Almost everything was against the Manistique Emeralds Varsity co-op in their home contest against the Big Rapids Cardinals on Saturday. Great opportunities to score were just off the mark. Thirteen penalties were called against the Emeralds, compared to just three on the Cardinals. Multiple Emeralds players spent more time in the box than on the ice. They were outnumbered for nearly half the game. Toward the end of the game, Head Coach John Nutkins got ejected and is currently suspended as a result.
Despite it all, the Emeralds emerged from certain disaster to pick up a 1-0 win, their fourth consecutive victory. They’re now 6-5 on the season.
Senior goaltender Alex Noble was incredible again, posting his second straight shutout for the Emeralds, who also blanked Negaunee in a 2-0 win last Thursday. “No Goal Noble” made 32 saves, shutting down the Cardinals’ attack on a night where his performance was as important as ever.
The Emeralds were short handed 11 times in the contest, and Noble stepped up to save the day, helping them kill off all of those power plays from Big Rapids. Noble made a jaw-dropping save to seal the deal late in the contest, and a diving cover up capped off the unbelievable win for the Emeralds.
Carter Deatsman continued his hot streak. He scored the game’s only goal—shorthanded, of course. Deatsman broke away in the offensive end and rifled a shot that appeared to hit the crossbar, which would’ve been another incredibly bad break for Manistique. However, one of the trailing officials skated into the zone late and signaled that the shot had in fact gone in, sneaking just under the crossbar far enough to cross the line. After an argument from Big Rapids, referees held up the decision and awarded Deatsman with the goal, his fourth in the recent winning streak he has helped spark.
Frustrations turned physical as both sides delivered big hits with high emotions. When they couldn’t go blow-to- blow, they went face-to-face in between whistles and stoppages in play. Two crucial stretches where the Emeralds were targeted and paraded to the penalty box sent Coach Nutkins over the edge. The first stretch came in the second period, when three consecutive calls came against the Emeralds in a seven- minute span. Each time they killed off the penalty and got a guy out of the box, an immediate whistle sent someone else right back in. Manistique would kill six Cardinals powerplays alone in the second period, playing 12 of the 17 minutes down at least one player.
Then in the third, back-to-back penalties followed by a misconduct call had the Emeralds down to just three skaters on the ice for an extended period of time. That’s when they also lost Coach Nutkins after he disputed the final call. Nutkins argued with officials and was ejected in a scene that saw multiple Emeralds fans thrown out as well.
Due to MHSAA rules regarding the ejection, Nutkins was not allowed on the bench in Tuesday’s rivalry game against Escanaba and will also miss this weekend’s matchup with Gaylord in Manistique.
Despite the chaos that ensued around them, the Emeralds buckled down on a day where they tallied 26 total penalty minutes, equaling just over half of the 51-minute regulation game.
Saturday’s home game against Gaylord starts at 1 p.m. at Manistique’s Little Bear West Arena. Gaylord entered the week with a 3-9 overall record and will be playing the second game of a back-to-back after taking on Negaunee Friday.
