Today was Day 1 of the NAHL Showcase. There was a lot of good hockey played. Most eyes, however, were probably focused on the two NTDP teams getting their seasons underway.
For the U17 team, their opening game had to be considered a huge success. After four first period goals, the team cruised to an easy 5-1 victory over Bismarck. Austin Czarnik scored twice in the first period, including a beautiful drive down the right wing where he uncorked a slap shot that went perfectly into the upper corner of the net. Michael Mersch also scored a pretty goal when he shelfed a puck from the top of the cirlce. Jack Campbell played very well in net, only allowing one goal on a tip in front of the net. Kevin Clare is the captain of the team and looks to be the class of the defense. He was rock solid all game, and also won a fight in the first period.
It was a different story for the U18 team, who was upset by Wichita Falls 3-2 in overtime. The US didn't dress top players Jeremy Morin and Kyle Palmieri, as well as A.J. Treais, Jerry D'Amigo, and Tyler Amburgey. The US team got off to a great start, and looked to be skating and moving the puck well, but could only build a one goal lead and failed to put the game away. As the game dragged on, their level of play really seemed to sink down to the competition.
Wichita's Mike Jarboe is probably one of the best goalies in the NAHL, and he showed why tonight. He stopped 47 of 49 shots, and while he didn't have a lot of highlight reel saves, he was always in perfect position, and made some difficult saves on blasts from the point. The other big difference in this game was the powerplay. Wichita scored all three goals with the man advantage while the NTDP went 0-for-5. The US fired a ton of one-timers from the point, but could never get a decent deflection or rebound in front of the net.
It's a disappointing result, but it's early in the season, and the team was playing without some of their best players. All in all, there will probably be more panic about this game than it deserves.
Showing posts with label game recaps. Show all posts
Showing posts with label game recaps. Show all posts
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Husky-on-Husky Action
I was at last Saturday's game between St. Cloud and Michigan Tech, so I figured I'd write a little review of what I saw.
It's a little long, so you can view it at WCH2 by clicking here.
It's a little long, so you can view it at WCH2 by clicking here.
Saturday, February 23, 2008
Friday Night Notes
Apparently all it took was a little coaxing. Northern Michigan defenseman Erik Spady scored Northern Michigan's first even strength goal by a defenseman last night.
Billy Sauer let in four goals on his first 15 shots, as Michigan State dominated Michigan 5-2. Michigan State did a far better job of taking advantage of their chances. Michigan outshot MSU 15-3 in the first period, and still came out of the period down 2-0.
If you needed more proof that the Big Ten Network was a failure, a large chunk of last night's game on BTN was pre-empted for a Kelvin Sampson's press conference. I was willing to wait and see how things went with the Big Ten Network, but it's been an absolute failure. Like I mentioned with CSTV earlier this week, I'm right in the middle of their demographic, and the BTN has resulted in me watching way fewer Big Ten sporting events than I did last year. Hell, I ended up watching girl's high school hockey and House re-runs instead of the game last night thanks to the Big Ten Network.
I know a lot of people have complained directly to the Big Ten Network, but probably the best course of action would be to call your cable provider and tell them that you don't want them to carry the Big Ten Network. The faster it is off the air, the better, in my opinion.
Speaking of Minnesota, I found it funny all week how people had basically left them for dead, when really, they were only two wins away from being back in the NCAA tournament. That's the big advantage of playing in the WCHA. Everyone is good, so if you beat them, there's potential to move up, whereas in other conferences, there are a lot of opponents that don't help much if you win, but kill you if you lose.
That said, the WCHA currently has 7 teams in the tournament, with Minnesota just on the outside, and I don't know that it's possible all those teams can get in. There are only five spots at the Final Five, so somebody has to lose a first round playoff series, and I don't know that many of those teams are safe enough to absorb a loss like that.
Similarly, a lot of people left St. Cloud for dead at the end of January, but they're right back in the home ice picture. A win tonight over Michigan Tech ties them for fourth place with Minnesota State and Wisconsin, with two games in hand over Wisconsin.
One team that is almost dead is Michigan Tech. If they lose to St. Cloud again tonight, they risk falling out of the top 25 in the RPI. The Gophers passed them for 8th in the WCHA, and have a little easier schedule down the stretch than the Huskies.
And whatever hopes Anchorage had at whatever are now gone. With their loss last night, they've clinched last place in the league for the third consecutive year.
Northern Michigan got a huge home win last night against Nebraska-Omaha. Another win tonight means the Wildcats would need a single point against Lake Superior next weekend to pass UNO in the standings.
There hasn't been too much drama in the CCHA race(unless Michigan State beats Michigan again tonight), but the 4-8 race in the league looks like it is going to be a great finish.
Billy Sauer let in four goals on his first 15 shots, as Michigan State dominated Michigan 5-2. Michigan State did a far better job of taking advantage of their chances. Michigan outshot MSU 15-3 in the first period, and still came out of the period down 2-0.
If you needed more proof that the Big Ten Network was a failure, a large chunk of last night's game on BTN was pre-empted for a Kelvin Sampson's press conference. I was willing to wait and see how things went with the Big Ten Network, but it's been an absolute failure. Like I mentioned with CSTV earlier this week, I'm right in the middle of their demographic, and the BTN has resulted in me watching way fewer Big Ten sporting events than I did last year. Hell, I ended up watching girl's high school hockey and House re-runs instead of the game last night thanks to the Big Ten Network.
I know a lot of people have complained directly to the Big Ten Network, but probably the best course of action would be to call your cable provider and tell them that you don't want them to carry the Big Ten Network. The faster it is off the air, the better, in my opinion.
Speaking of Minnesota, I found it funny all week how people had basically left them for dead, when really, they were only two wins away from being back in the NCAA tournament. That's the big advantage of playing in the WCHA. Everyone is good, so if you beat them, there's potential to move up, whereas in other conferences, there are a lot of opponents that don't help much if you win, but kill you if you lose.
That said, the WCHA currently has 7 teams in the tournament, with Minnesota just on the outside, and I don't know that it's possible all those teams can get in. There are only five spots at the Final Five, so somebody has to lose a first round playoff series, and I don't know that many of those teams are safe enough to absorb a loss like that.
Similarly, a lot of people left St. Cloud for dead at the end of January, but they're right back in the home ice picture. A win tonight over Michigan Tech ties them for fourth place with Minnesota State and Wisconsin, with two games in hand over Wisconsin.
One team that is almost dead is Michigan Tech. If they lose to St. Cloud again tonight, they risk falling out of the top 25 in the RPI. The Gophers passed them for 8th in the WCHA, and have a little easier schedule down the stretch than the Huskies.
And whatever hopes Anchorage had at whatever are now gone. With their loss last night, they've clinched last place in the league for the third consecutive year.
Northern Michigan got a huge home win last night against Nebraska-Omaha. Another win tonight means the Wildcats would need a single point against Lake Superior next weekend to pass UNO in the standings.
There hasn't been too much drama in the CCHA race(unless Michigan State beats Michigan again tonight), but the 4-8 race in the league looks like it is going to be a great finish.
Friday, January 04, 2008
GLI Recap
I'm about as timely as an announcement from Budd Lynch with this, but I was at the GLI, so I may as well write about it. My writing on the GLI will mainly focus on Michigan, since they won, and because I watched both of their games. I only saw the first period of Michigan Tech/Michigan State, and about 4 minutes of MSU/PC, because my love for you only runs so deep.
My three word summation of the Michigan vs Providence is this: Michigan got lucky. Providence came out playing great. They did an excellent job of trapping Michigan and keeping Michigan buried in their own end. They were basically controlling the game.
Then Michigan came down to the other end of the ice, got the puck in front of the net, fanned on it once, fired a weak pass that bounced off a defenseman’s skate, and trickled into the net in slow motion.
Providence controlled the play for most of the rest of the period until towards the end when Michigan tried to break the puck out of their zone, and a Providence defenseman fell down, giving Michigan a 2-on-1. Brian Lebler brought the puck down the wing and waited way too long to make a pass. Travis Turnbull was already past the net by the time the puck got to him, but Providence goalie Tyler Sims, correctly figuring a pass was out of the question, had overcommitted to the shot, and was late sliding over to the other side of the net. Turnbull was able to bank the puck in off the sliding Sims for the goal.
Michigan was up 2-0 after one period and the game was effectively over. Providence outshot Michigan 16-3 in the period, and really, 2 of Michigan’s shots wouldn’t have even counted as shots on goal if they hadn’t gone into the net.
From that point on, Providence had to start gambling. They started over-committing defenseman in the offensive end which led to a lot of odd-man rushes for Michigan, and Michigan, to their credit, started to capitalize, and the score of the game got a little out of hand.
Providence looked about as impressive as a team could look on the wrong end of a 6-0 ass-kicking. It seemed like everyone on their team was huge, and could lay a hit. At one point in the game, a PC forward laid out Michigan defenseman Mark Mitera, something I’m fairly confident hasn’t happened to Mitera since Peewees. They seem like they’d be an absolute bear of a team to play in a tight game or if they got the lead. Michigan could not break the puck out against them in the first period. Plus, their dark jerseys look really menacing.
Offensively, they looked like the hockey equivalent of a chucker in pick-up basketball. I suggest printing out a shot chart from that game and handing it out next time you’re seated next to someone that complains about your team needs to shoot more. They finished with 50 shots on goal, but later that night, I watched Billy Sauer’s 15-save shutout against Alaska earlier this year, and I felt like he made just as many quality saves in the Alaska game as he did in the Providence game.
Like I said, I only watched the first period of Michigan Tech against Michigan State. I did leave the arena feeling pretty good about Michigan Tech’s chances though. Everybody is saying that Michigan State didn’t play with a lot of fire this weekend, and that may be true, but they certainly had their chances to win the game in the first period on Friday. They had a number of quality chances with net to shoot at that they couldn’t finish off. If they had put a few more goals on the board, gotten a lead, and turned the game into more of a shootout, I think they would have rolled past Michigan Tech(and subsequently, given a much better effort in the final, as opposed to the malaise of a crappy third-place game). Instead, Tech scored first, kept the game close and low-scoring, and got Michigan State to play WCHA-style hockey, where the first one to score twice wins.
I did see some Michigan Tech fans complaining about the Fox Sports Detroit crew saying Tech wasn’t talented as Michigan State. I may have taken it more seriously if that hadn’t come moments after saying how awesome Tech did at finishing off scoring chances against MSU, in a game where they scored a whopping two goals in the first 59 minutes of play.
The final between Michigan and Michigan Tech was absolutely fabulous hockey. Long games like that are almost anti-climatic when they end because I want to see more great hockey. For a scoreless game, there were a lot of great chances.
Ironically, in a game where they were held scoreless, I thought Michigan showed how talented they are offensively. To play against a team like Tech that is so defensive-minded, and create that many breakaways/semi-breakaways is absolutely incredible. I’d be really curious to see what this team could do on an Olympic-sized ice sheet and had an extra 15 feet to work with. They even make the smaller NHL-sized ice seem huge with the way they spread the other team out.
Tech deserves a lot of credit for putting themselves in a position to win the game despite being out-chanced that badly by Michigan. Through the first period, I was pretty confident in Michigan’s chances. I figured that if they were generating quality chances like that, it was only a matter of time before one went in. After the second period, I felt like Tech had the better chance, because they had dragged Michigan into the type of game that Tech wanted to play; low-scoring where one bounce could be the difference. After the third period, I figured the game was a toss-up, and it was. Michigan Tech hit the post, Michigan’s tip found the net.
A lot of that credit goes to Robbie Nolan, who played a career game. Some of the saves he made were absolutely incredible. A lot of credit also goes to Tech’s penalty kill, which was outstanding. Late in the game, if a Tech defenseman got beat, they were content to take a penalty rather than give Michigan an odd-man rush, which was a good idea, considering how well they killed penalties.
In the end though, it’s probably not a huge surprise that Michigan won. They definitely held the majority of chances, especially as the game went on, and it was nice to see the Wolverines win the GLI again. You have to feel bad for Tech and their fans, for another GLI heartbreak. Hopefully they’ll be back in the final again soon, because they had a great turnout of fans, which made for a very fun atmosphere.
A few other random notes…
Kevin Porter- During last year’s NHL draft, there was a player described has having great acceleration, but not great top speed. It sounds silly, but I think that describes Porter pretty well. He showed some amazing quickness, splitting the defense at least half a dozen times, but couldn’t quite get that extra half-step to give him more time. But like I said, if they end up on an Olympic sheet in an NCAA regional, he’s going to be incredibly dangerous.
When did Mark Mitera become the best defenseman in the country? He hasn’t been on the ice for an even-strength goal since Michigan’s first game of the season. The nice thing about the easy first-round game was that he got a fair amount of rest for the final, where he logged a lot of ice time. He was absolutely dominant on the defenseman end.
Chad Langlais…..was good on the powerplay. He’s like Mitera’s exact opposite.
Billy Sauer has been mentioned only once so far, which is odd given his MVP performance. I was planning to try to write something longer on him, but if it doesn’t materialize in a way I like, I’ll say this: He was pretty good.
Thanks to the magic of Comcast On Demand, I got to watch games from earlier this year between Michigan and Alaska and Notre Dame against Lake Superior.
Watching Michigan take on Alaska, my first thought was, wow, the bottom of the CCHA really is bad this year. Still, the Nanooks showed some nice flashes of a run-and-gun counter-attacking team that should be fun to watch once Doc gets more of his players in the lineup, but for now, they don’t really have the personnel to fit their style. It’s also promising that Nathan Lawrence, the only DelCastillo recruit on the team, looked like one of the better players on the team.
The game also made me disappointed that Carl Hagelin wasn’t playing in the GLI. It’s really fun to watch a player that works that hard all the time.
I didn’t watch Notre Dame/LSSU that closely. Nathan Perkovich looks like a fantastic player though. Notre Dame is solid as always, and incredibly deep. They’d probably be the CCHA team I would be most afraid of playing in the NCAA tournament. An unfortunate corollary to Notre Dame’s hockey success is that Notre Dame fans have actually started showing up at their games, making them instantly less likable.
My three word summation of the Michigan vs Providence is this: Michigan got lucky. Providence came out playing great. They did an excellent job of trapping Michigan and keeping Michigan buried in their own end. They were basically controlling the game.
Then Michigan came down to the other end of the ice, got the puck in front of the net, fanned on it once, fired a weak pass that bounced off a defenseman’s skate, and trickled into the net in slow motion.
Providence controlled the play for most of the rest of the period until towards the end when Michigan tried to break the puck out of their zone, and a Providence defenseman fell down, giving Michigan a 2-on-1. Brian Lebler brought the puck down the wing and waited way too long to make a pass. Travis Turnbull was already past the net by the time the puck got to him, but Providence goalie Tyler Sims, correctly figuring a pass was out of the question, had overcommitted to the shot, and was late sliding over to the other side of the net. Turnbull was able to bank the puck in off the sliding Sims for the goal.
Michigan was up 2-0 after one period and the game was effectively over. Providence outshot Michigan 16-3 in the period, and really, 2 of Michigan’s shots wouldn’t have even counted as shots on goal if they hadn’t gone into the net.
From that point on, Providence had to start gambling. They started over-committing defenseman in the offensive end which led to a lot of odd-man rushes for Michigan, and Michigan, to their credit, started to capitalize, and the score of the game got a little out of hand.
Providence looked about as impressive as a team could look on the wrong end of a 6-0 ass-kicking. It seemed like everyone on their team was huge, and could lay a hit. At one point in the game, a PC forward laid out Michigan defenseman Mark Mitera, something I’m fairly confident hasn’t happened to Mitera since Peewees. They seem like they’d be an absolute bear of a team to play in a tight game or if they got the lead. Michigan could not break the puck out against them in the first period. Plus, their dark jerseys look really menacing.
Offensively, they looked like the hockey equivalent of a chucker in pick-up basketball. I suggest printing out a shot chart from that game and handing it out next time you’re seated next to someone that complains about your team needs to shoot more. They finished with 50 shots on goal, but later that night, I watched Billy Sauer’s 15-save shutout against Alaska earlier this year, and I felt like he made just as many quality saves in the Alaska game as he did in the Providence game.
Like I said, I only watched the first period of Michigan Tech against Michigan State. I did leave the arena feeling pretty good about Michigan Tech’s chances though. Everybody is saying that Michigan State didn’t play with a lot of fire this weekend, and that may be true, but they certainly had their chances to win the game in the first period on Friday. They had a number of quality chances with net to shoot at that they couldn’t finish off. If they had put a few more goals on the board, gotten a lead, and turned the game into more of a shootout, I think they would have rolled past Michigan Tech(and subsequently, given a much better effort in the final, as opposed to the malaise of a crappy third-place game). Instead, Tech scored first, kept the game close and low-scoring, and got Michigan State to play WCHA-style hockey, where the first one to score twice wins.
I did see some Michigan Tech fans complaining about the Fox Sports Detroit crew saying Tech wasn’t talented as Michigan State. I may have taken it more seriously if that hadn’t come moments after saying how awesome Tech did at finishing off scoring chances against MSU, in a game where they scored a whopping two goals in the first 59 minutes of play.
The final between Michigan and Michigan Tech was absolutely fabulous hockey. Long games like that are almost anti-climatic when they end because I want to see more great hockey. For a scoreless game, there were a lot of great chances.
Ironically, in a game where they were held scoreless, I thought Michigan showed how talented they are offensively. To play against a team like Tech that is so defensive-minded, and create that many breakaways/semi-breakaways is absolutely incredible. I’d be really curious to see what this team could do on an Olympic-sized ice sheet and had an extra 15 feet to work with. They even make the smaller NHL-sized ice seem huge with the way they spread the other team out.
Tech deserves a lot of credit for putting themselves in a position to win the game despite being out-chanced that badly by Michigan. Through the first period, I was pretty confident in Michigan’s chances. I figured that if they were generating quality chances like that, it was only a matter of time before one went in. After the second period, I felt like Tech had the better chance, because they had dragged Michigan into the type of game that Tech wanted to play; low-scoring where one bounce could be the difference. After the third period, I figured the game was a toss-up, and it was. Michigan Tech hit the post, Michigan’s tip found the net.
A lot of that credit goes to Robbie Nolan, who played a career game. Some of the saves he made were absolutely incredible. A lot of credit also goes to Tech’s penalty kill, which was outstanding. Late in the game, if a Tech defenseman got beat, they were content to take a penalty rather than give Michigan an odd-man rush, which was a good idea, considering how well they killed penalties.
In the end though, it’s probably not a huge surprise that Michigan won. They definitely held the majority of chances, especially as the game went on, and it was nice to see the Wolverines win the GLI again. You have to feel bad for Tech and their fans, for another GLI heartbreak. Hopefully they’ll be back in the final again soon, because they had a great turnout of fans, which made for a very fun atmosphere.
A few other random notes…
Kevin Porter- During last year’s NHL draft, there was a player described has having great acceleration, but not great top speed. It sounds silly, but I think that describes Porter pretty well. He showed some amazing quickness, splitting the defense at least half a dozen times, but couldn’t quite get that extra half-step to give him more time. But like I said, if they end up on an Olympic sheet in an NCAA regional, he’s going to be incredibly dangerous.
When did Mark Mitera become the best defenseman in the country? He hasn’t been on the ice for an even-strength goal since Michigan’s first game of the season. The nice thing about the easy first-round game was that he got a fair amount of rest for the final, where he logged a lot of ice time. He was absolutely dominant on the defenseman end.
Chad Langlais…..was good on the powerplay. He’s like Mitera’s exact opposite.
Billy Sauer has been mentioned only once so far, which is odd given his MVP performance. I was planning to try to write something longer on him, but if it doesn’t materialize in a way I like, I’ll say this: He was pretty good.
Thanks to the magic of Comcast On Demand, I got to watch games from earlier this year between Michigan and Alaska and Notre Dame against Lake Superior.
Watching Michigan take on Alaska, my first thought was, wow, the bottom of the CCHA really is bad this year. Still, the Nanooks showed some nice flashes of a run-and-gun counter-attacking team that should be fun to watch once Doc gets more of his players in the lineup, but for now, they don’t really have the personnel to fit their style. It’s also promising that Nathan Lawrence, the only DelCastillo recruit on the team, looked like one of the better players on the team.
The game also made me disappointed that Carl Hagelin wasn’t playing in the GLI. It’s really fun to watch a player that works that hard all the time.
I didn’t watch Notre Dame/LSSU that closely. Nathan Perkovich looks like a fantastic player though. Notre Dame is solid as always, and incredibly deep. They’d probably be the CCHA team I would be most afraid of playing in the NCAA tournament. An unfortunate corollary to Notre Dame’s hockey success is that Notre Dame fans have actually started showing up at their games, making them instantly less likable.
Monday, December 10, 2007
Weekend Recap
By far the most surprising result of the weekend was that Alaska upset top-ranked Miami 3-0 on Saturday night. Wylie Rogers had a 32 save shutout. After a rocky start, Alaska is 2-2-1 in their last five games.
Michigan State swept Ferris State and Michigan swept Bowling Green, but both Ferris and BG played the teams very tight, and look to be legitimate middle-of-the-pack teams in the CCHA.
Denver swept St. Cloud, winning 3-2 both nights. Rhett Rakhshani scored a hat trick in the final six minutes of the game to earn Saturday's win. You can view the comeback here.
Alaska-Anchorage took 3 of 4 points from Minnesota-Duluth. That brings Alaska into a tie for 9th place with St. Cloud. UMD built up a comfortable lead near the top of the WCHA, but earned just a point in each of their last two weekends, allowing the rest of the field to catch up to them.
North Dakota split for the six straight series, this time with Minnesota. The Sioux were expected to dominate the WCHA year, and instead, will head into the new year without a single sweep in the WCHA.
Nebraska-Omaha and Lake Superior tied both nights. Lake Superior and Alabama-Huntsville are the only two teams in the country without a win in conference play.
For the second straight weekend, Minnesota State took three of four points at home, despite only scoring 4 goals. Goalie Mike Zacharias allowed 2 goals on 60 shots, and the Mavericks killed off 5:04 of 5-on-3 powerplay time over the weekend without allowing a goal.
In non-conference action, Western Michigan swept Wayne State, Notre Dame swept Princeton, and Ohio State split with St. Lawrence.
Michigan State swept Ferris State and Michigan swept Bowling Green, but both Ferris and BG played the teams very tight, and look to be legitimate middle-of-the-pack teams in the CCHA.
Denver swept St. Cloud, winning 3-2 both nights. Rhett Rakhshani scored a hat trick in the final six minutes of the game to earn Saturday's win. You can view the comeback here.
Alaska-Anchorage took 3 of 4 points from Minnesota-Duluth. That brings Alaska into a tie for 9th place with St. Cloud. UMD built up a comfortable lead near the top of the WCHA, but earned just a point in each of their last two weekends, allowing the rest of the field to catch up to them.
North Dakota split for the six straight series, this time with Minnesota. The Sioux were expected to dominate the WCHA year, and instead, will head into the new year without a single sweep in the WCHA.
Nebraska-Omaha and Lake Superior tied both nights. Lake Superior and Alabama-Huntsville are the only two teams in the country without a win in conference play.
For the second straight weekend, Minnesota State took three of four points at home, despite only scoring 4 goals. Goalie Mike Zacharias allowed 2 goals on 60 shots, and the Mavericks killed off 5:04 of 5-on-3 powerplay time over the weekend without allowing a goal.
In non-conference action, Western Michigan swept Wayne State, Notre Dame swept Princeton, and Ohio State split with St. Lawrence.
Sunday, December 02, 2007
Odd Friday Night
I wasn't around to post about it, but Friday night saw some strange results. In the WCHA, three teams were leading 2-0 in their games, and all three teams did not win their game. St. Cloud lost 3-2 in regulation to Wisconsin. Minnesota lost 3-2 in overtime to Michigan Tech, and Minnesota State tied 2-2 with Minnesota-Duluth. Meanwhile, the other two WCHA games both ended with a score of 1-0.
In the CCHA, Nebraska-Omaha lost a 3-0 lead, and ended up losing 5-4 to Notre Dame. Alaska got their first win of the season with a 4-1 victory over Northern Michigan. And Ohio State managed to upset Michigan, 3-2.
In the CCHA, Nebraska-Omaha lost a 3-0 lead, and ended up losing 5-4 to Notre Dame. Alaska got their first win of the season with a 4-1 victory over Northern Michigan. And Ohio State managed to upset Michigan, 3-2.
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
HS Hockey Recap
High school hockey in Minnesota has kicked off, and there were some very good games last night.
Last night was Fox Sports North's first televised game of the week between Eden Prairie and Eagan. I'm not going to lie, I watched House instead. What? I have a life outside of you. Eden Prairie won 4-0, which isn't much of a surprise.
Bloomington Jefferson isn't the powerhouse they were through much of the 90's, but they're proving that they aren't dead yet, either. Last Saturday, they took Burnsville to overtime before falling, and last night, pulled off a small upset by beating Rosemount, who was ranked in the top 20 in Class AA. They are led by senior forward Tommy O'Donnell. The Jags could make some noise in this year's toughest section with top-ranked Edina, #4 Holy Angels, and Burnsville.
Brainerd beat Alexandria 5-4 in overtime. Alexandria's top player, goalie Matt Hemingway, made 41 stops in the loss.
St. Paul Academy beat St. Francis 4-3, despite two goals from St. Francis' Joey Benik, was was profiled in the Star-Tribune.
Faribault snuck past Northfield 1-0 in their first game without Seth Helgeson. Jacob Smuda, who is a very talented player in his own right, scored the only goal of the game.
Last night was Fox Sports North's first televised game of the week between Eden Prairie and Eagan. I'm not going to lie, I watched House instead. What? I have a life outside of you. Eden Prairie won 4-0, which isn't much of a surprise.
Bloomington Jefferson isn't the powerhouse they were through much of the 90's, but they're proving that they aren't dead yet, either. Last Saturday, they took Burnsville to overtime before falling, and last night, pulled off a small upset by beating Rosemount, who was ranked in the top 20 in Class AA. They are led by senior forward Tommy O'Donnell. The Jags could make some noise in this year's toughest section with top-ranked Edina, #4 Holy Angels, and Burnsville.
Brainerd beat Alexandria 5-4 in overtime. Alexandria's top player, goalie Matt Hemingway, made 41 stops in the loss.
St. Paul Academy beat St. Francis 4-3, despite two goals from St. Francis' Joey Benik, was was profiled in the Star-Tribune.
Faribault snuck past Northfield 1-0 in their first game without Seth Helgeson. Jacob Smuda, who is a very talented player in his own right, scored the only goal of the game.
Thursday, November 08, 2007
Thursday Hockey/Office Update
Nebraska-Omaha beat Ohio State 5-2 tonight to earn their first CCHA points. It's been a rough start for UNO in the CCHA, starting out the season with two games against #1 Miami and two games against #2 Michigan.
Omaha's Brandon Scero returned to the Maverick lineup from injury tonight and scored 2 goals an assist. Ohio State goalie Joe Palmer's struggles continued in goal. He gave up four goals in the second period before being pulled for back-up Dustin Carlson.
I liked The Office tonight. Again, they're moving away from the relationship aspect and going back to writing funny stuff. The end of the episode was great. The dynamic any time there is a scene with Michael and Jim is fabulous. They've really done a great job of slowly developing Jim's character over the past couple of seasons.
Of course the bad news is that next week's episode will be the last new episode for a while due to the writer's strike. Note to NBC: I'll scab for cheap. Note to writers: I'm just kidding. Another note to NBC: *wink*
Omaha's Brandon Scero returned to the Maverick lineup from injury tonight and scored 2 goals an assist. Ohio State goalie Joe Palmer's struggles continued in goal. He gave up four goals in the second period before being pulled for back-up Dustin Carlson.
I liked The Office tonight. Again, they're moving away from the relationship aspect and going back to writing funny stuff. The end of the episode was great. The dynamic any time there is a scene with Michael and Jim is fabulous. They've really done a great job of slowly developing Jim's character over the past couple of seasons.
Of course the bad news is that next week's episode will be the last new episode for a while due to the writer's strike. Note to NBC: I'll scab for cheap. Note to writers: I'm just kidding. Another note to NBC: *wink*
Friday, October 26, 2007
Minnesota 3 Ohio State 1
We live in a crazy, mixed-up world of cameras in phones, reality televsion, and Thursday hockey. Minnesota took on Ohio State tonight in hockey. I caught the first and third periods of the game, and watched The Office in between. Here were my thoughts.
1st period
Minnesota employed a tricky, crafty strategy of "skating behind the net" and Ohio State seemed perplexed. The first goal was a pretty bad defensive breakdown on the Buckeyes part, when a defenseman got caught chasing a guy around the net. The Buckeyes covered better on the second goal, though maybe too well, since the puck went in off a Buckeye skate. The goal was reviewed for some inexplicable reason. Pat White probably deserved an assist on that goal for forcing a turnover on the forecheck.
Ohio State's only offense of the period consisted of about 5 rushes up the ice. They skated offsides on four of them. To be fair, there's no such thing as a "blue line" in Ohio.
David Fischer absolutely lit up his own goalie. I don't think I've ever seen somebody hit their own goalie that hard.
The Office
I've kind of been disappointed with the first couple episodes this season. I thought this week's episode was a step in the right direction. They're finally letting Ed Helms sing again, which I always think is great. The Second Life stuff was pretty funny too. I just wish the show would go back to being funny office humor instead of being all about relationships.
Third period
After watching the first period, I expected to come back to a 5-0 game. Instead, each team scored in the second to make the game 3-1.
FSN is trying this new thing where people send text message questions to the FSN crew to be answered on the air. Generally, this sums up my opinion of texting, but someone asked the Wooger whether he'd rather have a player like Jay Barriball or Phil Kessel.
Wooger's response was two minutes of rambling about Phil Kessel having a foot stuck in a bucket or something. If I had Tivo, I would have saved it for Emmy committee.
At one point, I was watching Ohio State's Erick Belanger on one station, and Minnesota Wild forward Eric Belanger on another station. It was like The Twilight Zone.
Ohio State pretty much carried the play in the third period. They had a lot of decent chances, but were never able to find the puck in a scramble in front of the net. If the Buckeyes could have cut the lead to one, I think it might have been a more interesting game, but Minnesota looked like they were on cruise control after they built up the 3-0 lead, and never seemed to be in too much danger.
The late surge by Ohio State has to give them some confidence heading into tomorrow night's game though. They came out looking like they excepted a repeat of last year's route, but as they game wore on, I think they started to realize that they could play with the Gophers.
1st period
Minnesota employed a tricky, crafty strategy of "skating behind the net" and Ohio State seemed perplexed. The first goal was a pretty bad defensive breakdown on the Buckeyes part, when a defenseman got caught chasing a guy around the net. The Buckeyes covered better on the second goal, though maybe too well, since the puck went in off a Buckeye skate. The goal was reviewed for some inexplicable reason. Pat White probably deserved an assist on that goal for forcing a turnover on the forecheck.
Ohio State's only offense of the period consisted of about 5 rushes up the ice. They skated offsides on four of them. To be fair, there's no such thing as a "blue line" in Ohio.
David Fischer absolutely lit up his own goalie. I don't think I've ever seen somebody hit their own goalie that hard.
The Office
I've kind of been disappointed with the first couple episodes this season. I thought this week's episode was a step in the right direction. They're finally letting Ed Helms sing again, which I always think is great. The Second Life stuff was pretty funny too. I just wish the show would go back to being funny office humor instead of being all about relationships.
Third period
After watching the first period, I expected to come back to a 5-0 game. Instead, each team scored in the second to make the game 3-1.
FSN is trying this new thing where people send text message questions to the FSN crew to be answered on the air. Generally, this sums up my opinion of texting, but someone asked the Wooger whether he'd rather have a player like Jay Barriball or Phil Kessel.
Wooger's response was two minutes of rambling about Phil Kessel having a foot stuck in a bucket or something. If I had Tivo, I would have saved it for Emmy committee.
At one point, I was watching Ohio State's Erick Belanger on one station, and Minnesota Wild forward Eric Belanger on another station. It was like The Twilight Zone.
Ohio State pretty much carried the play in the third period. They had a lot of decent chances, but were never able to find the puck in a scramble in front of the net. If the Buckeyes could have cut the lead to one, I think it might have been a more interesting game, but Minnesota looked like they were on cruise control after they built up the 3-0 lead, and never seemed to be in too much danger.
The late surge by Ohio State has to give them some confidence heading into tomorrow night's game though. They came out looking like they excepted a repeat of last year's route, but as they game wore on, I think they started to realize that they could play with the Gophers.
Thursday, October 18, 2007
Notre Dame Beats Denver
Notre Dame hosted Denver tonight, in the first game of a two-game series. The game was moved to Thursday because Notre Dame's football team(and I use the term football team extremely loosely) has a football game to lose on Saturday.
Denver jumped out to a quick 1-0 lead off a Kyle Ostrow goal, and led 2-1 after the first period, but Notre Dame dominated the second period, outshooting Denver 9-3, and scoring twice to take the lead. Notre Dame extended their lead by a goal in the third period when freshman Ben Ryan scored on the powerplay. Denver answered back 32 seconds later, but could not get any closer.
Notre Dame goalie Jordan Pearce made 17 saves, while Denver's Peter Mannino made 14.
It looks like there is even more good news for Irish fans, as it looks like the Irish have picked up their first 1992-born commitment. The A-Train Vlog is reporting that Honeybaked forward Bryan Rust verbally committed to Notre Dame. Rust's older brother Matt is a freshman forward for the University of Michigan this season.
Update: Not that there was much doubt, but I did receive confirmation that Rust did indeed commit to Notre Dame.
Denver jumped out to a quick 1-0 lead off a Kyle Ostrow goal, and led 2-1 after the first period, but Notre Dame dominated the second period, outshooting Denver 9-3, and scoring twice to take the lead. Notre Dame extended their lead by a goal in the third period when freshman Ben Ryan scored on the powerplay. Denver answered back 32 seconds later, but could not get any closer.
Notre Dame goalie Jordan Pearce made 17 saves, while Denver's Peter Mannino made 14.
It looks like there is even more good news for Irish fans, as it looks like the Irish have picked up their first 1992-born commitment. The A-Train Vlog is reporting that Honeybaked forward Bryan Rust verbally committed to Notre Dame. Rust's older brother Matt is a freshman forward for the University of Michigan this season.
Update: Not that there was much doubt, but I did receive confirmation that Rust did indeed commit to Notre Dame.
Monday, October 15, 2007
Belated Thoughts from Icebreaker Final
Here are my thoughts from Saturday night's Icebreaker final between Michigan and Minnesota in bullet form:
-It was great to be watching college hockey again. After watching the kids all summer, it's amazing what a step up in speed and ability the college game is.
-I took some notes on Michigan's players.
-This wasn't the fastest/best Michigan/Minnesota game I've seen.It's much earlier in the season than they usually meet, but I still don't think either team was up to the quality they usually are.
-It was a very close game, and Michigan had lots of chances that fell just short, but I think Minnesota wins going away if the game was played on Olympic ice.
-Surprisingly, the game was pretty well-officiated.
-Of the 12 defenseman on the ice, there was 1 senior, 2 juniors, 3 sophomores, and 6 freshman. Minnesota's young defenseman made far fewer mistakes than Michigan's freshmen D.
-Pat White's first career goal was a pretty one, and if he continues to fire the puck like that, he'll score a lot more like it.
-Jeff Frazee was credited with having faced 46 shots, but he had a little help from the scorekeeper. A couple of those shots were dump-ins from behind the red line, and at one point in the first period, a Minnesota defenseman played a puck back to Frazee and that was credited as a shot on goal for Michigan.
-It was great to be watching college hockey again. After watching the kids all summer, it's amazing what a step up in speed and ability the college game is.
-I took some notes on Michigan's players.
-This wasn't the fastest/best Michigan/Minnesota game I've seen.It's much earlier in the season than they usually meet, but I still don't think either team was up to the quality they usually are.
-It was a very close game, and Michigan had lots of chances that fell just short, but I think Minnesota wins going away if the game was played on Olympic ice.
-Surprisingly, the game was pretty well-officiated.
-Of the 12 defenseman on the ice, there was 1 senior, 2 juniors, 3 sophomores, and 6 freshman. Minnesota's young defenseman made far fewer mistakes than Michigan's freshmen D.
-Pat White's first career goal was a pretty one, and if he continues to fire the puck like that, he'll score a lot more like it.
-Jeff Frazee was credited with having faced 46 shots, but he had a little help from the scorekeeper. A couple of those shots were dump-ins from behind the red line, and at one point in the first period, a Minnesota defenseman played a puck back to Frazee and that was credited as a shot on goal for Michigan.
Saturday, October 13, 2007
Friday Night Thoughts
Icebreaker I thought Michigan played a pretty good game in the first game. It was a much scrappier effort than I've seen out of their team the past couple years. They struggled to get the puck out of their zone for long stretches of time, but had a great defensive effort and managed to keep the amount of shots Billy Sauer faced down.
At the same time, there's absolutely no reason for a defenseman to get caught up the ice with a one goal lead in the third period, or in any close game. Michigan's defenseman remain a pretty huge question mark.
I'm glad I get to plead ignorance on the second game. I left after two periods to go eat at Cossetta's before it got too crowded, and ended up going back to the X for about the last 30 seconds of the game. I thought the officiating was fine for the first 40 minutes, and have no clue what happened in the third period. Minnesota didn't look great in the first two periods, but seemed like they were a just a little bit off in their timing. I still think they should be a very good team this year.
Lefty McFadden Wisconsin beat Notre Dame 4-1, which kind of surprised me. It was a tie game heading into the third period, when Wisconsin scored 3 goals on 8 shots. Wisconsin seems like a poor match-up for the Irish because the Badgers tend to play pretty conservatively, and don't make many mistakes, while Notre Dame is a team that loves to sit back and capitalize on mistakes.
Ohio State scored twice in the third period to win 2-1 over Mercyhurst. The Buckeyes fired 48 shots at former Maine goalie Matt Lundin.
Superior Cup Northern Michigan beat Michigan Tech 3-2, which was a bit of a surprise. I think people may have underrated Northern a little bit, and overrated Michigan Tech a little bit.
Lake Superior tied Minnesota-Duluth 2-2. Pat Inglis showed he could take over for Jeff Jakaitis, making 37 saves on the night.
Nye Frontier Classic Anchorage got their season started off with a win over Wayne State by a score of 5-2. The Warriors only had 13 shots on goal. All of UAA's goals came from freshman and sophomores.
Boston U lost to Robert Morris in the biggest upset of the night. The Terriers had a 2-0 lead in the third period before giving up 3 straight goals.
Misc.
St. Cloud scored a touchdown against Canisius. It's not every day that a team comes into St. Cloud and says, "Man, this place is a total upgrade from our campus"
Denver knocked off Maine 2-0.
Miami beat Vermont 2-1 to open up their season.
At the same time, there's absolutely no reason for a defenseman to get caught up the ice with a one goal lead in the third period, or in any close game. Michigan's defenseman remain a pretty huge question mark.
I'm glad I get to plead ignorance on the second game. I left after two periods to go eat at Cossetta's before it got too crowded, and ended up going back to the X for about the last 30 seconds of the game. I thought the officiating was fine for the first 40 minutes, and have no clue what happened in the third period. Minnesota didn't look great in the first two periods, but seemed like they were a just a little bit off in their timing. I still think they should be a very good team this year.
Lefty McFadden Wisconsin beat Notre Dame 4-1, which kind of surprised me. It was a tie game heading into the third period, when Wisconsin scored 3 goals on 8 shots. Wisconsin seems like a poor match-up for the Irish because the Badgers tend to play pretty conservatively, and don't make many mistakes, while Notre Dame is a team that loves to sit back and capitalize on mistakes.
Ohio State scored twice in the third period to win 2-1 over Mercyhurst. The Buckeyes fired 48 shots at former Maine goalie Matt Lundin.
Superior Cup Northern Michigan beat Michigan Tech 3-2, which was a bit of a surprise. I think people may have underrated Northern a little bit, and overrated Michigan Tech a little bit.
Lake Superior tied Minnesota-Duluth 2-2. Pat Inglis showed he could take over for Jeff Jakaitis, making 37 saves on the night.
Nye Frontier Classic Anchorage got their season started off with a win over Wayne State by a score of 5-2. The Warriors only had 13 shots on goal. All of UAA's goals came from freshman and sophomores.
Boston U lost to Robert Morris in the biggest upset of the night. The Terriers had a 2-0 lead in the third period before giving up 3 straight goals.
Misc.
St. Cloud scored a touchdown against Canisius. It's not every day that a team comes into St. Cloud and says, "Man, this place is a total upgrade from our campus"
Denver knocked off Maine 2-0.
Miami beat Vermont 2-1 to open up their season.
Sunday, September 09, 2007
Elite League Kicks Off
The Upper Midwest High School Elite League got kicked off this weekend. For those not familiar, it is a 9-week event that brings together the best high school players from Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wisconsin to give them some high-level competition prior to the high school hockey season. You can view the rosters for the event here.
This week's games took place at the Kohl Center in Madison, and at the St. Louis Park Rec Center in St. Louis Park, Minnesota.
Hockey in Wisconsin had a great game report on Team Wisconsin.
I went to the morning games in SLP, though I skipped the last period of the second game, since I had to run home to watch Michigan not play football. I didn't check the scout check-in list, but it seemed like there were more NHL scouts in attendance than college coaches. I'm hoping to make it back out to a couple more games, so I'll keep the comments fairly short.
In the first game, Team North took on Team Norway. The Norwegians are filling in for Shattuck-St. Mary's for the first two weeks of the season. They did a pretty decent job of providing good competition. The game had a very nice pace to it, but ultimately, Team North was a little faster and ended up winning the game.
Brainerd's Drew Olson continues to look like the best defenseman in Minnesota High School hockey this season. His Brainerd teammate Joey Frazer is always the hardest working player on the ice. Ben Hanowski also had a nice game. Duluth Denfield's Chris Stafne had one of the nicest goals of the day when he finished off a breakaway with a nice backhand to the top shelf.
The second game featured Team Great Plains against Team Southwest. Again, this game had great pace. It was probably even faster than the first. Bryce Ravdalen had a nice game for Team Great Plains, scoring twice, including a very pretty 2-on-1 goal.
Team Southwest looks like they'll do very well because they've got a ton of talent on the blueline including Chris Student, Joe Gleason, Anthony Raiola, and Jake Gardiner. Danny Mattson looked like the best forward on the team. Zach Budish added a couple goals that weren't highlight reel material, but showcased his exceptional strength. His Edina linemate Connor Gaarder played better than I've ever seen him play.
Also, Anders Lee, who transferred from St. Thomas Academy to Edina, played pretty well, especially considering the fact that he threw three touchdown passes for Edina the night before in a high school football game.
Meanwhile, the WCHA Blog was at the afternoon games, and did a great job at capturing some video of a few players.
Here's some video of Team Southwest vs. Norway and Team North vs. Team Great Plains.
This week's games took place at the Kohl Center in Madison, and at the St. Louis Park Rec Center in St. Louis Park, Minnesota.
Hockey in Wisconsin had a great game report on Team Wisconsin.
I went to the morning games in SLP, though I skipped the last period of the second game, since I had to run home to watch Michigan not play football. I didn't check the scout check-in list, but it seemed like there were more NHL scouts in attendance than college coaches. I'm hoping to make it back out to a couple more games, so I'll keep the comments fairly short.
In the first game, Team North took on Team Norway. The Norwegians are filling in for Shattuck-St. Mary's for the first two weeks of the season. They did a pretty decent job of providing good competition. The game had a very nice pace to it, but ultimately, Team North was a little faster and ended up winning the game.
Brainerd's Drew Olson continues to look like the best defenseman in Minnesota High School hockey this season. His Brainerd teammate Joey Frazer is always the hardest working player on the ice. Ben Hanowski also had a nice game. Duluth Denfield's Chris Stafne had one of the nicest goals of the day when he finished off a breakaway with a nice backhand to the top shelf.
The second game featured Team Great Plains against Team Southwest. Again, this game had great pace. It was probably even faster than the first. Bryce Ravdalen had a nice game for Team Great Plains, scoring twice, including a very pretty 2-on-1 goal.
Team Southwest looks like they'll do very well because they've got a ton of talent on the blueline including Chris Student, Joe Gleason, Anthony Raiola, and Jake Gardiner. Danny Mattson looked like the best forward on the team. Zach Budish added a couple goals that weren't highlight reel material, but showcased his exceptional strength. His Edina linemate Connor Gaarder played better than I've ever seen him play.
Also, Anders Lee, who transferred from St. Thomas Academy to Edina, played pretty well, especially considering the fact that he threw three touchdown passes for Edina the night before in a high school football game.
Meanwhile, the WCHA Blog was at the afternoon games, and did a great job at capturing some video of a few players.
Here's some video of Team Southwest vs. Norway and Team North vs. Team Great Plains.
Monday, July 16, 2007
Select 17 Camp Report
I finally finished my Select 17 Camp report.
You can read it here.
And here is the roster that was selected for the Under-18 team that will travel to Slovakia:
No. Name Ht. (cm) Wt. (kg) Birthdate S/C Hometown 2006-07 Team
GOALTENDERS (2)
1 Aaron Crandall 6-0 (183) 181 (82) 3/25/90 L Lakeville, Minn. St. Thomas Academy High School (Minn.)
30 Brady Hjelle 5-11 (180) 170 (77) 5/3/90 L International Falls, Minn. International Falls (Minn.) High School
DEFENSEMEN (7)
2 John Carlson 6-2 (188) 210 (95) 1/10/90 R Colonia, N.J. New Jersey Rockets (AJHL)
3 Matt Donovan 6-0 (183) 190 (86) 5/9/90 L Edmond, Okla. Dallas Stars (midget)
4 Jake Gardiner 6-2 (188) 170 (77) 7/4/90 L Deephaven, Minn. Minnetonka (Minn.) High School
5 Tyler Myers 6-7 (201) 210 (95) 2/1/90 R Houston, Texas Kelowna Rockets (WHL)
6 Aaron Ness 5-10 (178) 165 (75) 5/18/90 L Roseau, Minn. Roseau (Minn.) High School
7 David Warsofsky 5-10 (178) 170 (77) 5/30/90 L North Marshfield, Mass. Cushing Academy (Mass.) (prep school)
8 Chris Wideman 5-10 (178) 170 (77) 1/7/90 R St. Louis, Mo. St. Louis AAA Blues (midget)
FORWARDS (12)
9 Mike Cichy 5-11 (180) 183 (83) 7/8/90 L New Hartford, Conn. Boston Junior Bruins (EJHL)
10 Nate Dewhurst 5-9 (175) 162 (73) 4/1/90 R Johnston, Iowa Des Moines Buccaneers (USHL)
11 Mark Goggin 5-11 (180) 175 (79) 7/29/90 L Glen Ellyn, Ill. Choate Rosemary Hall (Conn.) (prep school)
12 Tim Hall 5-8 (173) 165 (75) 2/20/90 L Sewickley, Pa. Ohio Junior Blue Jackets (USHL)
14 AJ Jenks 6-2 (188) 207 (94) 6/27/90 L Wolverine Lake, Mich. Plymouth Whalers (OHL)
15 Tristan King 6-0 (183) 185 (84) 11/7/90 R Elk River, Minn. Portland Winterhawks (WHL)
16 Craig Kitto 5-10 (178) 165 (75) 3/31/90 R Ashburn, Va. Washington Junior Nationals (AJHL)
17 Danny Mattson 5-10 (178) 175 (79) 11/20/90 R Minneapolis, Minn. Academy of Holy Angels High School (Minn.)
18 Philip McRae 6-3 (191) 188 (85) 3/15/90 L Chesterfield, Mo. London Knights (OHL)
19 Jordy Murray 5-10 (178) 172 (78) 1/8/90 L Faribault, Minn. Shattuck-St. Mary’s (Minn.) (prep school)
20 Shawn Szydlowski 6-0 (183) 195 (88) 8/5/90 R St. Clair Shores, Mich. Belle Tire (Mich.) (midget)
21 Jake Youso 6-1 (185) 178 (81) 6/8/90 L International Falls, Minn. International Falls (Minn.) High School
You can read it here.
And here is the roster that was selected for the Under-18 team that will travel to Slovakia:
No. Name Ht. (cm) Wt. (kg) Birthdate S/C Hometown 2006-07 Team
GOALTENDERS (2)
1 Aaron Crandall 6-0 (183) 181 (82) 3/25/90 L Lakeville, Minn. St. Thomas Academy High School (Minn.)
30 Brady Hjelle 5-11 (180) 170 (77) 5/3/90 L International Falls, Minn. International Falls (Minn.) High School
DEFENSEMEN (7)
2 John Carlson 6-2 (188) 210 (95) 1/10/90 R Colonia, N.J. New Jersey Rockets (AJHL)
3 Matt Donovan 6-0 (183) 190 (86) 5/9/90 L Edmond, Okla. Dallas Stars (midget)
4 Jake Gardiner 6-2 (188) 170 (77) 7/4/90 L Deephaven, Minn. Minnetonka (Minn.) High School
5 Tyler Myers 6-7 (201) 210 (95) 2/1/90 R Houston, Texas Kelowna Rockets (WHL)
6 Aaron Ness 5-10 (178) 165 (75) 5/18/90 L Roseau, Minn. Roseau (Minn.) High School
7 David Warsofsky 5-10 (178) 170 (77) 5/30/90 L North Marshfield, Mass. Cushing Academy (Mass.) (prep school)
8 Chris Wideman 5-10 (178) 170 (77) 1/7/90 R St. Louis, Mo. St. Louis AAA Blues (midget)
FORWARDS (12)
9 Mike Cichy 5-11 (180) 183 (83) 7/8/90 L New Hartford, Conn. Boston Junior Bruins (EJHL)
10 Nate Dewhurst 5-9 (175) 162 (73) 4/1/90 R Johnston, Iowa Des Moines Buccaneers (USHL)
11 Mark Goggin 5-11 (180) 175 (79) 7/29/90 L Glen Ellyn, Ill. Choate Rosemary Hall (Conn.) (prep school)
12 Tim Hall 5-8 (173) 165 (75) 2/20/90 L Sewickley, Pa. Ohio Junior Blue Jackets (USHL)
14 AJ Jenks 6-2 (188) 207 (94) 6/27/90 L Wolverine Lake, Mich. Plymouth Whalers (OHL)
15 Tristan King 6-0 (183) 185 (84) 11/7/90 R Elk River, Minn. Portland Winterhawks (WHL)
16 Craig Kitto 5-10 (178) 165 (75) 3/31/90 R Ashburn, Va. Washington Junior Nationals (AJHL)
17 Danny Mattson 5-10 (178) 175 (79) 11/20/90 R Minneapolis, Minn. Academy of Holy Angels High School (Minn.)
18 Philip McRae 6-3 (191) 188 (85) 3/15/90 L Chesterfield, Mo. London Knights (OHL)
19 Jordy Murray 5-10 (178) 172 (78) 1/8/90 L Faribault, Minn. Shattuck-St. Mary’s (Minn.) (prep school)
20 Shawn Szydlowski 6-0 (183) 195 (88) 8/5/90 R St. Clair Shores, Mich. Belle Tire (Mich.) (midget)
21 Jake Youso 6-1 (185) 178 (81) 6/8/90 L International Falls, Minn. International Falls (Minn.) High School
Saturday, March 17, 2007
Wheeler!
Blake Wheeler capped off an amazing weekend by scoring a crazy goal in overtime to win the Final Five for the Gophers. I'll probably YouTube the video when it gets posted.
Minnesota and North Dakota was probably one of the best games I've seen all year. It was fast and hard-hitting. It would have been great had this game been a national title game. As it stands, it looks like these two teams could possibly meet on the first weekend of the NCAA tournament, which is probably shame.
Notre Dame was able to capture their first CCHA playoff title by beating Michigan 2-1. Billy Sauer made a lot of big saves for Michigan, but then gave up what was reportedly a pretty soft goal on the game-winner. Generally I'm not a huge fan of teams that don't have a lot of experience going into the NCAA tourney(technically Notre Dame's seniors have played in the tourney), but Notre Dame looks to be rolling right now.
Elsewhere, Clarkson rallied from a 2-0 deficit to win their league title over Quinnipiac. Miami will be sending the Golden Knights an extra large Christmas ham.
And Air Force is going to the tournament, as they beat Army 6-1. Congratulations to the Falcons.
So we know the teams that will be in the tournament. But we won't really know how it all shakes out until tomorrow at 2:30 when the brackets are officially revealed.
Minnesota and North Dakota was probably one of the best games I've seen all year. It was fast and hard-hitting. It would have been great had this game been a national title game. As it stands, it looks like these two teams could possibly meet on the first weekend of the NCAA tournament, which is probably shame.
Notre Dame was able to capture their first CCHA playoff title by beating Michigan 2-1. Billy Sauer made a lot of big saves for Michigan, but then gave up what was reportedly a pretty soft goal on the game-winner. Generally I'm not a huge fan of teams that don't have a lot of experience going into the NCAA tourney(technically Notre Dame's seniors have played in the tourney), but Notre Dame looks to be rolling right now.
Elsewhere, Clarkson rallied from a 2-0 deficit to win their league title over Quinnipiac. Miami will be sending the Golden Knights an extra large Christmas ham.
And Air Force is going to the tournament, as they beat Army 6-1. Congratulations to the Falcons.
So we know the teams that will be in the tournament. But we won't really know how it all shakes out until tomorrow at 2:30 when the brackets are officially revealed.
Thursday, March 15, 2007
Wisconsin Beats Michigan Tech
I almost made it through 2 minutes of this game. Blake Geoffrion scored at 1:45, at which point I turned the TV off because I figured Wisconsin's lead was insurmountable. Turns out, I was right. Wisconsin won 4-0 to advance to the WCHA semifinals tomorrow against Minnesota. They get a little break in playing the Gophers, because it means they won't have to play in the early game tomorrow.
This probably ends Michigan Tech's season, but it was a great season for the Huskies. I think you have to give Jamie Russell credit for getting the most out of what he had on his team. Tech averaged less than a goal per game in the WCHA playoffs, yet still made their first Final Five appearance in years. With Michael Lee-Teslak and Robbie Nolan back in goal, and a desperately needed infusion of offensive talent coming in next season, the worst looks to be over for Michigan Tech.
This probably ends Michigan Tech's season, but it was a great season for the Huskies. I think you have to give Jamie Russell credit for getting the most out of what he had on his team. Tech averaged less than a goal per game in the WCHA playoffs, yet still made their first Final Five appearance in years. With Michael Lee-Teslak and Robbie Nolan back in goal, and a desperately needed infusion of offensive talent coming in next season, the worst looks to be over for Michigan Tech.
Monday, March 12, 2007
Playoffs!?
Both league playoffs were in full-swing last weekend.
All four CCHA series were decided in two games last weekend, with Lake Superior's sweep of Miami being the only upset. That puts Miami in dangerous territory for the NCAA tournament, though they got a little bit of help from out West.
That means that in Detroit, Notre Dame will get Lake Superior and Michigan and Michigan State will meet in the other semifinal.
In the WCHA, Alaska-Anchorage stretched Minnesota to the distance. The Seawolves ran out of gas in the third period of Sunday's game though, and Minnesota was able to score two third period goals to win. Minnesota had won 25 straight first round playoff games before losing on Saturday.
St. Cloud and Duluth was a great series. Duluth upset the Huskies on Friday, then St. Cloud won on Saturday. Sunday's game went to the third overtime, the 5th longest game in NCAA history, before Andreas Nodl scored to send the Huskies to St. Paul.
North Dakota swept Minnesota State. The Sioux continue to look like one of the hottest teams in the country.
Wisconsin swept Denver in Denver. There's a lot of disappointed Denver fans, since Denver, who is hosting an NCAA regional, won't be in this year's tournament.
Michigan Tech scored three goals in three games, but it was good enough to beat Colorado College in Colorado Springs.
The Thursday game of the Final Five will be Wisconsin vs. Michigan Tech. The winner will take on Minnesota, while St. Cloud and North Dakota will play in the other semifinal.
All four CCHA series were decided in two games last weekend, with Lake Superior's sweep of Miami being the only upset. That puts Miami in dangerous territory for the NCAA tournament, though they got a little bit of help from out West.
That means that in Detroit, Notre Dame will get Lake Superior and Michigan and Michigan State will meet in the other semifinal.
In the WCHA, Alaska-Anchorage stretched Minnesota to the distance. The Seawolves ran out of gas in the third period of Sunday's game though, and Minnesota was able to score two third period goals to win. Minnesota had won 25 straight first round playoff games before losing on Saturday.
St. Cloud and Duluth was a great series. Duluth upset the Huskies on Friday, then St. Cloud won on Saturday. Sunday's game went to the third overtime, the 5th longest game in NCAA history, before Andreas Nodl scored to send the Huskies to St. Paul.
North Dakota swept Minnesota State. The Sioux continue to look like one of the hottest teams in the country.
Wisconsin swept Denver in Denver. There's a lot of disappointed Denver fans, since Denver, who is hosting an NCAA regional, won't be in this year's tournament.
Michigan Tech scored three goals in three games, but it was good enough to beat Colorado College in Colorado Springs.
The Thursday game of the Final Five will be Wisconsin vs. Michigan Tech. The winner will take on Minnesota, while St. Cloud and North Dakota will play in the other semifinal.
Friday, March 09, 2007
MN HS Tournament: Day 3
I talk about some potential future college players.
Friday's Results:
Duluth Marshall 3 St. Thomas Academy 2 (2OT)
Aaron Crandall played a very nice game to keep St. Thomas in the game, but Duluth Marshall defenseman Dano Jacques scored three times on slap shots from the point to move the Toppers into the final.
(NOTE: For those not familiar with the overtime format, the first overtime is only 8 minutes long, and played without resurfacing the ice. If no winner is decided, they resurface the ice and play a full period until a winner is decided.)
Hermantown 4 Warroad 3
Warroad jumped out to a 2-0 lead with two goals from Dane Shaugabay, but the Comeback Kids from Hermantown were able to erase the deficit, taking the lead in the third period and hanging on for the win. Drew Leblanc had a goal and an assist, giving him seven points in the tournament.
Roseau 3 Rochester Century 1
Century's Cinderella story comes to a close. They got off to a slow start, letting Roseau build a 2-0 lead in the first period, and were unable to come back.
Grand Rapids 4 Burnsville 3 (OT)
This was a crazy game. Rapids built a 3-0 lead, and looked in control of the game, but Burnsville scored three times in the last 3 minutes, including an extra attacker goal to send the game to overtime. The Thunderhawks were able to recover, however, and win the game in overtime.
That sets up two great championship games tomorrow. Hermantown and Duluth Marshall tied earlier this season, and they'll settle it tomorrow in the Class A title. Marshall looks like the stronger team right now, and looks to be playing a little better, but this has been the year of the public school, so I'll choose Hermantown to win.
In the Class AA final, it's a classic match-up between two historic programs. Roseau is representing the northwest part of the state, while Grand Rapids represents the Iron Range(depending on who you ask). Roseau looks like the safe pick, but Pat White and his teammates look like they are on a mission right now, so I don't think I can pick against them. One thing to note is that the Twin Cities metro area is not represented at all in these championship games. It should be a great day of hockey.
Friday's Results:
Duluth Marshall 3 St. Thomas Academy 2 (2OT)
Aaron Crandall played a very nice game to keep St. Thomas in the game, but Duluth Marshall defenseman Dano Jacques scored three times on slap shots from the point to move the Toppers into the final.
(NOTE: For those not familiar with the overtime format, the first overtime is only 8 minutes long, and played without resurfacing the ice. If no winner is decided, they resurface the ice and play a full period until a winner is decided.)
Hermantown 4 Warroad 3
Warroad jumped out to a 2-0 lead with two goals from Dane Shaugabay, but the Comeback Kids from Hermantown were able to erase the deficit, taking the lead in the third period and hanging on for the win. Drew Leblanc had a goal and an assist, giving him seven points in the tournament.
Roseau 3 Rochester Century 1
Century's Cinderella story comes to a close. They got off to a slow start, letting Roseau build a 2-0 lead in the first period, and were unable to come back.
Grand Rapids 4 Burnsville 3 (OT)
This was a crazy game. Rapids built a 3-0 lead, and looked in control of the game, but Burnsville scored three times in the last 3 minutes, including an extra attacker goal to send the game to overtime. The Thunderhawks were able to recover, however, and win the game in overtime.
That sets up two great championship games tomorrow. Hermantown and Duluth Marshall tied earlier this season, and they'll settle it tomorrow in the Class A title. Marshall looks like the stronger team right now, and looks to be playing a little better, but this has been the year of the public school, so I'll choose Hermantown to win.
In the Class AA final, it's a classic match-up between two historic programs. Roseau is representing the northwest part of the state, while Grand Rapids represents the Iron Range(depending on who you ask). Roseau looks like the safe pick, but Pat White and his teammates look like they are on a mission right now, so I don't think I can pick against them. One thing to note is that the Twin Cities metro area is not represented at all in these championship games. It should be a great day of hockey.
Saturday, March 03, 2007
Woodbury Upsets Cretin
Cretin-Derham Hall, the defending champions in Class AA, will not be returning to the XCel Center to defend their title.
In the second major upset of the day, Woodbury High School beat Cretin in overtime to advance to the state tournament.
Another top-seeded team also fell today when Grand Rapids beat Cloquet 3-1 to advance out of section 7AA.
In the second major upset of the day, Woodbury High School beat Cretin in overtime to advance to the state tournament.
Another top-seeded team also fell today when Grand Rapids beat Cloquet 3-1 to advance out of section 7AA.
Friday Night Recap
The snow in the Midwest ended up cancelling most of the USHL action last night, but all the college hockey games were able to be played.
The CCHA playoffs got started, in spectacular fashion, as three of the four games were decided to overtime.
Alaska pulled off an upset of Western Michigan when Lucas Burnett scored in overtime. The Broncos had a 2-0 lead with three minutes, before Ryan Muspratt scored shorthanded and Darcy Campbell scored even strength to send the game to overtime. Alaska head coach Tavis MacMillan had to miss the game, as he was stuck in Chicago due to the weather.
Terrible driving conditions in Iowa delayed Bowling Green's arrival in Omaha significantly. The Falcons eventually made it Omaha, ate a quick meal, then dressed and hit the ice for the game. The Falcons jumped out to an early 1-0 lead, but the Mavericks were able to win in overtime.
In the third overtime game, Ferris State's Mark Bomersback finished off a hat trick in overtime to give Ferris the win. The Bulldogs dominated last night's OT.
Ohio State won the fourth CCHA playoff game in pretty convincing fashion over Northern Michigan.
Minnesota, as mentioned earlier, clinched the MacNaughton Cup, by way of their win, and also by way of St. Cloud tying North Dakota last night.
Wisconsin moved into 6th place with a win over Duluth, but their home ice hopes were hurt by Colorado College beating Denver.
The CCHA playoffs got started, in spectacular fashion, as three of the four games were decided to overtime.
Alaska pulled off an upset of Western Michigan when Lucas Burnett scored in overtime. The Broncos had a 2-0 lead with three minutes, before Ryan Muspratt scored shorthanded and Darcy Campbell scored even strength to send the game to overtime. Alaska head coach Tavis MacMillan had to miss the game, as he was stuck in Chicago due to the weather.
Terrible driving conditions in Iowa delayed Bowling Green's arrival in Omaha significantly. The Falcons eventually made it Omaha, ate a quick meal, then dressed and hit the ice for the game. The Falcons jumped out to an early 1-0 lead, but the Mavericks were able to win in overtime.
In the third overtime game, Ferris State's Mark Bomersback finished off a hat trick in overtime to give Ferris the win. The Bulldogs dominated last night's OT.
Ohio State won the fourth CCHA playoff game in pretty convincing fashion over Northern Michigan.
Minnesota, as mentioned earlier, clinched the MacNaughton Cup, by way of their win, and also by way of St. Cloud tying North Dakota last night.
Wisconsin moved into 6th place with a win over Duluth, but their home ice hopes were hurt by Colorado College beating Denver.
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