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He saves, he scores

By Calvin Swanson, Star Tribune, 01/25/12, 9:17PM CST

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Bloomington Kennedy goalie David Johnson pulls off a rarity by scoring goal


Bloomington Kennedy goalie David Johnson reenacted his reaction to being credited with a goal on Tuesday.

Bloomington Kennedy goalie David Johnson didn't know what to think.

A surprise starter Tuesday night because a boys' hockey teammate was sick, Johnson had just withstood a furious scoring attempt by Farmington during a delayed penalty on his team. The next thing he knew, the puck was rolling on edge, toward the empty Farmington goal at the other end, and then it went in.

As ecstatic Kennedy fans cheered in the Bloomington Ice Garden, the referee skated toward Johnson.

"You're the last one to touch the puck, and you're the one who scored the goal," Johnson recalled the referee saying.

Unassisted.

"I kind of just lifted my hands up in the air, and I celebrated a little bit," the sophomore said Wednesday after practice.

"My teammates started coming up to me, giving me fist pumps and everything. That's when it started kicking in."

Taking up tradition to celebrate -- "celly hard" in team-speak -- Johnson improvised his rarest of hockey feats by getting down on one knee and rubbing the ice with his blocker.

"He was so excited, like a kid in a candy store," said assistant coach Jeff Atchison. "When they announced David scored the unassisted goal, the crowd and the kids on our bench just erupted."

So loud, in fact, that all that the star of the moment heard during the announcement of the goal was "Number 33" before the crowd's roar drowned out his name.

It was Kennedy's first goal of the game, which it won 2-1.

"I thought it might be the only score of the game," Johnson said. "I didn't really care who scored at that point."

WORTH NOTING


 • Little Falls boys' hockey coach Tony Couture coached his 500th game for the Flyers last Thursday in a 4-0 victory over Sartell. Couture, in his 19th season behind the bench, has a career record of 288-204-8.

Calvin Swanson is a University of Minnesota student on assignment for the Star Tribune. Staff writers Jim Paulsen and Brian Stensaas contributed to this report.

 

 

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