My grandson, Graham Franti, has been playing ice hockey ever since he began skating and gradually developed a love for the game as he grew up developed his game skills. He is a junior this year at Calumet High School, playing defense for the junior varsity Ice Kings.
An opportunity presented itself to this young man last week when an untimely injury on the varsity roster created an opening for Franti to make a move up and play with the Ice Kings on Saturday when they traveled to Iron Mountain to take on the Flivvers.
I was just as excited as his Dad was to watch him play his first varsity game after following his progress on the Ice Kings JV team for the past two years. Graham has mastered all the required skills to play high school hockey, good skating, passing and shooting and is disciplined in his play at the defense position.
Kingsford’s record of (6 – 10,1 – 9, GLHC) would challenge Ice Kings who were currently (6-12, 4-2 GLHC) going into Saturday’s contest.
The Flivvers came out fast in the first period skating hard and pressuring the Calumet defense early to grab a 2 – 0 lead on what looked like some easy goals let in by Calumet’s goalie. The Ice Kings play seemed to gain its composure and after reaching the seven minute mark of the period, Calumet scored to make it a 2- 1 game. Within the minute and one half mark before the end of the first, Calumet rallied after killing off a minor penalty and scored to tie the game at 2 – 2.
The second period saw the Ice Kings making some line adjustment, creating more scoring opportunities as Calumet took a lead after 17 minutes and by taking the lead by a score of 6 – 2. In that period, Franti had one shot on goal and collected a +2 rating for being on the ice during two of the Ice Kings goals during that period.
The third period saw Calumet continue to create more offensive pressure with a penalty shot opportunity being awarded to the Ice Kings and more scoring being generated from both teams. However, Calumet was able to preserve their lead in the game and come out on top by winning the game by a score of 9 – 4. My grandson, Graham finished with a +3 rating, 15 shifts for the game, one shot on goal and three hit against his opponents.
Nice job! I’m proud of his effort in this game.
Here is #2 keeping the puck in his zone and getting a shot on goal…
#2 playing good D in front of his goalie…
