Michi-gamer: Pride of the Mitten (Week of Feb. 16, 2015)

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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.


 

FEBRUARY 20 – STEVEN KAMPFER

Steven Kampfer scored his first NHL goal since March of 2012 last night, and he sure did make it count. The Ann Arbor native scored the game-tying goal for his Florida Panthers in the third period, helping them to an eventual 3-2 shootout win over the Canadiens in Montreal. Kampfer, a University of Michigan alum, buried a return pass from Tomas Fleischmann from a difficult angle and past a surprised Carey Price for his eighth career NHL goal. Kampfer was skating in his eighth NHL game of the season, as well, after a call-up from the AHL’s Iowa Wild. It’s his first shot back in the NHL after playing in 13 games with the Minnesota Wild in the 2011-12 season. Hopefully the Ann Arbor native can prove himself worthy of staying in an NHL line-up – game-tying goals certainly don’t hurt his chances.

Here’s the goal:


FEBRUARY 19 – ANDY MIELEmiele griffins

What a performance Andy Miele had Wednesday night. The Grosse Pointe Woods native had as dramatic of a three-point night as possible to help the Grand Rapids Griffins top the Milwaukee Admirals in overtime, 4-3. Just 3:53 into the contest, Miele drew an assist on Martin Frk’s game-opening goal. But then, with the Griffins on a powerplay, the goalie pulled and down 3-2, Miele struck with 0.4 seconds on the clock to force overtime. And wouldn’t you know it, it was Miele again in overtime, 2:09 into the extra frame to complete the comeback. The goals were the 26-year-old forward’s 16th and 17th of the season to bring his point total up to 49 in 46 games this season, good for second on the team behind only the recently-recalled Teemu Pulkkinen. With 10 points more than anyone behind him on the team, there’s no doubting just how valuable of a factor Miele has been to the Griffins offense. Miele has been producing at just over a point-per-game clip since last season, when he amassed 72 points in 70 games with the Portland Pirates.

 


FEBRUARY 18 – KENNY RYANKenny Ryan

Franklin native Kenny Ryan came up big for his Lake Erie Monsters in AHL action Tuesday night. With the opposing Milwaukee Admirals on a powerplay, the 23-year-old Honeybaked alum capitalized on a turnover five minutes into the third period, took off on a breakaway and beat the netminder for a shorthanded goal to extend the Monsters’ lead to 3-1. With Milwaukee striking back at 17:55 of the period, Ryan’s shorty stood as the game-winner. This season, Ryan has amassed eight goals and 19 points in 48 games for Lake Erie, two goals and three points shy of besting his career marks.

 


FEBRUARY 17 – MICHAL JORDANMichal Jordan

You never forget your first goal, and neither will Michal Jordan. The former Plymouth Whaler potted the first goal of his NHL career 2:33 into the third period to give his Carolina Hurricanes an insurance goal en route to a 6-3 victory over the Ottawa Senators. Playing the powerplay for Carolina with his team holding a one-goal lead, Jordan snuck down from the point on the back door, took a great cross-ice pass from Elias Lindholm and one-timed the puck into a virtually empty net. The 24-year-old Czech Republic native has two assists to go along with his goal in 19 games this season with the Canes. A former fourth-round selection of Carolina in 2008, Jordan potted 96 points in 138 regular season games across three seasons with the Whalers during his time in Michigan.


FEBRUARY 16 – DUSTIN GAZLEYsm_gazley

Novi native Dustin Gazley provided the offense in a busy weekend for his Hershey Bears, which unusually played on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Gazley, a Michigan State alum, potted four goals on the weekend – two on Saturday at home against Portland and two Sunday on the road against Bridgeport – to help Hershey sweep their three games by a combined score of 11-3. The goals bumped him up to 10 on the season to go along with his 10 assists in 46 games, all of which are career-high marks at the AHL level. That earned him first-star honors both games. In fact, Michigan connections took five of the six three-star selections on those nights, as Gazley’s teammates Chris Conner (Westland), Tim Kennedy (Michigan State) and Pheonix Copley (Michigan Tech) all contributed to the victories. After starting his career in the ECHL, this is Gazley’s first full season in the AHL. He was named the ECHL’s rookie of the year in 2011-12.


 

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