving, and they know that when we hit that ice…well, when they come to walk here, they’re in a safe place. It’s that brotherhood. Then we get on the ice, everything is gone. It’s the best thing about hockey.”

Bennett agreed.

“Yeah, I, I love that,” he said. “That’s what this hockey program is. That’s what we need to develop this hockey program to is, ‘Hey, veterans, you have a place to feel safe. You have a locker room with 15 guys, 16 guys, 30 guys, who are going to notice that red flag when you’re starting to go downhill, reach out to one of them, find the help.

“That’s one big thing I’ve been trying to develop by working with Ohio State University. They have a program we’re trying to go through that we can identify red flags and suicidal veterans. We’re working with all these clinics down in the cities to get a free diagnostic test that’s covered by VA health care for our veterans. We’re getting those resources.”

MINNESOTA WANTS TO HOST

The Warriors and MUPVHC are planning to continue their growing rivalry. Plans are underway to set up further matchups as both teams are excited about the future.

Michigan Upper Peninsula Veterans Hockey Club center T.J. Maleport carries the puck up the ice during a game against Minnesota Saturday at Dee Stadium in Houghton. (Daver Karnosky/Daily Mining Gazette)

Michigan Upper Peninsula Veterans Hockey Club goaltender Mark Lessard corrals a loose puck during a game against Minnesota Saturday at Dee Stadium in Houghton. (Daver Karnosky/Daily Mining Gazette)