SUPERIOR — It took exactly 58 seconds for Jace Kampsula to put Hibbing/Chisholm in control against Superior Monday at Wessman Arena.
With the Bluejackets already up a power play goal in the first period, the Spartans’ Cayden Reamer was called for a roughing penalty with Rylan Davis already in the sin bin on a tripping penalty.
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Forty-three seconds later, Kampsula fired a shot past Spartan goalie Ryan Pettengill to put the Bluejackets up two, but he wasn’t done. Before Reamer emerged from the penalty box Kampsula tipped another puck into the net.
Then early in the second period, Kampsula found himself on a breakaway and fired one more into the net, this time past Spartan goalie Hunter Sidorowicz, and put Hibbing/Chisholm up four and they would go on to secure a 7-0 win over Superior.
Kampsula said he thought his performance had to do with the way his line plays.
“We’re a grind line and we went in corners and got the puck to the net,” he said. “They had a good goalie, so we knew that we had to get bodies to the front.”
Jamnick said the entire line — which also includes Benny Galli and Kelin Elsner — was “outstanding” Monday, but Kampsula does the things he needs to do to score.
“He hangs out around the net and he gets rewarded,” Jamnick said. “He’s a tough kid and has been a great leader for us.”
Kampsula puts himself in the right spot for the Bluejacket distributors to find him, according to senior defenseman Ethan Sundvall.
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“We just find him in the slots sometimes and he finds the back of the net for us,” Sundvall said.
At the end of the day, Hibbing/Chisholm was efficient, shared the puck and never gave the Spartans an opportunity to get going.
“We used our speed really and just burnt their D wide,” Kampsula said. “We played really physical. Once the puck got in our D zone, we just came back to the house and broke it up real quick. Then our breakout was crisp — we were going tonight.”
Jamnick thought their puck movement was quick, which played well to their strengths in transition.
“We’ve got some speed up front,” he said. “The D got the puck into our forwards’ hands and then we’re off to work.”
It wasn’t all Kampsula, however. Isaiah Hildenbrand scored the first goal and freshman Cole Swanson scored in the second, with Landon Krampotich and Galli adding goals in the third.
Kampsula leads the team with 18 goals this season, but the Bluejackets have four more players with at least 10 goals and eight players on the roster with at least 10 points.
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Sundvall, who is tied for second on the team with 31 total points, added three more with his assists to Hildenbrand, Kampsula and Swanson.
“When we’re in the D-zone, he’s a stay-at-home defenseman,” Kampsula said. “Then, when we’re in the offensive zone, he’s a threat just like any forward. He moves the puck fast and he’s got a really good shot too.”
Hibbing/Chisholm (12-8) has at times struggled getting on defense and many of the goals they’ve given up have been because they were over-aggressive, like the two they gave up against Duluth Marshall in a 3-2 win for the Bluejackets on Jan. 20 . They’ve also played a much more difficult schedule, with games against Class AA contenders Cretin-Derham Hall, Gentry Academy, Grand Rapids and Rock Ridge.
“These past couple games, we’ve been getting back to the house and moving quicker,” Kampsula said. “Moving forward, we just need to keep doing that. It’s the litted things that we need to keep working on.”
Hibbing/Chisholm will play at Detroit Lakes at 2 p.m. Saturday before a rematch with second-ranked Cloquet-Esko-Carlton at 7 p.m. Feb. 11 at Northwoods Federal Credit Union Arena in Cloquet.
Superior (5-15-1) will play at Eau Claire North at 7 p.m. Friday.
This story was edited at 10:10 p.m. on Feb. 4 to correct the identification of the goaltender on Jace Kampsula's third goal as Ryan Pettengill. It was originally posted at 11:20 p.m. on Feb. 3. The News Tribune regrets the error.
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