The Aberdeen Wings closed out a dominant stretch of hockey with a dominating victory before a record crowd at Odde Ice Center Saturday night. The Wings blitzed the Brookings Blizzard 5-1 in front of 1,604 loud and proud fans.
"It was a very fun win to end the season," said Wings defenseman Steven Johnson. "Every single player played their heart out. We knew that this was our last time. We just gave it 100 percent like we had been doing for the past 2½ months. I'm really proud of all the guys right now."
Aberdeen has been the hottest team in the North American Hockey League lately, but a brutal losing streak early in the season all but sealed the team's fate and the Wings were eliminated from playoff contention last weekend.
That fact is tough to swallow considering how well the squad played during the final half of its campaign.
"It's definitely very tough," said Wings coach Travis Winter. "I would have loved a shot in the playoffs with this group. I think this group could have done some special things. They did do some special things and in my heart they're a playoff team."
The Wings capped the season with the same proven formula that got them back into the playoff picture in the first place. Aberdeen received goals from five different players and got contributions from everyone on the ice.
"That's been the story of our last 2½ months," Winter said. "We've been getting contributions from everybody. When you get that, you start winning lots of games."
Erik Baskin started the scoring for Aberdeen in the first period and Zach Doerring padded the margin about three minutes later. It turned out, that would be all the Wings would need because Chad Catt was a stone wall in the net.
Catt stopped 46 shots during the game from all kinds of angles.
"It helps when you're constantly in the action," Catt said. "It's when there's little lulls in play where you kind of lose focus, like your tracking and everything, and you get cold. Today, that wasn't an issue. It was nice to just be able to keep on feeling the puck and just have the guys play great in front of me."
Johnson pushed the margin to 3-0 in the second period on a slap shot from just inside the blue line.
When asked if he could even see the net from that distance, Johnson responded, "Oh man, I just shot it. It was a great pass from (Jake) Horton. We practice that in practice all the time."
The visitors scored their only goal late in the second period, but that was it.
Aberdeen added two more goals in the third, one from Colton Kramer and another from Jordan Heller to win going away.
The Wings ended up with four power play goals on the night.
"They had a lot of energy and enthusiasm," Winter said of his players. "We were great on the special teams and we got great goal tending."
Winter said Catt has been spot on lately.
"He's been really dialed in his last four or five starts," Winter said. "He's really seeing the puck well right now."
Catt said playing in front of a huge crowd provided a major adrenaline rush for him.
"Before the game my billets actually were like, 'Yeah, all the tickets were sold out at the gas station, so it's going to be a packed house tonight.' I was just like, sweet," Catt said.
While the majority of the Wings could be back next season, Winter said there is much to do before Aberdeen hosts another game at Odde Ice Center.
"We're excited about the future," Winter said, "but there's a lot of work to be done between now and then."
The Wings capped their season with a 10-game home winning streak and a final overall record of 23-30-7. They also gave their frenzied faithful a fitting farewell.
"It's great, especially to give them a good end to a season that we couldn't really get a good start from," Catt said. "At least we gave them something to remember for over the summer, then when we get back, they'll be amped up and ready to go."
Brookings Blizzard 0 1 0-1
Aberdeen Wings 2 1 2-5
First Period: 1, Aberdeen, Erik Baskin (Kyle Haak, Dylan Dailey), 15:48; 2, Aberdeen, Zach Doerring (Baskin, Jonathan Grebosky), 12:54.
Second Period: 3, Aberdeen, Steven Johnson (Jake Horton), 12:36; 4, Brookings, Thomas Williams (Cody Marooney, Brandon Parker), 2:34.
Third Period: 5, Aberdeen, Colton Kramer (Dailey, Sam Coborn), 9:40; 6, Aberdeen, Jordan Heller (Horton, Justin Parizek), 8:31.
Goalies: Brookings, Drew Weigman (41 shots, 36 saves); Aberdeen, Chad Catt (47 shots, 46 saves).
Attendance: 1,604.