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Huskies blank Liberty, 4-0

Chris Freud
BMH Olson, Turi PU 1-29 Preston Utley/putley@vaildaily.com Battle Mountains Turi Olson shoots the puck before a Liberty player knocks him backwards in Saturday nights game at Dobson Arena.
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VAIL – The starting blueliners for Battle Mountain hockey Saturday night were Alex Biegler and Turi Olson.Huh?Welcome to Senior Night at Dobson Arena, where such frivolities are allowed so as many seniors can start the game, including forwards playing defense.

“Alex played some special teams back there. With that many seniors, we had to get them all in there,” Huskies coach Andy Hire said. “I told Turi to make it a quick shift. He came off at the first icing about 15 seconds in. He knew his role.”So, is a Norris Trophy in offing for Biegler?”Probably not,” Biegler joked.Despite the levity of Senior Night, the Huskies were all business, knocking off the visiting Lancers, 4-0, to up their record to 13-0 overall and 8-0 in the Metro. Appropriately, the seniors were in on all four goals Saturday.

“Unbelievable. They lead this team every time we play,” Hire said. “They lead us when we’re down in games. They lead us to victory every time. It’s a special group. It’s something I’ve never seen before.””It’s pretty easy once we are all together,” Biegler said. “There’s a lot of flow because it’s Senior Night. We had a good feeling tonight. We’ve been here forever and we’re really going to miss it.”Just minutes into the game, Biegler fed Brad Myers who unloaded on the net. Evan Sherer was in perfect position for a sweet redirection and the Huskies were up, 1-0.After a long stoppage to attend to Liberty captain Tim Chimielewski who sustained a concussion, the Huskies got it cranking again. Sophomore Casey Kleisinger broke up the senior parade with a goal from senior Myers.



Austin Chow lit the lamp unassisted a minute later. Battle Mountain concluded the middle stanza with Chow feeding Myers for the shot. Myers’ shot floated by the net, but Biegler was there for the very Myers-like goal.Next up on the cavalcade is a roadie against Aspen at 5 p.m. Aside from the traditional rivalry, it’s a battle of the No. 1 (Huskies) and the No. 3 (Skiers) teams in the state.”It’s going to be a huge game,” Myers said. “Aspen knocked off Cheyenne Mountain (No. 4), 3-zip, today, so they’re playing really good hockey. We know these guys. We’ve been playing with them since like we were how old? 10 years old? It’s going to be a huge game. We just have to prepare for them in practice.”

Ice chipsWord from the hospital is that Chimielewski was alert with full movement. … Hire’s three stars 1) The seniors, 2) Barrett Chow and 3) Kyle Woods. … The Huskies have a busy week ahead. It’s Aspen Tuesday. Battle Mountain athletics director Fred Koetteritz is trying to reschedule Machebeuf for Wednesday at Dobson. The Huskies then have Mitchell and Palmer over the weekend. … Thanks Mr. Biegler. Because of an intermission interview on the radio, the hockey team got to see the dance team for the first time this year. “This is one of the first times they’ve seen the dance team,” Hire said. “I was upstairs being intervewed by Barry and they kind of pulled a quick one on me.” … Clarke and Elizabeth Sherer made the trip up from Taos, N.M. to see their son, Evan, on Senior Night.Sports Editor Chris Freud can be reached at 949-0555, ext. 614 or cfreud@vaildaily.com.


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