07-08 Season Opener 12/6/07

	Injury Report Stat Leaders Three Stars

	Teams and Players Series Stats GHL Black GHL Silver Jason Grotte: 4 goals 1 assist 1 game winner Luke Schmitz: 3 goals Ryan Hoff: 1 goal, 2 assists Nich Riveland: 2 assists Zach Myron: 2 goals Ty Myron 1 assist Clark Swanson Brandon Hellevang: 4 goals 1 assist 2 game winners Andrew Grotte:  2 goals 1 assist Justin Willmott:  2 goals Jamyn Riveland:  2 goals Wayne Riveland:  1 goal Matt West: 1 goal Marcus Bergstrom   Goalies: Travis Peach 3.00 GAA  2 wins  9GA      Zach Riveland  4.33 GAA 1 win 13GA

	Game Score Winner Winning Goalie Scoring 1 5-2 Silver Travis Peach GHL Black GHL Silver          Goal, Assist 1. Schmitz L.,, Grotte, J 2. Hoff, R. (shorthanded)       Goal, Assist 1. Riveland, J., Grotte, A. 2. Hellevang, B. 3. Grotte, A. 4. Hellevang, B. 5. Hellevang, B. 2 5-4 Silver Zach Riveland GHL Black GHL Silver          Goal, Assist 1. Schmitz, L., Myron, T. 2. Grotte, J.,  Hoff, R. 3. Grotte J.,  Riveland, N. 4. Schmitz, L.       Goal, Assist 1. Willmott, J 2. Grotte, A. 3. Riveland, W. 4. Willmott, J. 5. Hellevang, B. 3 4-2 Black Travis Peach GHL Black GHL Silver          Goal, Assist 1. Grotte, J. 2. Myron, Z., Hoff, R., Riveland, N. 3. Mryon, Z. 4. Grotte, J.     Goal, Assist 1. Riveland, J., Hellevang, B. 2. West, M.   Penalties 07-08 Stats

	Game Summary: In Kelly's Footsteps     The GHL regular season is finally here. The tone of the season opener was set when two-time MVP Commissioner Kelly Grotte dropped the ceremonial first puck.  Due to his back injury, the All Star who wears the number 99 could not play, but he was there in spirit as he watched the game and yearned to play, also taking a few pictures and calling out line shifts, and sending a few players to the bin.         However, a new all star seemed to emerge in the season opener.  GHL forward Brandon Hellevang caught fire and scored 3 goals in the first game including the game winner as he led his team to victory.  He also got the game winning goal in game 2 and added an assist in game 3 for a total of 5 points on the night. "I give all the credit to my teammates for the hat trick.  They really did a great job at setting me up tonight.  Although my goals were unassisted, they still set me up well." said Brandon in response when asked how he scored the hat trick.  He deservedly earned 1st star.         But there were others who also showed stud performances.  Jason Grotte had 5 points and a game winner.  All night Jason forechecked and backchecke. His physicalness is part of the reason he's so consistent a scorer.  And then there was Luke Schmitz who wore Kelly Grotte's green jersey, and scored 3 goals, a most definite break throught night for Schmitz.  "I turned the jersey inside out, I didn't want to wear Kelly's sacred number 99.", said Luke after the game. "But his jersey seemed to help me out there tonight."  Whether it was the jersey or Luke's new game, his performance was impressive. The scoring, however, was spread around and almost everybody got in on the scoring. The rookies Ryan Hoff and Justin Willmott chipped in with a combined 5 points.          The goalies were solid in the opener, especially Travis.  He was all over the pucks tonight, only allowing a total of 9 goals on the night and earning a 3.00 GAA. He got his team 2 wins, only allowing 2 goals in each of his wins. Zach was not as impressive giving up 13 goals and accumulating two losses.  It was definitely not comparable to the performance he gave in preseason.  "It's so different on the GHL rink, finding the puck among all those skates and sticks is tough, and Travis seems to have a knack for that.  I'll have to work on that." said the frustrated but optimistic goalie.        Other Notes:  Mocha named GHL Mascot after showing so much enthusiasm for the rink and the ice and the league.  He watched most of the game from the Sin Bin.