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Michi-gamer: Pride of the Mitten (Week of March 2, 2015)

MiHockey Staff

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Welcome to another season of MiHockey’s Michi-gamer!

We take great pride in our homegrown talent. Whether they grew up in the Mitten or we welcomed them here for college or juniors, they are our own. They represent the best place in the world for hockey.

Every morning, we pick one Michi-gamer from the previous night’s slate of games across all professional levels of hockey – one Michigan player who stood out above the rest.

MARCH 5 – KEVIN PORTERsm_porter

Northville native Kevin Porter contributed to the dominant offensive outburst displayed by the Grand Rapids Griffins Wednesday night against Oklahoma City. The former Hobey Baker Award winner with the University of Michigan first set up Teemu Pulkkinen in the middle frame for the second of his three goals. He then drew an assist on Tomas Nosek’s goal, the final nail in the coffin of a 7-1 victory over the Barons. Porter also had a plus-one rating and a shot on goal in the contest. The helpers were the 17th and 18th of the season, which complement his nine goals in 57 games this season. The 28-year-old former fourth-round pick of Arizona in 2004 signed a one-year deal with the Red Wings this past summer to return home to Michigan.

 

 

kesler headshotMARCH 4 – RYAN KESLER

Ryan Kesler’s taking today’s Michi-gamer spot, and it’s more for how he scored last night, not just that he found the scoresheet. The Livonia native scored a goal last night that should certainly be considered for goal of the year. While shorthanded, Kesler fought through a check, deked a Coyotes defender by putting the puck through his legs, then scored with a guy on his back dragging him down. It was Kesler’s 17th goal of the season for his Anaheim Ducks squad, and it started them down the path to a 4-1 win on the road.

We know we’re not doing the goal justice by trying to describe it with word, so check it out below.

See the goal right here:

MARCH 3 – CONNOR HELLEBUYCKhellebuyck

We revisited the weekend’s action for Tuesday’s Michi-gamer because there was one gem of a performance deserving of a spot. Commerce native Connor Hellebuyck continued his tremendous AHL rookie campaign for St. John’s over the weekend, despite going 1-1. Friday night, Hellebuyck allowed four goals on 27 shots in a losing effort against the Worcester Sharks, but it was how he bounced back the next night against the Sharks that made the difference. Hellebuyck stopped a monumental 50 shots for his sixth shutout of the season in 2-0 Ice Caps victory Saturday night, setting a new St. John’s team record. The first-ever NCAA Mike Richter Award winner sports a 25-16-5 record with a .927 save percentage, 2.42 goals-against average.

MARCH 2 – CHRIS CONNERChris Conner (Caps/Hershey)

Westland native Chris Conner racked up four points in two games for his Hershey Bears Saturday and Sunday. The Bears actually played Friday afternoon, as well, giving them games on three straight days. Despite being held off the scoresheet in Friday’s contest, the former Michigan Tech Huskies standout recorded a goal and two assists, including the primary helper on the game-winner. He followed that up with another assist Sunday, the primary on Stanislav Galiev’s 21st of the season. The 31-year-old Conner has compiled another nice season thus far in the AHL, amassing 16 goals and 40 points in 42 games with only eight penalty minutes to boot.

Michi-gamer features compiled by MiHockey’s Stefan Kubus and Michael Caples. Click here to see last week’s Michi-gamer picks.