The Stampede kicked off the 2022 portion of their season this past weekend as they traveled to Boston to participate in the USPHL Winter Showcase. In a weekend highlighted by strong goaltending and offensive prowess, the Stampede came out of the showcase with four points after posting a 2-2 record against teams from the Pacific, Mountain, Midwest East, and Mid Atlantic divisions.

The weekend started with a busy Friday as the Stampede played in two games, the first of which saw them face off against the Motor City Hockey Club. In what started out as evenly matched game, ultimately saw the Stampede pull ahead to an 8-3 victory. Max Ciepiela opened the scoring for the Herd at the 4:24 mark with an assist from Caden Cranston. After Motor City evened the score, Parker Bonsignore would regain the lead for the Stampede at the 7:58 mark, assisted by Max Ciepiela and Caden Cranston. Motor City would again score; however to send the game into the first intermission in a 2-2 tie.

The Stampede would begin their march to victory in the second period as Joe LoBrutto scored back-to-back goals, assisted by Santeri Husso and Brendan Bastian and Santeri Husso and Bryson Miller. Parker Bonsignore would tally his second goal of the game at the 7:43 mark, assisted by Blake Dewey and Brendan Bastian, before Motor City would score their final goal of the game cut the lead to 2.

It was all Stampede in the third period; however, as Joe LoBrutto would score his third and fourth goals of the game at the 11:33 mark, assisted by Parker Bonsignore, and the 16:33 mark, assisted by Bryson Miller and Kyle Schafer. In between LoBrutto’s goals, Cameron Coogan would add to the Stampede score sheet at the 15:58 mark, assisted by Santeri Husso and Blake Dewey. Joe Willis got the start in net for the Stampede and picked up his first win of the season.

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The second game of the day would see the Stampede face off against a tough Mountain division opponent in the Utah Outliers. Though the Stampede would battle hard, their lone goal, scored by Bryson Miller (unassisted), would not be enough to overcome the 8 goals put up by the Outliers. Luke Remenyi got the start in net for the Stampede and played 53 minutes before Matt McDermott would come in to relieve him.

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A Saturday evening gamete would give the Stampede an opportunity to rest and recover from the previous day’s doubleheader, as they faced off against the San Diego Sabres. The fresh legs turned out to be advantageous as they would carry the Stampede to a 6-2 victory over the Sabres.

The Pacific division Sabres would strike first in the contest, turning in the only first period goal at the 17:46 mark. Buffalo would bounce back in the second period, tallying three back-to-back goals by Max Ciepiela (4:23), assisted by Parker Bonsignore and Caden Cranston, Jace Cranston (13:49), assisted by Caden Cranston, and Caden Cranston (18:22), assisted by Parker Bonsignore. San Diego would score their final goal of the game in the closing seconds of the second period to send the game into the third with a 3-2 Buffalo advantage.

Looking to put the game on ice, the Stampede put on a strong third period performance, tallying three unanswered goals, scored by Santeri Husso (8:04), assisted by Brendan Bastian, and a pair by Parker Bonsignore (16:30 & 18:06), both assisted by Caden Cranston.

Joe Willis got the start in net and picked up his second victory of the showcase and season, stopping 29 of 31 shots.

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The Stampede rounded out their weekend with a Sunday afternoon matchup against the P.A.L. Junior Islanders. While the Stampede jumped out to an early first period lead after a goal by Parker Bonsignore, assisted by Caden Cranston, the team’s scoring would come too few and far between to overcome the offensive firepower of the Islanders. Additional Buffalo goals would come from Santeri Husso in the second period, assisted by Parker Bonsignore, and Bryson Miller in the third period (unassisted). Luke Remenyi got the start in net for the Stampede and stopped 11 of 17 shots over 43 minutes before Joe Willis would come in to relieve him in the third period.

The Stampede will be home this upcoming weekend as they host Great Lakes division rivals, the Columbus Mavericks this Friday and Saturday.