IceRays departed for Blaine, Minnesota last Friday to compete in the Showcase tournament along with the other 25 NAHL Hockey teams. The Showcase tournament is a huge event in Blaine where scouts from the NCAA and NHL travel from all over North America to view the talent from all the featured teams. The IceRays played their first game in the NAHL league this morning against the 2009-2010 Robertson Cup Finalist Traverse City North Stars.
With the lost some positive highlights from the game were IceRays Goaltender Marco Wieser gave up only one goal on 40 shots and was the second star of the game. Another positive aspect from the game was the IceRays penalty kill. Traverse City had 9 power plays and the IceRays shut them down all 9 times.
The IceRays were able to create many opportunities during the game but lost with Traverse City Scoring the winning goal. Forward Cody Milligan and Defenseman Shane Gleason both had opportunities to tie the game but were unsuccessful. The IceRays put a lot of effort into the game and worked well as a team. Being the first game of the season the team will be working very hard on their techniques and abilities for their upcoming games.
The IceRays will be playing their second game in the NAHL league at the Showcase Tournament tomorrow at 10:30am against the Chicago Hitmen. IceRays recap from the Tournament can be seen at www.pointstreak.com. Stay tuned for more details.