Vince Lombardi famously said, “Gentlemen, we will chase perfection, and we will chase it relentlessly, knowing all the while we can never attain it. But along the way, we shall catch excellence.” On Thursday night in Waupaca, the hometown Comets got a brief taste of perfection as they rode their perfect powerplay to a 4-1 decision over the Lakeland Thunderbirds. With the man-advantage, the Comets went three for three, with Thomas Thiel playing a key role in all three goals.

Thiel, a senior, had four career goals coming into the game. The sturdy Comet center epitomizes the blue-collar athlete that small town America produces with the greatest of ease. First in on the forecheck, hard on the backcheck, fearless at the net front and unafraid to deliver some well-placed body checks. He is exactly the kind of lead by example spark plug that every team needs and every coach cherishes. His two-goal night didn’t feature any Connor Bedard magic, but the result of simply having the grit to get to the net. Because that is where goals come from.

Thunderbirds goalie Cam Bernard was perfect when the teams played five-on-five piling up 46 saves in a valiant effort. The Comets final goal came with Bernard on the bench for an extra attacker. Head Coach Jake Suter praised his senior puck stopper, “Our goalie did a phenomenal job once again. Cam has really been a bright spot for us in our first couple of games.”

Waupaca came out and carried most of the play in the opening period. Lots of neutral zone turnovers kept both teams from generating many high danger scoring chances. The Thunderbirds found the back of the net first on a poor angle shot by Landon Van Berkel. The crafty junior corralled a wide point shot from Noah Dude, circled behind the net and tried to feed the puck into the slot. The puck was knocked back at him, and he managed to thread it into the net from just above the goal line. The goal at 7:43 was Lakeland’s second shot of the period. Bernard’s 19 saves got Lakeland to the lockeroom with a 1-0 lead.

For Waupaca goalie Carson Jameson the goal ended his 115-minute scoreless streak. He was coming off back-to-back shut outs of Sheboygan and Medford.

The first powerplay chance for the Comets came early in the second period with Brett Peterson off for interference. Waupaca maintained zone time and on their sixth shot of the powerplay they tied the game at one. Colin Lockwood recovered a puck from the face-off scrum and sent it to defenseman Parker Saunders who fired on net. Waiting at the net front was Thiel, who spun around, fielded the rebound and put it past Bernard for his first goal of the season.

At 5:18 of the period Waupaca went back on the man advantage. Emmerich Trzebiatowski delivered a perfect pass across the blue line to Finn McGuire who one-timed a blast that Bernard again stopped, but Thiel slipped between two defenders and netted his second goal of the game. “Our lack of discipline and poor job at net front battles did us in tonight,” admitted Suter.  Waupaca took a 2-1 lead and lopsided 35-9 advantage in shots to the lockeroom.

The T-Birds came out flying to open the third period and got an early chance from defenseman Colton Berray who took a nice pass from Van Berkel and ripped a shot from just above the right hash marks. The Comets responded with two grade-A chances. Finn McGuire’s shot from inside the left circle found its way through Bernard’s five-hole but squirted wide of the net. Bernard just got a piece of Reed Rogers wrist shot from between the hash marks and deflected it over the top of the net.

Managing their slim one goal lead, the Comets got their third powerplay of the night on a Colton Berray penalty with 11:53 to play. The Comets wasted no time. Nate Hines won a clean draw right back to Blake Jones whose shot deflected off a T-Bird defender and past Bernard, with Thiel standing close by.

With 2:51 to play tempers began to flare and a corner scrum sent four players to the penalty box including double minor on Waupaca’s Reed Rogers. Lakeland got Bernard to the bench with just over two minutes and had a 6 on 4 advantage. Colin Lockwood hit the empty net with ten seconds to play to make the final 4-1. Another shoving match erupted at games end, but no penalties were assessed. Suter said, “I was very disappointed at the nonsense that went on at the end.”

Final shots for the game were 50-14.

When people talk about small town hockey cultures in Wisconsin you often hear Eagle River and Mosinee mentioned, but the passion for the game in Waupaca is strong. I saw it firsthand when I coached the Waupaca Ice girls’ team there for a season and four more with the Wisconsin Valley Union. Some great hockey people in that community, I always enjoy being in that rink, great memories.

At 3-1 the Comets are on a three-game winning streak. They get right back on the ice Friday against Oregon (2-0). Lakeland (1-2) hosts Antigo (3-1) next Tuesday.

• Three Stars of the Game: 1-Comet PP, 2-Thiel, 3-Bernard
• Blue Collar: W-Lockwood, L-Meyer