WATERFORD, MI – Eric Trunick was acquired a month ago from Cleveland to come in and push the other two Metro Jets’ goaltenders for playing time.One month later and Trunick is firmly entrenched as Metro’s No. 1 goalie and has his team on a three-game winning streak, along with being in goal for all four of Metro’s wins this season. Trunick, however, isn’t about to hog all the credit for the last three wins. Instead, he’d rather talk about the overall team effort.
“I think the biggest key is that our team plays a whole 60 minutes focused on what we need to do,” said Trunick, a Commerce Township, Mich., native who turns 18 on Nov. 15. “We are not trying to take dumb penalties and we are cutting down on the amount of penalties we take, which also helps.
”I feel I have played a pretty good role in the last few wins, but so have plenty of other guys on the team. I think the team is very comfortable with me in the net, so that’s a plus. If we want to keep the wins coming, I’m going to have to step up my role even more when it comes to playing the better teams in the league.”
The goaltending position comes with enough pressure on its own, but in Trunick’s case, tending net for a team that hasn’t had a great deal of success the past few years brings an all-new set of pressures.
”On a game-to-game basis, there is a lot of pressure playing for this team,” said Trunick, who leads the CSHL with 261 saves, is seventh with a .913 save percentage and ninth with a 3.48 goals-against average. “Everybody knows right now that we’re not the team to come in and run over everybody, which means when we come to the rink to play, we’re going to war. There is a lot of extra pressure to the goalie especially on a team like this where every game matters.”
That said, pressure is something Trunick can deal with in leaning on teammates and coaches.
”The chemistry here is great,” said Trunick. “Everyone is getting along well. Even when a new kid arrives, no one is shy to intruduce themselves and make them feel a part of the team. We really have a great thing going here, from the staff to the players.”
When asked what his strengths and weaknesses are, Trunick didn’t hesitate to give the honest truth.
“A good strength I have is that I don’t let a lot of things bother me during a game, whether it’s a goal, trash talking or whatever. I have a wall that blocks everything out to play my game.A weakness I have is that sometimes I don’t stay focused on the puck for the whole 60 minutes, which can sometimes bite me in the butt because the other team could put one in and make it look like I was sleeping.”
Trunick played a bit last season for theMotor City Chiefs (now Michigan Mountain Cats) and played one game for the Jr. Lumberjacks this season before arriving in Waterford. With his third CSHL team in a year, Trunick wants to stay with the Jets for the long haul.
”I do hope Metro is the last team I play for in this league,” said the 6-foot-2, 180-pound Trunick. “I have learned and gained a lot from this league which I’m grateful for, but I think it’s time that I need to step up to the next level. I just hope I leave Metro on a good note with a winning season.
”My goals this season are to really get my numbers up so people have something to look back on and see what I can do. A tender to the NAHL would be nice, but as long as I make an NAHL team or anything else where the hockey is free and highly competitive, I’ll be happy.”
LOOKING BACK, LOOKING AHEAD
The Jets completed a two-game sweep of the Quad City Jr. Flames with a 5-4 win at Lakeland Arena Sunday afternoon and have now won three straight games.
Metro had topped Quad City 4-3 in overtime Saturday night.
Both games, the Jets gave up third period leads, but came back to win each contest.
Sunday afternoon, the Jets (4-5-0-0) used five different goal scorers and 40 saves from Trunick for the win.
Newly-signed Cameron Bazin’s (Troy, Mich.) power-play goal at 13:54 of the third period snapped a 4-4 tie and the Jets held on the rest of the way.
Justin Bennett (Brighton, Mich.) scored 87 seconds into the game for the Jets and then Brett Grech (Hartland, Mich.) scored four seconds into a power play at 3:25. Quad City’s Kyle Vesling made it a 2-1 game at the 7:16 mark, but Tommy Kilgore (Pinckney, Mich.) restored the two-goal lead with the only goal of the second period at 18:57.
In the third period, Matt Stirling (Dexter, Mich.) made it 4-1 with a goal on the man-advantage at 6:10 and all seemed to be going in the Jets’ favor.
However, Cole Findlay (6:47), Jared Fielden (8:55) and Kody Rodriguez (10:13) all scored for the Jr. Flames in a 3:16 span to bring Quad City all the way back.
That set the stage for Bazin’s goal and a second straight Metro win in dramatic fashion.
Matt Truninger finished with 16 saves through 40 minutes for Quad City before Mike Meadows played the third period and took the loss making six saves on eight shots.
Grech provided the heroics Saturday night with a goal just 31 seconds into overtime to win it after the Jets blew a two-goal lead in the third period.
Metro led 1-0 after one period on a goal by Grech 1:24 into the game.
Mike Moroso (Macomb, Mich.) and Stirling replied in the second period after Quad City captain Jerry Rank had tied the game six minutes into the period.
Anthony Buchal (10:42) and Drake Fisher (12:50) tallied in the third period to knot the game at 3-all, setting up Grech’s goal early in the extra session.
Trunick played well with a 43-save outing in goal, while at the other end, Tanner Jones and Meadows combined for 26 saves. Jones started and was replaced by Meadows for the third period.
Kilgore had two assists for the Jets, including the primary helper on Grech’s game-winner.
The Jets play just one game this weekend, on Saturday night at home against the Battle Creek Jr. Revolution, a team still searching for its first win this season. Game time at Lakeland is 7:50 p.m.
JET STREAKS
Metro released goaltender Allan Dowler (Oxford, Ohio) this week and signed goaltender Matt Braun (Ramsey, N.J.). Braun won an NJSIAA/Devils Public B state championship last season with Ramsey High School, making 40 saves and posting a shutout in the title game …Kilgore, Stirling and Moroso all have five goals to lead the Jets in that category … Prior to their overtime win last Saturday night, the last time Metro won in the extra session was on Nov. 7, 2009, when Josh Magnan’s (Waterford, Mich.) goal 2:05 into overtime beat Grand Rapids, 4-3.
WHERE ARE THEY NOW?
Forward Nick Kenney, a former Jets’ forward whose 66 points led the team in 2006-2007 and was also sixth in CSHL scoring, is entering his sophomore season at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point.
Last year, Kenney, a Wixom, Mich., native, had three goals and three assists in 23 games for the Pointers.
From 2007-2009, Kenney played in the NAHL for the Mahoning Valley Phantoms.
Photo by Andy Grossman/Detailed Images
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