It’s easy to get overlooked on a team that has eight 10-goal scorers, but there is one place Michigan’s Brandon Kaleniecki seems to score big goals to distinguish himself:<\/p>\n
Joe Louis Arena.<\/p>\n
“Growing up, I always wanted to play here,” Kaleniecki said of the Joe. “I’m from [nearby] Livonia, so I know I’ve watched so many games here, whether it’s college games or the Red Wings. It’s always special for me to come and play here and I don’t know why, but I always have a little extra jump for some reason.”<\/p>\n
Just one season after leading the team with 20 goals, Kaleniecki opened this campaign in a slump that was defined by missed shots, bad bounces, and great saves.<\/p>\n
“At the beginning of the year, there was more pressure because I was the leading scorer,” Kaleniecki said. “As the season has gone on, and you see everyone else scoring, it takes a lot of pressure off.”<\/p>\n
Kaleniecki began to turn things around at this year’s Great Lakes Invitational, played at Joe Louis, where he scored two goals in two games and was named to the all-tournament team. Kaleniecki’s performance at the GLI was especially important considering that the Wolverines were without five players because of the IIHF World Junior Championships.<\/p>\n
Kaleniecki’s 2004-05 stats — 12 goals and seven assists for 19 points — are far from mediocre, but they don’t stand out on a team with so many proven scorers.<\/p>\n
However, in Michigan’s CCHA Super Six semifinal against Alaska-Fairbanks, Kaleniecki again rose to the occasion on perhaps his favorite slab of ice.<\/p>\n
Michigan peppered Nanook freshman goaltender Wylie Rogers with 13 shots in the first period but was unable to find a crack in his defense — that is, until Jeff Tambellini found Kaleniecki streaking into the left slot midway through the second period.<\/p>\n
Kaleniecki took the pass and fired a shot that beat Rogers over the glove shoulder.<\/p>\n
“Obviously it felt pretty good to get [a goal], especially in a game like this, 0-0 going into the second period, ” Kaleniecki said. “So it was nice to get one in a game that mattered.”<\/p>\n
Once the Wolverines got that first goal, a weight seemed to lift from their shoulders.<\/p>\n
“The goals were hard to come by and Brandon finally got one,” Michigan head coach Red Berenson said. “He’s been getting his chances and he finally got one in.”<\/p>\n
Kaleniecki finished off the second by setting up a Tambellini goal behind the Fairbanks defense, giving the Wolverines a 2-0 lead with just 18 seconds remaining in the period.<\/p>\n
For his efforts, Kaleniecki was named the first star of the game.<\/p>\n
“Brandon got off to a disappointing start [this season],” said Berenson. “It seems like he scores in bunches. He’s a streak scorer, but once he gets going and he gets his confidence, it just fuels his work ethic. He’s always a hard worker, even when things aren’t going well. But when they are going well, he really picks up the pace. That’s what you’re seeing now.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
It’s easy to get overlooked on a team that has eight 10-goal scorers, but there is one place Michigan’s Brandon Kaleniecki seems to score big goals to distinguish himself: Joe Louis Arena. “Growing up, I always wanted to play here,” Kaleniecki said of the Joe. “I’m from [nearby] Livonia, so I know I’ve watched so […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":140328,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"coauthors":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n