ANN ARBOR–In his triumphant return and swan song game, goalie Ricky Winowiecki pushed through an 0-2 deficit to earn a 2-2 tie for Ashley’s Hopslam Tuesday night versus rival Ice Dogs. “I’m not sure why I’m getting booted out of the league,” said Winowiecki. “Their goalie (Donald Busdecker) played for Western (Michigan)!”
“He played for Central,” Winowiecki corrected. “I saw the sticker on his helmet.”
After Eric Evans scored both goals for the Ice Dogs in the second period, Hopslam moved into action. Chris Sutton sniped one past Busdecker on a power play with about five minutes left in the second. Gary Witt, returning from hunting season without any venison jerky to the dismay of the team, scored in third with under two minutes left to play. Newcomer Nyle Pfeiffer assisted.
Winowiecki played great, giving up the first on an odd man rush, the second on a shot redirected by a Hopslam stick, but playing shut-out hockey for the second half of the game. “That ups my (Hopslam) record to 0-2-1,” said Winowiecki.
In fact, Winowiecki is 1-1-1 for Hopslam according to team statisticians, placing him among the winningest goalies for the team (2nd in winning percentage all-time). Only Paul Sholtis (27) and Jeff Phillion (2) have more total wins.