Referees: A Treatise for WCHA Fans

David Hume: Author of THE seminal work in Philosophy called "A Treatise of Human Nature"

Preface:

They is nary a sporting competition amongst humans that doesn't require intervention and/or adjudication by a third disinterested party.  In my experience, I have found that disinterested is truly a word which can be rarely applied in that regard. At some level, whether it be conscious or unconscious referees and judges have preferences that sometimes manifest themselves and play a factor in the contesting and occasionally the outcome of a sporting contest.

A scientific study showed that judges in the Olympics showed a preference for athletes in red uniforms.  Another study showed that referees in the professional soccer games added substantially more time for home teams when the home team was behind.

Administrators of sporting leagues and rule makers have long understood this.  A good set of rules tries to eliminate the subjective judgment of humans.  But such a thing is difficult to achieve.  I can think of only one sporting contest that comes close to doing so; racing.  Whether it is a foot race, downhill skiing, swimming, bicycling or some sort of mechanized contest the clock rules the day and judges/referees are almost never required.  Such is not the case though for our beloved hockey.  There is so much adjudication required that currently four officials patrol the ice in an attempt to keep the contest fair.

Assertions:

1.  I submit that the number of officials in use can actually increase the possibility of subjective adjudication and decrease basic fairness.

2.  I submit that geographic diversity and/or location decreases fairness in making calls.

3.  I submit that referees are influenced by personal relationships which causes a decrease in basic fairness.

4.  I submit that the discussion of refereeing performance is an ongoing and valid topic for discussion and that summary dismissal of same is akin to the cliched Ostrich with it's head buried in the sand.

I'm not a scientist and have no data-set, so unfortunately I'm going to have to make my case here with only anecdotal evidence.  And frankly, besides the two study's I linked above there isn't much available on the subject that isn't anecdotal.  Be that as it may, I think I have a strong case or I wouldn't be writing this freaking long treatise.

Assertion #1:

Part of the allure of being a policeman is that when a situation arises which needs policing the policeman is in charge.  It's a control thing.  We all like to exert control whenever or wherever we are able in our lives.  Referees are the ice-policemen.  What they say goes.  Psychologists and Sociologists have a clear and long history of defining a wide-range of actions of which people assigned control of other people will engage.  The most famous perhaps being this Stanford study.  Yet the issue of control is more complex when that control is shared equally.

For the case of this discussion, who's in control?  Referee "A" or referee "B"?  By rule neither is.  Yet isn't it human nature for a dominant personality to override a submissive one?  As a person who seeks contol wouldn't referee "A" when confronted with witnessing crappy judgement by referee "B" be inclined to "even it up"?  It is already a widely held belief by many fans (and statistics tend to confirm) that WCHA referees have always attempted to "even it up".  Two referees increases this practice.  If such a tendency exists in only one of the two referees then he is likely to exert that control.

It's human nature.

Assertion #2:

Imagine yourself as a referee.  It's not the greatest paying gig in the world.  The last quote I had regarding pay was that WCHA referees make $200 per game.  If one referees 8 games a month then one's max salary is $1600 before taxes.  What would a treatise be without some math eh?

The WCHA has two geographic divisions (of a sort).  Minnesota, St. Cloud, Mankato, North Dakota, Minnesota-Duluth are all located within a close driving radius.  Wisconsin is only slightly further on average.  Those six schools comprise what I'd call the core geographic area of the WCHA.  Houghton, Denver, Colorado Springs and Anchorage are the outlying geographic cities.

Much to our surprise referees actually have families and friends.  I know it's hard to believe.  Many if not all, also probably have day jobs which require their presence during the typical M-F workweek.  So how much are you going to like getting assigned Anchrorage as your weekend gig on the Tuesday before?  Man that would suck.  If I lived in Bemidji, then everytime I got the Anchorage "draw" I'd be bummed.  A weekend (Friday, Saturday and Sunday) removed from family and friends on short notice?  Suckage.

Do you think referee "A" is really going to be in the best mood when he hits the ice for the Friday night game?  Most likely, the poor bugger just wants to get it over with and get back home.  Being stuck in Houghton instead of back home in Edina?  Huffing and puffing at 6,000ft in Colorado Springs instead of relaxing in the recliner after the short drive from St. Cloud back to your house in Wayzata?

Okay ... so maybe referees typically don't live in old-money Edina or new-money Wayzata.  My point remains.

Assertion #3:

In the WCHA referees are assigned various locales throughout the season.  It appears that the league office attempts to spread the assignments out equitably so as to ensure one referee or another does not end up spending too much time in one city or another.  It is generally a good policy that I tend to believe is effective.

However, due to the geographic clustering of a majority of WCHA schools a problem exists which is unanticipated and for which no solution has been attempted.  Referees and fans interact regularly.  Some referees and some fans are close friends.  It wouldn't perhaps be good form for me to detail specific instances of which I'm aware.  If a serious demand were made that I had to reveal specifics, I certainly could do so.

So instead, I'll describe a semi-fictional anecdote to make my point.  Fans of team "A", team "B" and team "C" often travel amongst the various close venues that comprise the center of the WCHA geographically.  They have done so for years.  Over that time they have come to know referees "A", "B", "C" and "D" in social settings during typical post game events ... i.e ... they have beers with the refs after the games.

This is an unacceptable situation and should be quashed immediately by the WCHA league office. I'm not trying to be the guy that says referees aren't people and shouldn't be allowed to socialize after their work is done.  They should be ... it's just that they shouldn't be allowed to associate with these traveling and other fans.  It is a disgrace and a black eye on the league.  Don't think for a minute that my semi-fictional anecdote isn't fact based.

It happens much more frequently than the average college hockey fan might think.  Fans typically love to engage in activities that make them feel closer to the game.  Having a referee as a drinking buddy is something that such fans cannot keep to themselves. These off-ice relationships cast a serious question as to objectivity on the ice.  Just an appearance of impropriety can in and of itself cast a negative light.

The semi-fictional description above does happen.  There are other "relationships" that exist between referees and fans that could also raise suspicion.  I'll not bother to make up semi-fictional examples for them but let's just say they are of a romantic nature.  Yep ... referees get horny and there ARE accommodating fans.

Assertion #4:

There are myriad aspects that make up the entirety of a hockey game.  The home teams performance, the oppositions performance, decisions of the coaches and environment are all considered valid for discussion in any post-game analysis.  Some examples:

"The ice was soft and favored Team "A" because they can't skate."
"The home team is supremely talented and could not be beaten tonight."
"The opposition team reached down and found more desire to win."
"Coach "A" shouldn't have used Player "B" in that situation."
"Coach "B" doesn't enforce disclipline on his team and they play like a bunch of hacks because of it."

These aspects of the sport (and others) are all regularly used and examined when analyzing the results of a hockey game.  They are all readily accepted topics by analysts and their readers/listeners.  However, virtually any mention of the quality of the officiating results in the initiator of such discussion as being labeled a "whiner".  This is utter garbage.

Refereeing is just as valid an aspect of the game as any other.  Assertions that such a thing is "whining" is a denial of the fact that decisions referees make are integral to the contest.  Without the decisions referees are there to make, the contest would be a free for all nightmarish mess.  Every sport needs adjudication to be what it is.  Therefore, it logically follows that discussions of the referees performance are entirely and completely valid.  Attempts to suppress such conversation by applying the "whiner" label are ipso facto antithetical to communication and the analysis of the contest.  Persons attempting to label another in such a manner should be ignored, shunned and dismissed summarily.

Solutions:

I'm never just about raising issues and walking away.  Criticism is nothing without some sort of constructive attempt to suggest solutions.  You may or may not accept my above assertions and anecdotal evidence as proof of a problem.  If you agree with any part of what I've said then perhaps you'll find these suggested solutions acceptable.  If you don't then ... you know where the comments section is ... right?

#1.  Return to the single referee system with two assistants.  That system ensures only one person is in charge.  Enable the assistants to call infractions through the use of a radio headset.  This ensures that the referee can exert his own judgement as well.  Too many cooks spoil the broth.


#2.  Assign referees to games prior to the season.  This will ensure that no hard feelings about getting the "draw" to a less desirable geographic WCHA rink are in play.  If one knows he's heading to Hougton in January or Anchorage in February before the season then he has ample time to adjust to that undesirable assignment.


#3.  Have every WCHA referee sign a pledge of non-association with fans of any team.  If a referee doesn't like doing so then he treasures those friendships more than his job.  Other referees can easily be found that would sign the pledge.


#4.  Fans accused of "whining" during post game discussions should use the following statement as a retort to those ridiculous comments; "Refereeing is a integral aspect of the game, your attempt to dismiss the discussion of that integral aspect of our beloved sport displays your shallow understanding of the sport.  You are in violation of Dunlop's Law which states that such dismissive attitudes are akin to Godwin's Law."

Summary:

I don't like referees, I believe that is the "proper" attitude for a sports fan.  Yet I acknowledge their humanity; my animus is not personally based but instead a reflection of the fan/sport dynamic which I call "fandom".  I believe like every other human referees are susceptible to bias, mood and flaws in judgment.  I don't believe that every problem with refereeing is addressed by this treatise.  But, it is a start of a kind and I believe needed to be said.

These issues are indeed products of my perceptions as a WCHA fan and specifically the University of Alaska Anchorage hockey team.  As with any subject there are variable levels of these problems across the spectrum of referees.  I encourage the fans of the WCHA to actively lobby WCHA Supervisor of Officials Greg Sheppard and WCHA Commissioner Bruce McLeod whether their views are similar or dissimilar to what I've posted here.  Their contact information can be found at this webpage.

Postscript:

If you actually read all that then you deserve some visual stimulation as a reward.  Here it is.  Click on it for the full sized version.  Get an eyeful now because I'm running out of these.

Not David Hume: Didn't write anything important.  Doesn't need to.

Sunday Potpourri: Updates Edition

The first thing to talk about today is the hip-check that Kane Lafranchise put on Patrick Wiercioch.  The idiot zebras we had decided it was a penalty.  That was their first mistake.  Their 2nd was to initially hand out (as announced at the rink) a DQ.  There is ONE source to trust with regard to statistics in NCAA college hockey games.  That source is the official boxscore.  This isn't the boxscore from a newspaper nor is it the boxscore from an SID at a school.

Those two sources can contain mistakes for one reason.  WCHA referees (and I imagine all other leagues as well) are allowed to adjust their scoresheets prior to signing and submitting them.  Newspapers and SID's want to get their stories out as quickly as possible.  So it's understandable that from time to time they'll have discrepancies versus the official boxscore. So what does the official boxscore show about the Lafranchise/Wiercioch incident?  It shows that Kane was called for a 5 minute major for "Clipping" and a 10 minute game misconduct.

Kane will NOT be missing the next game.  There has to be a DQ for that to happen.  There was no DQ.  The likely explanation (and there is lots of precedent for this) that the referees reviewed video of the event after the game was over.  They adjusted their initial call.  It happens all the time in the WCHA.  You will never see them take a penalty completely off the board.  They have to defend their initial call on some level.  So even if they thought it was a completely clean hip-check after reviewing it (and that's likely the case) they couldn't take it off the board.  And since they'd sent Kane off they had to defend that.  But they did so by going with the smallest misconduct available.  The official boxscore reflects that.

Kane did not foul Wiercioch.  It's that plain and simple.  Assertions made otherwise come from people who did not witness the event.  Wiercioch played effectively after the event.  No doubt the hit stunned him somewhat initially.  Getting flipped end-over-end will do that to you.  But his knee WAS NOT INJURED as it simply wasn't involved; any inury would have been evident in his skating.

I watched closely anticipating all this sort of hoohaw.  He was not injured.  He was ready and willing to play immediately after the referees sorted out what they were calling.  The referees however did not allow him to making him take a seat on the bench.  When the trainer comes out to attend to you ... you have to go to the bench before playing again.  In any case, the next shift change saw Wiercioch hop over the boards nimbly and play a large portion of the 5 minute power play.

Any assertions made otherwise you may or may not see from George Gwozdecky are  P R O P A G A N D A .  DU has a bye week.  Gwoz may or may not choose to "play this up" by claiming (as he did post-game) that Wiercioch knee was involved.  There's little to no risk for Gwoz in doing so.  He knows Wiercioch will be ready for their next series against UND in two weeks.  But why let the UND folks know that.   Coaches in this league love to play fast and loose with injury reports when it suits them.  Gwoz is the master manipulator by which all others are measured.

________________________

Let's take a brief (it was going to be brief .. I swear it was) look at some of the performances of some future Seawolves.  Matt Bailey with the USHL's Sioux Falls Stampede is pretty much tearing it up.  He currently is #3 on the league scorers table with 7 goals and 10 assists in 11 games.  Of the league leading scorers with more than 25 shots this season he has .280 shot percentage.  That's (in 90's parlance) "hella good" folks.  He is also has an overall +9 for plus/minus rating.  Matt will be joining the Seawolves next season.  Not sure why he was snubbed for the Canadian Jr. A Challenge but perhaps just playing in the U.S. makes him ineligible?

Sam Mellor with the Trail Smokeaters in the BCHL is far and away the best 16 year old (he turns 17 next week) in that league (maybe in all Junior A hockey).  Amongst all rookies (17, 18 and 19 year olds) he is #4 in scoring and he is #35 overall in the league with 10 goals and 11 assists in 24 games.  Those are damned impressive numbers.  I sure don't want to give anyone any sort of ideas here but I can't help but think WHL managers will be noticing him.  No panic here but there is likely to be some pressure for him to take the Major Junior route versus coming to UAA.  The one thing that may be in UAA's favor is if they can bring him here next season instead of waiting another year.  Dion Knelsen enrolled at UAF as a 17 year old.  I hope Mellor's schoolwork would allow him to do the same.  If not, then unless he and his parents are wedded to the idea that a college education is valuable ... well ... I hate to think it.  I'm sure the UAA staff is "on it like Donkey Kong".  At least I hope they are.

Wes McLeod spent the last week with the Canada West Jr. A Challenge team.  In Friday night's 9-1 semi-final victory for Canada West, he got a record 4 assists in the game.  Canada West lost the gold medal game today to the U.S. 2-1.  Wes picked up his fifth assist in the 5 games on the lone Canada West goal.  Following the game he was named to the tournament All-Star team (Connor Jones, Cody Kunyk, Wes McLeod, Sean Bonar, Shane Berschbach and Mac Bennett).  So far in the BCHL season Wes the 5th leading scorer amongst defensemen with 5 goals and 13 assists in 18 games which is good enough for 3rd overall in scoring on the Prince George squad.

Over in the AJHL future UAA stud goaltender Rob Gunderson is currently 3rd in wins on the league table.  He has been the winning netminder for 12 of the Brooks Bandits 13 wins.  He has only 4 losses so far this season with one shutout.  His save percentage is a very nice .921.  Brooks is currently sitting at 28 points for 2nd place in the somewhat more competitive South Division.

Staying in the AJHL but moving up the road to Spruce Grove; Scott Allen is tied for 2nd in number of goals with 15 and is 17th overall in points with his additional 11 assists.  Spruce Grove is the clear #1 team in the AJHL so far with 43 points in the North Division.  Scott's teammate and fellow UAA recruit, Brett Cameron has been inactive since October 17th after suffering a concussion.

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That's it for today.  Unless there's some hot breaking news, expect the next post on Wednesday.  This coming weekend is the most important of the season.  I say that almost every week and almost every week it's the truth.  Wisconsin has 5 league points.  UAA has 4.  They're in 7th and UAA is in 8th.  They only managed a split at home versus Minnesota.  UAA only managed a split at home versus DU.  I think it's a good matchup and should turn out to be a couple of very competitive games.

Seawolves Dominate The Pioneers 7-3

The difference between last night and tonight (aside from the score)?  The Seawolves perservered through some headshakingingly ridiculous penalty calls and figured out a way to win.  Several UAA players were outstanding all night and rate an early mention here for their play.

Sean Wiles had a monster weekend.  He was active and effective and dangerous on Friday but tonight he owned.  He was unstoppable.  No doubt about it in my mind ... he was the player of the game.  Somebody better get him a beer.  Two somebody's ought to get him a beer.  I haven't looked at other weekend results closely but Wiles sure looks to be a good WCHA Offensive Player of the Week candidate with his three really sweet goals on both nights.  I really see some burgeoning confidence in him.  This weekend's performance is hopefully the beginning of a "breakout" year for him.

Nick Haddad put together two great nights of play this weekend.  He was simply awesome on the multitude of PK's that UAA faced all weekend.  He was an ongoing scoring threat skating his regular shifts as well.  I think he played two of the best back-to-back games of his career.  It's amazing that he didn't get his name onto any of the 9 UAA weekend scorelines.  He deserved some points for his efforts.

Mickey Spencer played the best two games of his young career.  His hustle and solid work led to Sean Wiles 1st goal though he didn't pick up an assist for it.  He also sent Wiercioch into the DU bench with a check in the first period.  He was active all over the ice playing well defensively and offensively.  He's really come on strong.  It's good to see.

There were two great hits in the game (both the best of the season so far).  Chris Crowell blasted Paul Phillips out of his skates (Kurt Haider said, "He blew him up") on the forecheck late in the 2nd.  From my angle it looked like one of those special effects in the movies where some poor bastard takes a shotgun blast to the chest and gets yanked flying backwards by wires.  It was a classic big time hit.  The second was the beautifully timed hip-check from Kane Lafranchise on Patrick Wiercioch which sent the Ottawa draft pick on an end-over-end flip.  It was ridiculously and incorrectly called a "clipping" infraction.  Clipping?  Nope ... (whatever that is).  Just a well executed hip-check and nothing else.

Bryce Christianson was sharp in the net.  I don't think he had to come up with as many big saves as Jonny O on Friday but obviously the offensive support of 7 goals makes a difference.

Referees Justin "the clown" Brown (#5) and Brett "make up for the other idiot zebra" Kloslowski (#31) were maddeningly bad all weekend.  Phantom calls, bad interpretations and an overall apparent desire to insert themselves into the game seemed to be some sort of trio-mantra.  Pitiful refereeing.  Shyiak noted immediately after the game how it seemed to take forever everytime these two buffoons (all my words here) had to figure out any discrepancies.  He correctly pointed out that Wiercioch was ready to go on the next shift after the "clipping" call on what Dave also correctly pointed out was a clean hip-check.  I'd say that Wiercioch "coaxed" the 5 minute major by his immobility act after the check.

Am I saying he was faking?  Yep.  How can I say something so outrageous?  Well ... before play resumed ... Weircioch was lined up with the the rest of DU's power play.  He was ready to go without missing a beat.  The referee showed him the way to the bench for being so cheeky as to think he could just keep playing after his three minute rest.  When play restarted, Weircioch was back on the ice within 40 seconds of the start of the power play.

The Seawolves though managed to find the necessary character to overcome it all.  Everyone deserves a pat on the back for their efforts.  I thought Nils Backstrom and Trevor Hunt were solid all weekend.  Jared Tuton was more noticable this weekend.  His play so far this year has been "quiet-steady" but tonight in particular he made more noise.  Luka Vidmar had his two best games of the season after missing the last five with a groin pull.  He looked more focused and was hungry offensively.   Lee Baldwin is no longer a rookie.  He didn't take hardly any time to adapt and is a clear asset on the blueline.  His sweet one-timer in the 3rd put the game out of reach.  He had another solid weekend picking up that goal and two assists tonight.

I'm not sure whether to lump Curtis Leinweber in with the defensive kudos or to include him in the comments about forwards.  In either case, he remains one of my favorite UAA players.  He's quick and dynamic and I always love a guy like that. He showed great eye/hand coordination knocking in his goal off the shaft of his stick.  Daniel Naslund picked up his first goal of the year on a real nice tip from a smart Vidmar shot.  I know I was harsh about Naslund's skating last weekend so I'm glad he was more effective this weekend and made me look bad for dogging him.  His size is a definite asset and he does have really sweet hands.

Craig Parkinson and Alex Gellert were both solid.  Chris Crowell (like Lee Baldwin) shouldn't have to carry the rookie tag anymore either; his monster check I mentioned earlier was highlight reel stuff, I'll make sure and nab it when GCI archives these games.  Josh Lunden scored the last goal of the night on a superb individual effort.  Doncha think Tommy Grant can really turn on the jets ... eh?  Both of those guys will score more often than they did this weekend.  With them not lighting it up though, it's even more satisfying to see the Seawolves rack up a 7 spot on the #2 team in the country.  That kind of secondary scoring is exactly what is going to be needed all year long.

And oh yeah ... Tyler Ruegsegger is the biggest crybaby, worst sport in the WCHA.  He really ought to be sanctioned for his two attempted slashes after the game ended.

Here's the boxscore.

Denver Escapes 3-2 ... Just Barely

My first thoughts tonight are that but for a couple of mistakes the Seawolves would have won the game instead of taking a tough loss.  The usual answer to such a statement is that good teams find a way to win.  I don't think there's any point in harshly reviewing the two mistakes that cost the Seawolves a W.  The Pios made a couple of mistakes of their own.  They cashed in on one of our  few big mistakes and we gifted them a flukey one. 

Part of being such a homer though is that you walk away from a game like this tonight and you can't think anything but it was one that got away.  I thought it was a good performance by the Seawolves.  I thought they got the better of the play throughout most of the night.  There was absolutely none of the bullshit predicted "skating around" the Seawolves instead it was clear that UAA was every bit DU's equal in all three zones.  Both goaltenders made big saves to keep their respective teams in the game.

Lots of Seawolf forwards had good clean opportunities.  Everybody in the rink thought Nick Haddad had scored on his breakaway after coming out of the box but unfortunately he hit the post.  Sean Wiles scored a pretty goal and got stoned on a great second save in the third.  Defensive play in the zone was mostly good.  The PK did well all night long but was definitely called on too often.  By my count there were three absolutely ridiculous calls against UAA.  But when doesn't that happen?  As someone in my section correctly pointed out the "premier" teams in every sport generally get the breaks when otherwise all things would be equal.  But that becomes a tired refrain after a while.

The truth though is that a bounce here or there and the outcome would have been different.  It really was a game of inches (or more accurately an inch) tonight.  Two posts and one brutal clearing attempt were the difference.  Overcoming an own goal in an otherwise evenly played game isn't an easy thing to accomplish.  Credit to the guys for never giving up.  There was another decent team on the ice tonight.  But don't you wish just once that an opposition defender would pass it to us once?  Just once.

I want to say that Curtis Leinweber shouldn't feel bad.  I can imagine that he regrets the clearing attempt that hit Jonny O in the back.  I'm sure he's second guessing himself and thinking ... "If I'd just held that puck ..." but it is what it is.  The team had enough opportunities throughout the game to erase that unfortunate error.  In the end, they couldn't finish often enough.  Not for the lack of trying.  I wouldn't give DU's goalie too much credit but he did enough ... just barely.

If the Seawolves can win a couple of more battles for loose pucks in their own zone tomorrow night and everything else is the same tomorrow ... then they'll get a much deserved win.  Tonight, they didn't deserve to lose.  They didn't "earn" a win but they sure didn't deserve to lose.  Resolve and effort should be the words in their minds tomorrow.  Be just as gritty, play just as hard with just a smidgen more focus and I think we'll all see the victory come.

For those wondering Jade Portwood had a ding on his knee and could have played but sat out just to be safe.  Word is he should be back in the lineup tomorrow night.

Here's the boxscore.

Friday Game Day: Seawolves vs. Pioneers

Friday November 6th, 2009
University of Alaska Anchorage Seawolves vs. University of Denver Pioneers

Game Time: 7:07 PM (Alaska Standard Time) - 9:07 (Mountain Time)

Sullivan Arena - Anchorage, Alaska

Links to Other Articles/Previews

Anchorage Daily News Preview: Three Pasty Redheads Come Up To Go Down

CU/CSU ACHA Hockey outdraws DU

Seawolvers Examiner Preview

Facebook: Stupid Pioneers Page

Theresa Spisak's USCHO WCHA Weekly Preview
Boring USCHO Fan Forum Thread
Even More Boring LetsGoDU Fan Forum

Jess Myers INCH Preview: Rakhshani to skate circles around Seawolves

Pioneer Indicted for Brutal Serial Rape and Murder Spree

DU Clarion's  MESS of a Preview: Pioneers look to drown Seawolves

"Even though they Alaska Anchorage is are 3-5 overall and 1-3 in the WCHA, this series cannot be looked at as an easy weekend."

"This weekend the Pioneers will have to make the long trip to Alaska to play the Seawolves on Friday and Saturday night."

 _________________________

Did you see the ADN article?  Take a look at those three pcitures?  WTF is wrong with their hair?  All three of these allegedly "Anchorage" guys wear their hair like that?  Did they plan it that way?  How did that convo go?

David Carle, "Hey guys go to my stylist with me.  He'll give you this fabulous ducktail."
Adam Murray, "Awesome, I want to look like I'm from the 50's."
Billy Wrenn, "I've got Marlboro's rolled up in my tshirt sleave!"

No self-respecting Anchorage kid looks like that.  If you're going to pretend to be from here then at least try to look like people from here.  It's creepy that they must have planned it.

Take a look at the new Alaska Anchorage Seawolves Hockey Examiner, Tyler Durrell.  Cool Beans!  Maybe he'll email me and take over this blog so I can quit.  Maybe I'll email him and ask him to.  Notice his picture.  No stupid fucking ducktail.

The "old school" chatroom will be here later today.  I'll fire it up just before I head out to the game.

Go Seawolves!  Don't let the figure skating speedsters skate around you too many times!  Don't forget you're all just a bunch of big slow lumbering hockey players with no skill.  Why are you guys even in this league?  Lookie ... they have 2 rookies from Anchorage!  How the fuck do you expect to compete with that?  I mean ... they're from Anchorage ferchrissakes!  2 of them!  They lived here in 2004 and even went to a whole year of high school here.

Nuff said Seawolves?  Let's see some good old fashioned carnage tonight eh?  Here's some historical visual inspiration.

How To Beat A Pioneer

Much is made of the spirit of the westward going 18th and 19th century American Pioneers.  They fought through many obstacles on their quest to acheive their Manifest Destiny.  God wanted them to go and get what was theirs.  And enough of them sacrificed their lives in the effort that eventually they conquered the west.  DU honors them with their nickname, logo and unofficial mascot. 

But let's face up to something here.  Many (if not most), "Pioneers" were greedy, unsociable bastards trying to get something they couldn't get in the civilized society of the time.  Lots of them were frankly stupid.  They set off greatly underestimating the challenges ahead and paid the price with their lives.  Some of them were righteously killed by aboriginal people.  Many more were killed by Ma Nature.  And when they got to their promised land ... many of them killed each other over the limited resources available.  The romanticized "Pioneer" is more myth than truth.  And the University of Denver honors that?  Ok.

Most of all that applies directly to this years University of Denver hockey team.  They really don't know what they're facing.  Just like their namesakes, they are in search of their Manifest Destiny (God wants DU to win doncha know?) and they're coming to the wilderness unprepared for reality.  They've been annointed this season as the greatest assemblage of talent ever to grace an NCAA rink.  As strong a consensus #1 preseason pick as has ever existed.  Their fans think that these Pioneers are going to skate circles around the Seawolves.  Only one said it, but there's plenty of other ones that think it.  That's right ... I can read their minds.

Beating them this weekend is simple.  A little thunder and lightning will have them scurrying for cover.  In other words, hit the prairie monkeys early and often and they'll retreat to the wagon.  Throw up an obstacle or two and they'll circle the wagons while they figure out how to cross the river.  That means if you own your end of the rink you can keep them from scoring.  Wait for them to lumber into your valley and then ambush them and their wide-eyed last defender will surrender.  That means counterattack and transition hard and you'll put more than enough pucks past their rookie goalie.

Seriously, these guys are sitting ducks.  They've come up here a day early to rest up from the big bad plane ride.  They're out enjoying the mild weather and beauty of our fine state.  No doubt they think they're team bonding.  On Friday night, they'll be lax.  They won't be expecting what they're going to face.  Come at them wave after wave, be on them at every turn.  Disrespect them openly. 

Their coach has probably tried to tell them it will be a tough weekend.  But I'd bet dollars to donuts he used phrases like  "could be a tough weekend" and "if you don't play" and "they might be" when talking to his players.  They don't really know what they're getting into.  Show them a buzzsaw, a whirlwind, a tornado.  Throw everything you've got at them from the opening whistle Friday night to the horn at the end of Saturday's game and you'll come away with 4 points.

Be aggressive, aggressive and then be aggressive again.  Puck the Fioneers.

Wednesday Potpourri: Justice, Skepticism and Rewards

I've got a ton of stuff on my plate in the coming month or so.  I'll do my best over that time to keep the posts here as regular as possible but don't have expectations for daily posts of any great length.  I say that now but my nature tends to keep me at the keyboard until I've excreted whatever is on my mind.

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There was a bit of a hue and cry calling for Jade Portwood's suspension after the hit he laid on Nick Leddy broke the kid's jaw in last Friday's game versus the Gophs.  Coach Don Lucia went so far as to make a formal request to the WCHA that some action be taken.  A complete lack of any communication on the matter from WCHA offices seems to indicate that no action against Portwood will be taken.  Common sense justice prevails for once.

As someone who experienced a substantial inury as a result of a cheap shot (Mercyhurst's Captian Ryan Toomey took out Jade's knee at the end of the game in last season's Brice Goal Rush tourament), Jade would be the least likely player to ever try to injure an opposition player.  Hopefully he doesn't let any of the subsequent falderal affect his play.

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GCI finally put up the archived UAA/UND games in the last couple of days.  Well sort of ... they actually put the Saturday game up twice.  I guess they wanted to forget about the Friday night loss too?  Anyway, I grabbed the goal highlights and posted them on my YouTube account.  Additionally, I posted a video of the Best National Anthem Singer in the WCHA as well.  Having listened to zillions of anthem singers over the last 30 years I've got to say that Steve Dickson (I hope I spelled it right Steve) is without a doubt the best I've heard in the WCHA.  I'm always bummed when it isn't him singing.  Here's the embed so you don't have to click the link (note: I got the audio issues corrected).

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DU blogger Damien Goddard is promoting the concept that DU is going to skate circles around the Seawolves this coming weekend.  I like figure skating as much as any Winter Olympics fan so hopefully we'll get to see lots of Rhakshani Triple Lutz's and Salazar Toe Loops and Rugsegger Double Axles and so on.  Apparently, the fact that they have 8 guys under 5'10" is going to be a huge advantage for the Pios this weekend. 

The Pios are even coming to Anchorage a day early in order to allow them to adjust to the .3lbs per square inch difference in atmospheric pressure here at sea level.  Or maybe they need it to recover from the big bad plane ride?  Gee Damien, you think the 12 tickets that UAA buys for DU has anything to do with them being able to afford to stay an extra night in a hotel here?  When are you going to step forward and demand that your school pay it's own way?

It's sort of funny that Damien takes this tact when at the same time the plethora of excuse making is underway.  Their propaganda machine has H1N1 running rampant through the DU squad and Marc "2nd Coming" Cheverie is out hurt so they have to rely on a rookie backstop with grotesquely bad stats are the main excuses so far. 

What's next?  Joey Colborne's gotta hangnail?  What happened to this being the greatest assemblage of college hockey players to ever hit the ice?  Make up your mind DG ... you gonna sandbag or stay with the original hyperbole?

"Flu" is the most overused inaccurate term in hockey.  Let's see some confirmation that it was H1N1 eh?  I know it's going around but 38 confirmed cases (most in May of 2009) in the Denver metro area tends to negate this suspicious sounding report of it going through the DU hockey team.

I'm not saying here that Gwoz wasn't feeling well or that some players didn't have something ... but don't be parading H1N1 around without being able to back it up eh? Click the links to investigate for yourself if you think I'm bullshitting here.  TV news assholes do anything for ratings; seriously, isn't that report a solid example of the worst sort of gleefully delivered local fear mongering evAh?  I guess I've been up here too long ... I forget how the real world works I suppose.

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I'll have a reasonable preview tomorrow.  I think there is a solid opportunity this weekend for the Seawolves to come away with some wins.  Obviously there's never any guarantee of such a thing but circumstances certainly seem to point to an opportunity.  The team is in the middle of the toughest 8 game WCHA opening schedule they've ever faced.  2 points in the last 4 games though is hardly satisfying to anyone (players and fans) so a weekend at home against a flu weakened, injury riddled squad ought to be a good thing right?  Come back tomorrow and see what I think.  Now here's your reward for not bitching about me not posting for 3 days.

And yeah ... one day I'll suck it up and reward my female readers with some pic of a hunky guy.  Maybe.  Such a thing will be difficult to do though.  I'll lose tons of male readers if I do.

Seawolves 1 - Gophers 4

Overall the game wasn't what I'd call a bad loss. Much better effort than Friday. Friday night Shyiak seemed to emphasize a defensive effort particularly at their own blueline. But tonight he let the guys skate and I think they showed him that is the way forward. It's been the way they've played best so far this season, so deciding to clamp down and focus defensively on Friday was probably a mistake.

1st Period:

I thought the Seawolves got outworked and the Gophers did a good job possession-wise in the Seawolves end. The score reflected it but the guys did generate a couple of chances and I think with a couple of bounces it could have certainly been 2-1 instead of 2-0. They definitely didn't get it going forward very much though. Overall they didn't play badly. It occurred to me that they were half a stick and/or half a puck away from making something happen. The difference was one stellar save from Kangas and one odd man rush for the Gophers.

2nd Period:

A much better period. The half a puck/half a stick difference was essentially eliminated. The difference was that when the Seawolves generated chances they weren't getting the puck onto the net. Too many missed shots. Kangas made at least one more good save to deny them in that period as well. All the Seawolves lines though did seem to be a step quicker than they'd been in the 1st. They also won more battles to loose pucks in the period. It was really one of the better periods of hockey they've played so far this season. You can't depend on the scoreline necessarily to tell you how the guys did. That was the case in the 2nd.

3rd Period:

Very comparable overall to the 2nd period. The guys generated chances. Worked the puck deep. Showed up very nicely on the power play as well. Kangas was the difference for the Gophers in much the same way he was in the 2nd. Most importantly I think, the guys never let up in their effort to compete and play hard. Good on them all for that.

Summary:

I think Friday night was for Shyiak to learn a lesson about strategy and how his team can respond if he allow them to. And today contained some good lessons for the players. Shyiak's lesson is to let the guys skate and learn what they need to do to compete. Don't fall back on conservatism in the hopes of keeping it close against what is a more talented team on paper. I also think he may have learned that Bryce is the man. He played well both games and I think was very very good today despite the score and stats. A lot of guys were good today. They just didn't get rewarded.

I think the players learned a lot more about themselves today than they would have on Friday. When they get a chance to watch the game I think they'll like what they see themselves doing. They cycled well in places making the possession game work. They skated well in all three zones and battled more successfully for loose pucks. They certainly have nothing to hang their heads about. Their minds and bodies now have two solid examples of what it takes to compete in the WCHA with the 2nd game against UND and the game today. In that sense it was a valuable mark in the loss column.  Good game fellas.  Forget Friday night's game and remember today's.

And oh yeah ... Frank Mazzocco is complete fucking dimwit.  I'll have something Wednesday but not before then.

Seawolves 1 - Gophers 5

If I'd written this with 4 mintues left in the game it would be substantially different.  But I didn't.  So here it is.  With that preamble I'm sure you'll guess I'm going to talk about the end of the game first.  Chris Crowell comes across and puts a clean hit on Carman.  Turns around and finds himself bum rushed by Seth Hegelson.  And Crowell gets the misconduct?  Helgelson gets nothing but a roughing?

It wasn't the first time during the third period that a 3rd Gopher player bum rushed a Seawolf player after a clean hit.  Just minutes before on a Gopher 5 on 3 power play when the physical stuff started there were two Gopher players that were defacto third men in.  There was a focus all night by the announcers on Gopher players sticking up for each other.  A WCHA review of the last 5 minutes of this game is definitely in order.  Helgeson should be tossed.  And maybe a couple of other Gophers too.  I have no doubt that such a thing won't happen though.

So since it won't, I'm left to hope that some Seawolves decide on Sunday that they're going to show those Minnesota boys how men take care of business.  I'd bet Shyiak warns them against doing so.  I wouldn't if I was the coach.  Lucia encouraged his players in between the 1st and 2nd to goon it up.  I honestly can't think of a reason that the Seawolves shouldn't give them a serious taste of the same thing.  Now for some game recap.

This game wasn't necessarily over when Daniel Naslund passed the puck to Tony Lucia during a Seawolves power play and never had a hope of catching him before he buried a shortie.  Daniel's skating is brutally substandard.  I don't want to ever say something like that.  I can only hope he is in the middle of some growth spurt and still finding his new legs.  Because if he isn't, I'm not sure he should be playing Division 1 hockey.  I'm pretty sure that's the harshest thing I've ever said about a Seawolves players skills.  Sorry Daniel.   I hope he finds a way to overcome it.  He's got a good set of hands.

The game wasn't necessarily over when Wehrs scored on a wrist shot at 14:49 of the 2nd.  Bryce Christianson got a piece of of it.  It was a soft goal.  But being down 3-1 didn't put it out of reach necessarily.  The 4th goal at 16:26 ended the game; I think the play should have been whistled dead before it got scored but whatever I guess.  After it the Seawolves just weren't as interested in playing. 

Refs can miss a call here and there and for most of the night (other than the end of the game) they did an ok job.   Early in the third, once again the Seawolves power play gave up a shortie.  This one though via an assist from the referee.  Tony Lucia clearly hooked Curtis Leinweber just inside the Gopher blueline and rushed up the ice for a 2 on 1 and his second shortie of the night.  From there on out it wasn't really a hockey game.  I had to laugh later listening to the omg carping from Doug and Rug about how a waved off near goal for the Gophers should have been reviewed. 

So anyway, in some sense you could rationalize that it was really a 3-1 loss instead of a 5-1 loss.  Such distinctions really don't matter on fucking bit though.  It was a loss.  I don't know if the day off will be a good thing or not.  Hopefully, it gives the guys time to reflect and redouble their efforts.

I don't think they played badly but the overwhelming focus on defense never gave them much of chance to get anything going up the ice.  I'm not sure what happened to making the other team go 200ft.  It changed to deny them opportunities in the last 75ft?  I don't know.  It was perhaps a lot to hope for the Seawolves to be able to overcome.  The Gophers were hadn't won a game yet this year.  They were damned hungry for it.

That's it; before I say anything else I'll regret saying.  I won't be hosting a chat on Sunday or doing any sort of preview.  I won't be writing tomorrow.  I'll post a recap after the Sunday game.  And after that don't expect anything until Wednesday.  Seriously, I've got plans.  I won't be writing.

Let me again say I'm sorry for screwing up the chat room thing earlier today.  Stuff happens sometimes.

Friday Game Day: Seawolves vs Gophers

Friday October 30th, 2009

University of Alaska Anchorage Seawolves versus Minnesota Golden Gophers

Game Time: 4:07 Alaska Standard Time -- 7:07 Central Standard Time

Mariucci Arena -- Minneapolis, Minnesota

Links To Other Articles/Previews

Anchorage Daily News Preview

Roman Augustoviz's Goal Gophers Blog

Star Tribune: Gophers Trying to Find Offense

Star Tribune: Seawolves/Gophers Preview
MnDaily: Gophers hope to shake cold start

Seawolves Website Release

Gopher Website Release w/video interviews

Gopher Puck Live Preview
Gopher Examiner: Numbers Obsession
Spisak's USCHO WCHA Preview

GPL Fan Forum Thread

USCHO Fan Forum Thread

As I mentioned; the Gophers are the most widely covered college hockey team.  The above links all have some interesting information.  Check them out.  

I'll fire up the "chat room" about 15 minutes before game time.  That's all.  See you at game time.  Go Seawolves!

Seawolves and Gophers: The Preview

Each and every weekend in the WCHA is tough.  More often than not it seems the upcoming weekend is more important and often more difficult than the previous.  For the UAA Seawolves hockey team both descriptors apply at the Mariucci this weekend.

Why more important?  Because the Seawolves split with North Dakota.  The accepted mantra for success in the league is "win at home, split on the road".  There are 56 possible points available over the course of the WCHA season.  Allow me to quantify exactly how accurate that mantra is; over the last 10 years the league's regular season champion has gotten 75.7% of those 56 points.  The high was 46 in the 99/00 season and the low was 38 last season.  The closer a team gets to fulfilling the mantra, the higher in the standings they'll finish.  The Seawolves fell below the home part of the mantra last weekend versus UND.  That makes this series more important for the Seawolves.

Why more difficult?  The Gophers aren't ranked.  UND came to Anchorage ranked #2 in the country.  Doesn't it follow that UND is a more difficult opponent?  No.  The polls don't matter.  The Gophers haven't won a game.  As I mentioned Tuesday they'll be highly motivated to drop the leading goose-egg from their record.  Highly.  This weekend their effort is likely to be every bit as high as it would during an NCAA playoff game.  They can't afford to lose at home.  Their next opponent is on the road at their biggest rival; the Badgers in Madison.  There is quite simply a helluva lot on the line for the Gophers this weekend.  That makes this series more difficult for the Seawolves.

With those big challenges how do the Seawolves come away from the John with points?  This weekend I think there are two general keys.  The first is to relax.  All the pressure is on the Gophers.  It's anxiety-ville down there right now; from fans to players to coaches.  They think they've got the pieces in place to get the job done ... but NOBODY is confident about it.  The Seawolves need to maintain the confidence they built/earned in last Saturday's win vs UND.

That brings me to the second key this weekend; memory.  The Seawolves need to simply remember what they did last Saturday.  They need to emulate the state of mind they acheived in that game.  That's the mental memory part.  They also need their bodies to remember exactly what effort they put out.  So if it's not congnitively dissonant to be relaxed while maintaining focus on the memory of the last win then that's what they need to do.

If the Seawolves can relax and remember then winning will just be a matter of executing the specifics.  The 1st specific will be to replicate the effort and execution they acheived in their own zone last Saturday.  Every player will need to be committed defensively.  That means getting to loose pucks first.  It means sacrificing the body to block shots.  It means responsibility in terms of staying with your guy.  Lose your coverage on a talented player and they're likely to make it hurt.  Good goaltending will of course be necessary.  But it can't be argued that if a shot doesn't get to the net it can't go in.  I'm pretty sure Craig Dahl said that once.

The 2nd specific needed this weekend is scoring.  Kevin Clark, Tommy Grant and Josh Lunden are going to make things happen.  They'll get points.  But for the team to get valuable league points other teammates are going to have to contribute as well. The Seawolves need to get on the board first.  Gopher teams have always thrived on the momentum that scoring a goal gives them.  Conversely, they can get frustrated when they don't get on the board.  With the pressure to win this weekend, the Seawolves have to do everything they can to get the first goal.

There are more than a couple of forwards on the roster capable of stepping up and finding the twine.  Craig Parkinson has a very underrated wrist shot and Nick Haddad is looking much more dangerous this season.  Sean Wiles and Jade Portwood have been OH SO CLOSE a number of times each.  The only rookie with a goal so far this season is Alex Gellert.  Bruijsten, Naslund, Spencer await their first.  Could this weekend see one or more of them notch their belt?

I'm going to go out on a limb here and guess that Coach Shyiak took Ken Selby on the trip and that he'll play.  He's a senior, his family is from Winnipeg and could easily be at the Mariucci to see him play.  It would make sense that he get an opportunity to play this weekend.  I hope he does.  If so, I'll predict he contributes a goal.

Additionally, Seawolves fans have to know that a goal could come from virtually any blueliner at any time.  If Backstrom is ready to go, he can score.  Trevor Hunt .. yep.  Lafranchise ... of course.  Leinweber ... oh yeah ... he can score.  Captain Jared Tuton can score too but that would be unexpected with his obvious defensive stay-at-home focus.  If Luka Vidmar is healthy he's a threat as well.  And Lee Baldwin ... he has a cannon.

That's a lot of guys that have the potential to step up and contribute some secondary scoring to enhance what Grant, Lunden and Clarkie are sure to provide.

The last key specific I'll focus on for this preview is disciplined play.  The Gopher power play might not be clicking.  But typically, few teams move the puck as well on the power play as the Gophers.  Ensuring they get as few extra-man chances as possible is going to be important.  The Seawolves could be wearing halos this weekend and the Gophers are still going to get some power play chances.  That's the way it goes down there no matter who gets the assignment from Big Shep.

The more the guys can keep it 5-on-5 ... the better.  The Seawolves PK hasn't been horrible at 80% so far.  But that means if you give up 5 power plays that the opponent is likely to score on 1.  And right now UAA is averaging 7 penalties a game.  Keeping that average lower this weekend is necessary.

What else can they do?  Improving the number of shots on goal would be a good thing.  So far this season they've taken an aveage of 22.5 shots per game.  That ain't enough.  More rubber needs to get to the target.  Open shots can't be fired high and wide.  Rebound goals are just as pretty.  They certainly count exactly the same as the ones that hit the high corner.

The power play has had it's bad moments as well as good moments.  Last Saturday Coach Shyiak switched from the umbrella formation he'd been using often over the last couple of years and went with the more classic formation using two defenseman on the points with three forwards down low.  I think they executed much better moving the puck on the power play because of that change.  I expect he did too.  Hopefully, we'll see that again.

Normally on these previews I like to use a screenshot from College Hockey News' "Tale of the Tape" comparison page.  It's not available because once again GCI seems to have dropped that site from it's Domain Name Server.  If you're a GCI customer and you can't see CHN then call GCI and let them know.  Reference trouble ticket #229426, tell them this is the 3rd or 4th time in a month this has happened and ask them WTF ... thanks.  Edit: Thanks to whoever called and got it fixed.  So in leiu of that image ... go ahead and tell me that Minnesota's "M" logo isn't an upsidedown "W". 

Don't forget to visit here for the improved chat feature that I'll be hosting for each game.  Both days I'll have it up and running about 15 minutes or so before the game.  I plan to screen grab the video highlights as well so hopefully if that goes well I should be able to provide them as part of the chat.

Good luck Seawolves.  Beat the upsidedown Dubya's this weekend!  And as always readers ... please share your "keys" to this weekend in the comments section.

Seawolves Highlights Now On YouTube

I've sucked it up big time.  I've taken the time and effort to pirate the necessary software, kype the proper registration codes, capture the video, upload to YouTube and now present them for your viewing pleasure.  As GCI makes the archived streams available, I will now be able to make highlights and post them.  The two videos below show 4 of the 5 goals against Mercyhurst from the Kendall Classic and the lone goal versus Michigan from that tournament.  Here's a link to my YouTube page which is also available in the Multimedia Links section in the sidebar.

At this time, I'm unable to record system audio due to a driver malfunction; so the audio on these is a little wonky sounding.  It's basically just recorded from the speakers on my computer.  It is what it is in that case I guess.  I'd love if somebody with a better faster system were to do this and upload them to YouTube.  USCHO's JimJamesAK has done a couple in the past but hasn't been able to in some time. 

Don't expect too much from me along these lines.  It's pretty time consumming to do all this with the limitations of my gear.  UND games are not archived as of this time.  But I'll make some sort of highlights from that series after they come online.  This is my first foray into capturing video and editing it; therefore don't be too harsh in your criticism of the quality.

Do Rubes Taste Like Chicken?

This isn't a preview of this weekend's series.  Instead, it's just a semi-organized collection of my thoughts about this year's Minnesota Golden Gophers.  The Gophers are the easiest team in college hockey to research.  There is typically more written about them in Internet venues than any other Division I team.

When the Seawolves face a Mercyhurst, RPI or Robert Morris I've got to do a bit of digging.  I've got to infer what I can from past boxscores and current rosters.  I've got to hope there is some blogger somewhere who knows what he/she is talking about.  But when it comes to the Gophers, that problem doesn't exist.  The plethora of published opinion presents only one limited challenge.

You've just got to separate the wheat from the chaff; the rubes from the knowledgeable.  That effort isn't too difficult in any season.  Here's some examples so you can tell one from the other:

Rubes say stuff like: 

"If it were not for an unassisted tally by Boston University junior forward Joe Pereira with less than three minutes left in regulation, the top three teams in the nation would have fallen victim to major upsets."

"Outscored 13-3, shutout three times, and currently 0-3-1 - at what point does "it's early" become "this team is mediocre at best"?"

"It depends on what happens next weekend. If they struggle against UAA then we can throw in the towel."

"They hardly lost anyone after last season. Shouldn't this mean that MN would be ready to start the season and not look this putrid?"

"As for the the weekend against the seawolves... I'm not too optimistic. I think we're gonna dick around a lot like we have been and I'll be happy to get a win. More likely scenario is we tie twice to a mediocre team."

"I'm predicting sweep. I like what I heard from the coach this week, the game is on big ice, and UAA has only two players who can skate with the entire Gopher squad."

"I also believe there will be a parade of penalties as UAA does a lot of hooking and holding. The rest are big and slow with bookend sieves."

The knowledgeable say stuff like:

"While the Gophers have a heck of a lot of work to do, for the most part its all very correctable stuff. Its all fundamentals."

"If there is one thing I have learned in my years of watching college hockey, it is that the way a team looks at the start of the year is no indication of the way they will look at the end of the year."

"Scoring looks like it will be a challenge, but the D and goaltending should be good, so I don't think they need to be a high-scoring team to do well. While no one appears to be a big goal scorer, look top to bottom at the players on this team and there were a lot of points these players generated in their past."

"I anticipate a hard fought series with UAA."

So I think it's apparent that the rubes outnumber the knowledgeable; note here that the first "rube" comment above was the lead for USCHO's story covering the weekend.  BU beating Michigan, Miami losing once to Michigan State and UND losing one to UAA are by no measure "devasting" events.

The rube/knowledgeable proportion probably holds true for every base of hockey fans at every level (excepting Seawolves fans of course).  So the bigger point here (other than outing rubes) is that even through the fog of massive hand wringing and general bovine excrement that I think I've gotten a good idea about this year's Gopher squad.  I've seen them play; I've read most of the critiques and so ... here's my analysis.

The Gophers haven't come together as a team.  I've always said that managing personalities of all the NHL draft picks is Don Lucia's biggest problem in any year.  In some ways, that challenge is perhaps less for him this season.  The "primadonna" factor isn't what it's been in the past.  They've played two difficult teams so far.  We already know that UND's biggest strength is their ability to draw on their emotions and play at a high level.  They did exactly that to Minnesota.

Denver on the other hand was motivated to play their best all-around games of the year after they hadn't exactly come out of the gate looking like the best college hockey team ever put together.  So, it's meaningless that the Gophers are 0-3-1.  Entirely.  Judging a team by their record and only looking at W's is superficial.  Rubes do that.  People that know the game, look deeper into situations to see the truth.

The truth here is that the Gophers are a talented team.  They've been playing decently in their own end.  They just haven't mustered the offensive troops in the proper formations.  It takes a few games for any coach to see who works together well offensively.  Practice can give him an idea but until there are actual game situations challenging players one can't really know for sure if there is any chemistry between linemates.

Much has been made of the Gopher's lack of power play production.  See above.  Allow another example here.  UAA's power play was the first to score on UND this season.  Prior to scoring Saturday night the Seawolves had been less than sparkling on the PP.  But Coach Shyiak made a key change in the power play setup that probably helped it click.  So, there's every reason to expect that Coach Lucia can make whatever necessary adaptations to help his team's power play to succeed.

My last point here is that inconsistency early in the hockey season is a wide-spread phenomenon.  The effort to teach young players exactly what level of play they need to acheive doesn't happen overnight.  Look to your own life for an example.  Didn't the best lessons you learned come via your failures?  Same thing with hockey players.  A baby has to learn to pick his foot up when there's a rock in his path.  Tripping on the rock and getting a skinned knee brings that home.

The Seawolves will be facing a dangerous, hungry and talented Gopher team this weekend.  Don't begin to allow yourself to think that the Gopher's record or statistics tell a different story.  Don't be a rube.

The Ghosts of Halloweens Past

UAA Seawolves hockey home games on past Halloween weekends have typically been the worst attended series of season.  For whatever reason, Halloween partying is a big deal in this town.  Once when querying some friends about some plans that needed to be made in advance they pretentiously told me, "Winter is our busy season, we have lots of important social obligations."  I rolled my eyes hearing it put that way to me.

What they really meant of course was, "Well ... maybe we'll do that with you guys, maybe we won't." Ultimately of course, the plans never emerged.  But there is some truth in it for Anchorage folks.  The summer is for getting out of town and doing all the fishing/camping and other outdoor weekend stuff.  Halloween is typically the first social opportunity for a party.

So I'm thrilled that the Seawolves are on the road instead of at home this weekend.  I don't want to sit in a grossly underfilled Sullivan Arena knowing that there are adult hockey fans who would rather be dressed up like pirates (pastafarians unite! all hail his noodly appendage!) at some house party rather than supporting the team.  Instead, it appears that the Seawolves will be playing in front of a half-empty Mariucci Arena.

See ... it's the beginning of winter in Minneapolis too.  Gopher hockey fans have their pretentious "important social obligations" too.  Additionally though, the Gopher football team is playing Michigan State on Saturday and as you're probably aware, the whole town's genitals are still tingly with Brett Farve's choice to unretire and play for the Vikings.  They're on TV Sunday versus the Favor's former team the Green Bay Packers at the same time the Seawolves and Gophers drop the puck.

So between the house parties, costume contests at local bars, a Saturday Big 10 football game and a locally compelling NFL matchup, the Gophers might be lucky if they put 12,000 butts in the seats this weekend versus their usual 20,000.  Thank the hockey scheduling gods for all that.  Better them than us.  A big Gopher crowd in the John can spur their team on.  The fewer the better as far as I'm concerned.  Our guys know how to excite empty seats, right?  The quieter they can make whatever fans do show up should benefit them.

And oh yeah (not that you care), the "jump break" feature creates havoc with some unknown bit of html code in my blog template.  So rather than manually dig through html code trying to figure out how to rectify it, I'll have to pass on that for now.  I read that the Google Blogger folks are working on it. The picture above is again thanks to "dude" from UAA's USCHO contingent.  Thank the latest version of Blogger for allowing me to make it bigger than in the past.  Click on it for the full sized version.  It's good quality.  Thanks "dude".

Sunday Potpourri: All Hockey

A couple of changes to let you know about here on the blog.  Google Blogger's new editor now allows the inclusion of jump breaks.  This means to read the full text of a post that you'll have to click on a "read more" link at the end of the 1st section.  It's a bit of a cleaner look and will help ensure that you don't have to read anything you don't want to read.  Not that you didn't always have that choice.  There'll be less scrolling through my long posts to see what I had to say a few days ago with this feature.  I'll debut this feature in the next post.

The 2nd change is that I've adopted the CoverItLive "Chat Room" instead of the less than fully featured Chatroll program I was using.  The CoverItLive software saves the entire "event".  It makes it easier to embed other media, looks better and I think will help ensure a positive environment for UAA Hockey fans.  I don't think I'll use it during home games however.  I could have internet access at the rink if I wanted to take a laptop.  But I don't want to do that.  At the rink I want to watch the game and cheer for the team versus sitting in the media area and moderating a chat room.

There is an "event reminder" on the top right hand column.  If you want to set a reminder you can enter your email address along with when you want to receive the reminder.

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Zebras are an interesting species. None of the other wildlife in their ecosystems seem to like them. The word is well and truly out within wildlife social culture. Zebras are the very definition of the word pariah. You almost never see them with other wildlife.

Wildebeest shun them. Baboons jeer and turn the noses up at them. Lions hate them so much they hunt and then eat them. Elephants have a natural disinclination toward them. Giraffes look down on them. Hyenas laugh at them of course. The graceful Impala won't be seen with Zebras. Even the smelly Kudu go out of their way to avoid them.

Only the sleazy vile untrustworthy Jackals (yes ... you know who you are) can be seen having a beer with Zebra; Jackals always have ulterior motives. But at least the Zebras do seem to like each other quite a bit.

What's wrong with the Zebras? They sure seem inclined to ingest excessively large volumes of air for long periods. Here's the thing. If they're away from their home range they are skittish as can be. None of the comforts of home and herd are available for them. They're lonely and sad. They have to associate with a couple of local zebras who they really don't trust.

So yeah ... they're just generally miserable about being where they are. Does the league really make them stay at Motel 6? The bigwigs at the Zebra home office decided to make them harder to identify this season. No worries. Here's who they are:

Derek Shepherd #3; Todd Anderson #4; Justin Brown #5; Don Adam #7; Tom Sterns #8; C.J. Beaurline #9; Peter Friesema #10; Tim Walsh #11; Butch Mousseaux #12; Brian Thul #14; Marco Hunt #15; Craig Welker #17; Max Battimo #18; Brad Albers #20; Bill Mason #22; Matt Ulwelling #23; Jon Campion #24; 25 Mike McCreary #25; Jonathan Morrison #27; Scott Bokal #29; Brett Klosowski #31; Brad Shepherd #33.

There is little or no truth to the rumor that numbers also reflect SAT scores. You won't see Sarah Palin walking around with a 416 on her back. Just sayin ...

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Yeah! The Seawolves win last night and now WestHam comes back from being down 2 - nil to tie the overrated, overpaid girls from Arsenal? There is some small measure of justice in the world afterall. A well-deserved penalty shot awarded in the 86th minute sealed the deal.

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There were some interesting results this weekend from around the league. Let's have a look, shall we? First and foremost has to be that the Golden Chosen Minnesota High School All-Star Draft Picks are 0-3-1 after being shutout 3-0 on their home ice and on consecutive nights by DU. Mankato copied UAA ... sort of.

After being pummeled 6-0 by Wisconsin on Friday they decided becoming Chuck Wepner University again might be the ticket to victory and it turns out they were right ... 3-2 for them on Saturday.

The Colorado College (inappropriately named) Tigers don't pay a Black Bear's scat worth of attention to preseason WCHA polls. They're now 3-0-1 in WCHA play; 4-1-1 overall and happily atop the league table after sweeping MTU 4-1 and 8-5.

And in the matchup of the two least compellingly named teams in the league ... the Huskies II from St. Nothingelsetodoville picked up three points at home from the visiting Bulldogs (from their home just across the river from Superior, Wisconsin). Lots of panting and drooling dogs in that mix.

Next weekend there are only three WCHA series. The Seawolves of course visit the GCMHSASNHLDP's at corpie sit on your hands arena. It's a Friday - Sunday series since some Big Ten football game is going on next door to the John on Saturday. Not enough parking or some such thing. Don't they know about car-pooling and buses in Minneapolis? Aren't football games in the afternoon and hockey games in the evening? The Sunday game starts at 1PM here in Anchorage? Geez ...

Chuck Wepner University heads down to the mile high city to face the annointed ones. And St. Nothingelsetodoville Community College heads up to beautiful downtown Houghton, Michigan to face the team that they stole their nickname from.

UND has a week off to recover from the big bad airplane ride. And Duluth hosts an upstate New York school called Clarkson for a pair.

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In the don't quit your day job category...

An outside free-lance sports writer called UAA Athletic Director Steve Cobb last week to query him about the support that the WCHA provides to UAA for travel.

Just goes to show you that there actually are people who haven't read my blog. Amazing but true. Still though ... October 2009 is now the record holder for most hits in a month here since I started. I remember being thrilled when 25 people a day read what I wrote once a day. It's nice to know that now 50 people are returning 15 times a day to read what I've written.

I'll happily sell this blog to any UAA fan that wants it. Seriously, if you enabled Google Adsense and or some other ad service ... you could make 22 or 23 dollars a month. That's like 44 cents an hour return from about 50 hours a month writing about hockey and other junk.

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Maybe you've seen this. It's like a dozen years old. I hadn't seen it.

Seawolves 2 - UND 1: A Character Win

The Seawolves gutted out a character based win tonight. For really the first time this season we UAA fans saw the team play near or to it's full potential. They met expectations. I'd expect they all looked at themselves in the mirror this afternoon.

As quick as I was to criticize Coach Shyiak last night let me first give him some credit tonight. No doubt some of my criticism of Shyiak last night was out of fan frustration. I know some people weren't happy about reading it. All I can say is take a look again at the very last line of that post. Tonight, he started by changing the line combinations. Kevin Clark centered Josh Lunden and Tommy Grant. I think it proved to be a key change.

Whenever those three guys were on the ice they made things happen. They created turnovers. They applied the same sort of forward going pressure that we saw from UND last night. They were monsters in the neutral zone. They straight up outplayed whoever was on the ice against them. I also think Clarkie is a natural center versus playing on the wing.

So many of the good things that happened tonight started in the defensive zone. The coaching staff is to be congratulated for making the defensive adaptation as well. Shyiak also engaged the referees more intensely and more often that last night. I think that has two effects. It sets a tone for his players and it can help keep the referees honest. Let's face it ... these guys don't like being told on a Monday or Tuesday that they're going to Anchorage for the weekend. They don't get to hang out after the games with their friends of families like they do in so many other of the close to home located WCHA cities.

All four lines forward lines played well. All the defenseman played well. Good on every player tonight. They all deserve credit. I think Shyiak was more cognizant of matching up lines as well. I think UND did tire a bit as the weekend progressed due to the physcial game that the Seawolves played. It's noteworthy that UAA players finished their checks more often tonight.

The other key difference tonight was that Seawolves players were getting to the puck in their own zone before UND players. The 2nd and 3rd chances that UND was able to capitalize on Friday night were virtually non-existant tonight. Credit for that goes to everyone. Not only were the defensemen more effective in manning up but forwards were more committed to backchecking, blocking shots and pouncing on loose pucks. The entire team played a completely different game in their own zone. They were very responsible. They all kept their feet moving.

I also think that from early in the game that Bryce Christianson made a difference. His abilities handling the puck are important and I think they set him apart from Jonny O. No knock on Olthuis there ... I love the guy. I think he played well last night. But there is a clear difference between him and Bryce with regard to playing the puck outside the crease. Early in the game, Bryce put several quality clearances onto forwards sticks at the opponents blueline that kept UND honest. That ability is a difference maker. If all things are equal when Jonny O and Bryce are in the crease then I think Bryce's stick work outside the crease should earn him the #1 spot. Rotations are fine and I don't have an issue with them philosophically. And that's enough armchair coaching from me. Right?

It was a quality team win that should buoy the confidence of every player. UND applied lots of pressure at various times of the game. They worked hard in UAA's zone and were able to have some similar possession type opportunities to the ones they cashed in on last night. But determined backchecking and (as I already said) responsible play kept them from finding the extra chances tonight that they would have otherwise turned into goals.

The intensity and quickness to the puck belonged more to the Seawolves tonight. Again ... that was opposite of last night. It was a solid win. The dramatic differences between last nights performance and this one should be engraved in every Seawolf player's mind. It's a lesson both body and mind need to remember. A very tough road series coming up against a winless Gopher team at the John awaits and so hopefully the freshness of this weekend's experiences will be a factor in the effort the guys apply.

UND certainly made it interesting in the last two minutes after pulling their goalie. They hemmed the Seawolves in, somebody in green and gold lost or broke their stick and the whole shift got stuck out there for a fairly long time. It made the last minute of so pretty intense. Props to the crowd for having the team's back tonight. They made noise at all the right times.

The referee's in this league just can't keep from trying to involve themselves in the game. Josh Lunden lifted a guys stick, stole the puck and gets called for hooking? Puhlease ... Curtis Leinweber gives a totally clean check while challenging for the puck along the halfboards and gets whistled for cross-checking? Then the Mike Prpich/Rylan Kaip goon replacement Ben Blood interferes, cross checks and then mugs Kevin Clark with the referee staring at it the whole time? Clarkie gets called for a dive? There's no doubt he goaded the idiot Blood into hacking him. At minimum Blood should have gotten 4 mins for the three offenses he committed if Clark had to go off for that. The linesman have no idea how to apply the icing rules and their judgement for offsides is brutal. It was no surprise to anyone sitting in my area that UND got the two late 3rd power play chances. Unlike last night ... the Seawolves were able to overcome. The penalty kill was solid all night.

A good WCHA win. It's better to have 2 points than none. Getting road points at Minnesota will be as big a challenge as playing the #2 ranked team this weekend. It never really gets any easier in the WCHA. DU swept the Gophers shutting them out twice at the Mariucci this weekend. They'll be here in two weeks.

Here's tonight's boxscore. And thanks to USCHO's "dude" for the Jade Portwood picture.

Disappointment, Humility and Honesty

It's early in the season. It's early in the season. It's early in the season. Hmmmm ... I thought that would help. But it doesn't. I couldn't be more bummed out. Of course, I asked for it. Was/is anyone out there more upbeat and optimistic than me? If you were ... I feel bad for you because you must surely feel lower than me tonight.

I'm certainly not the only UAA fan that has supported the guys since almost the beginning. So I don't want to come across here as some uniquely disappointed fan. I do however think that I've publicly expressed that confidence in a unique way. I called out other Seawolves fans earlier in the week for not being positive. I've insulted and degraded the geography of this weekends opponent nearly without mercy. I fully deserve and expect the wrath and gloating of every UND fan that I pissed off this past week.

I dogged the quality of their program and one could even reasonably say that I was unreasonable in doing so. Truth is ... I was and am sick and fucking tired about hearing how fucking great they are. Success breeds success and those fuckers have had more than their share of it. And their incessant overwhelming crowing is disgusting. So I stuck my neck out and expressed my hopes in terms that were at perhaps unrealistic. Damn me for loving my guys. Damn every local player that chooses other programs over their hometown program. You suck. You slapped Anchorage in the face with your choice. I couldn't like you any less than I do.

Being a Seawolves fan is by no means a cake walk. The team plays in a conference with some of the best teams in college hockey. This first weekend of play is merely the first of a 4 weekends that will be nothing but difficult and challenging. Let's face it, the school we're supporting isn't exactly in a position to attract the talent that more than a few of the other conference foes can. It's always been THE challenge. But for one season out of the past 20 or so, I've been there. Talafous' last season I stayed home. So yeah... wah wah wah waaah waaaaaah. What about tonight?

I don't know what to say. The 1st period was a nightmare. I thought the refereeing was atrocious. I went into the intermission wondering what the hell my team bad to do to get a break. The third UND goal came on a clear offsides play that the linesman missed. The guys had to kill a 5 on 3 that was total bullshit. Jared Tuton didn't "hold" anybody. He stepped around a guy. He didn't hold him. I was proud that the team responded to the crowds exhortations at the end of the 5 on 3 and put some decent pressure on the opponent. I was happy that the sparse crowd of 3112 made so much noise at that point.

The 2nd period began decently, the Seawolves couldn't overcome the good puck pressure that UND applied during two early penalty kills. It looked a bit like that had given up? They didn't believe they could come back? Then came the ugliest bullshit call of the night. Josh Lunden in no fucking way tripped anyone. But he got called for it. During the delay a pissed off Kevin Clark took 2nd penalty for hooking. I can relate emotionally to that. The guy was trying to get something started. He was playing his heart out and frankly the hooking call on him could or should have perhaps gotten a diving call on the UND player as well. I'll admit I didn't see the hooking call on Bruijsten at 11:11. The ensuing UND power play made it 4-0.

I don't want to pretend anything here. The Seawolves weren't finding a way to apply any sort of offensive pressure. They got all of 4 shots in the 2nd period. The refs graciously called a couple of typical WCHA "even-it-up" calls but by that point the guys were nothing other than disheartened. And then I noticed something that really pissed me off. It's been bothering me more than anything else all night.

Coach Shyiak benched Kevin Clark. I didn't notice it until Kevin served Craig Parkinson's CFB penalty for hitting somebody too hard. I suppose the benching was a response to his "dumb" penalty. I said it to Jared Tuton's brother inbetween periods and I'll say here it her now. He was playing with emotion. He was trying to make something happen. And god bless him for it. But it was at that point that it occurred to me ... Coach Shyiak just didn't care about trying to win the game. With around 25 minutes left in the game he'd given up. Why else would you bench the emotional leader of the team? I can't imagine there was a single player on the bench that blamed Kevin for taking the penalty he took. I doubt any one of his teammates was thinking to themselves "Damnit, Kevin ... why did you do that?"

There is a valid coaching debate about whether or not such a benching is reasonable. I want to give Coach Shyiak the benefit of the doubt here. But I can't. That's why I started a "Let Clark Play" chant at every quiet break during the 3rd period. Now four years into the Shyiak era and tonight confirmed my suspicion that Dave Shyiak lacks some passion. He didn't get on the refs in the 1st period. In my opinion, he should have; thats when the game was decided and the referees played no small measure in deciding it. And then down 3-0 and then 4-0 he benches the most talented player on his squad? Yes ... a team must overcome these "bad calls" to succeed. But, I want to see the coach of the team I support stand up for them.

After the game, Dave said he was disappointed in the upperclassmen. He said they didn't compete. Well Dave, Kevin Clark was competing. Josh Lunden was busting his ass. There was nothing I can be critical about regarding Tommy Grant's play. Craig Parkinson got screwed on a bullshit call. There's four of your most skilled upperclassmen. Was there something more that Nick Haddad could have done? No. Did Sean Wiles dog it? No. Was Jared Tuton somehow responsible? No. They all were trying. You weren't. It appears to this fan, that you were the one that gave up just over halfway into the game.

Let me say here, that UND's first three goals came off of 2nd and third chances. And absolutely yes ... the guys have to clear those chances when the goaltender gives up big rebounds. They didn't. All night long the UND players were a bit quicker onto the loose pucks. They challenged successfully for all too many loose pucks. All were situations that you'd expect to see the Seawolves come up with 50% of the time. But instead, the UND players came up with them 90% of the time. Credit to UND for that sort of puck pressure. They deserved the win. Could the Seawolves have overcome the bad calls? I don't know for sure. But I do know it wasn't going to happen when the coach didn't give them any reason to.

His apathetic attitude after the game was disturbing to me. "This is what happens when ..." he said. Well, I sure hope teaching the team a lesson early in the season is worth more than a victory. I'm ok with saying he didn't want to win last night. I honestly believe that was the case.

Congratulations to UND. They definitely put a number on the Gophers last Friday night and this Friday they exceeded that.

Lastly, I don't know if the referee wearing #29 was Tim Walsh or Scott Bokal. Whichever one of them is the guy that was continuously toweling off his sweaty shaved head during the 1:00 minute "official" timeouts needs to be sanctioned for his calls tonight. He was worse than Don Adam. He was worse than Todd Anderson. I hope his sweaty ass never comes to Anchorage again. Get a fucking headband dude or at least a helmet with some damned slots for cooling. And who the fuck ever heard of a referee that wears a half visor? WTF is that? You're sweating it up big time and you have a visor? No wonder you couldn't see your ass if it was in front of your face. And oh yeah ... Sivulich ... Glines ... move the hell away from Anchorage you blind useless twats.

Regardless of everything I've said above. UND was the better team tonight. I guess I'll go tomorrow night and see if the guys I love can make a better showing. I guess I'll go and see if the coach of the team I love will be a help or a hinderance to that effort.

Peace. My apologies to all. G'night.

Seawolves vs. UND: The Preview

Looking through all the available information I'd have to call this weekends games a pretty decent looking college hockey matchup. Fans on both sides should anticipate two closely played games. UND has 4 significant upperclassmen, 3 quality sophomores and as many as 5 potentially impactful freshman on the roster. UAA's mix tends more toward experience.

I'd peg 7 upperclassmen into the same significant catergory as I put UND's 4. Both of UAA's 2 sophomores are quality and 5 or 6 freshman Seawolves look to be potentially impactful. I think the main difference might be that UND's freshman have contributed to their team's success (2g-10a) and the total output so far for Seawolves rookies is (1g-3a).

As a team the opponent has scored 15 goals in 4 games for a 3.75 average. The Seawolves have 12 goals in 4 games for an even 3 per game average. UND's power play is 24% (6 out of 25) and their penalty kill is 15 out of 15 for 100%. UAA's power play is 15.8% (3 of 19) and the penalty kill is 83.3% (20 of 24).

Going forward I'd give the nod to the Seawolves for their established abilities deep in the opponents zone. The Seawolves NHL sized forwards should be able to establish their possession game as per usual. UND's defenseman are a bit bigger than other teams UAA has faced this season but they're also relatively inexperienced except their two undersized upperclassmen.

We'll likely see no conscious effort from UND to maintain the puck deep in the Seawolves end via a cycle. They'll rely on transition and so far this season that's meant getting the puck on defenseman Chay Genoway's stick who has excellent offensive instincts. One line is capable of some cycling but more often than not offensive intrusions should be be short lived. However, since this is a team that relies on emotional play, if the Seawolves don't clear the puck efficiently they could be made to pay. When the UND forwards sense an opportunity they can swarm.

So the defensive side of the Seawolves game this weekend will have to be spot on to limit the UND opportunities. Perhaps the most important aspect though will be manning up against Genoway when he's on the ice. Seawolves forwards will need awareness for #5 and when possible give the kid another shadow. More than a couple of UAA forwards will need to come off the ice knowing what flavor of gum Chay is chewing to have done the job correctly. The closer the game is the more dangerous that kid seems to get.

As always, breaking the puck out efficiently and smartly is going to be important. The UND forwards will forecheck hard, early and often in order to try to create turnovers. Brains and execution should be the watchwords for Seawolves blueliners. Some of the Seawolves abilities to rush the puck will depend on whether or not Backstrom and/or Hunt are ready to go. Word has been that both wouldn't be returning for this series though. That leaves the transition game in the hands of Curtis Leinweber, Kane Lafranchise and to a lesser extent freshman Lee Baldwin.

Not to say other D-men aren't capable of bringing the puck in an offensive sense. Drew Darwitz seems to be coming along quickly. If Luka Vidmar is healthy he has historically shown that he can contribute going forward. Jared Tuton's calm consistent leadership on the backend is an asset but typically he doesn't move the puck forward with the same flair as Curtis.

There will be some expectation for the Seawolves 1st and 2nd line to produce this weekend. Clark, Haddad and Grant/Lunden, Bruijsten and Naslund will likely be the primary scoring threats. Portwood, Parkinson and Crowell look to be developing some chemistry and have looked dangerous. Craig is getting/taking more shots this season than in the past and he's my pick to click this weekend.

Rookies Mickey Spencer and Alex Gellert along with Sean Wiles are showing some gritty play and have been closer and closer to making significant contributions. They definitely aren't a typical 4th line/energy/checking combo. I don't know if we'll see Ken Selby and/or Tyler Currier in the lineup as Coach Shyiak seems to have settled on the above lineups. However, don't be surprised to see Selby play on any particular night.

UND's coach has apparently indicated that rookie goaltender Aaron Dell will get a start this weekend. Logically, I'd think that would mean he'll play on Friday. Strategically that would make sense. If a rookie got stoned on a Friday you've got the regular guy ready to go on Saturday. However, if the regular guy gets shelled on Friday ... do you come back with the rookie on Saturday? So I'm guessing Dell on Friday night, Eidsness on Saturday.

If all things have been even otherwise in practice then I'd expect Shyiak to rotate Olthuis and Christiansen this weekend. Shyiak gave the nod to Jonny O last Saturday following on his Friday night shutout. I'm guessing though that Bryce plays Friday night against UND. Just a guess. I'm historically shit with guesses regarding which goaltender plays on which night.

The key to home ice advantage for the Seawolves is to get the crowd into the game early. There'd be no reason to expect anything but a solid emotionally driven effort from the Seawolves coming out of the gate on Friday. It's the first WCHA series of the year. It's at home. Everything about that says they'll be pumped up to play and highly focused.

The last time UND was on the ice at the Sully the Seawolves took a couple of tough losses. No doubt they'll remember those two nights and be motivated to rectify them. All the talk coming out of the Seawolves program (not just here on this blog) is that the 09/10 edition is perhaps the best Seawolves team on paper since Shyiak took the helm. This weekend is the real first opportunity to prove that theory. UND is rated/ranked highly in any/every poll.

They are a legitimate top quality opponent by every traditional measuring stick. They got 9 NHL draft picks. Last Friday night they skated circles around a team with 10 NHL draft picks. This weekend is not only the 1st serious test of the Seawolves. It's likely to be the biggest test they face all season. I hope the fact that it comes so early is in the Seawolves favor.

Predictions: Friday UAA 4 - UND 2; Saturday UAA 2 - UND 0

It's Always Something in North Dakota

In case you hadn't heard (been in a cave eh?), there was an incident at Uncle Ralphies marbled palace after this past Friday's game versus Minnesota. Here's the way it went down as best I can gather from the various sources.

Two brothers (one on crutches) were walking out of the arena and (as will be since it's North Dakota) there was some minor amount of shit talking going back and forth between opposing fans along the lines of "The Gopher's better bring their 'A' game tomorrow". Apparently, the guy on crutches added something more incendiary to the mix and as the two small groups got closer some sort physical contact occurred.

A quick escalation lead to an apparently Gopher-sweater festooned dude to put his hand on the guy in crutches. Guy in crutches' brother takes offense and the physicality intensifies at which point a UND alumni friend of Gopher sweater guy fires off a massive punch on crutches guy's brother. He guy goes down hard and his cranium is shattered on contact with the pavement, leading to screws, plates and an induced coma at the local hospital. UND alumni punch throwing guy then goes to the hoosgaw.

The Internet then has it's classic series of "God, I hope crutches dude is ok" by all parties. Local paper then does questionable job of properly detailing the incident (quoting the injured parties Dad who wasn't even there) and straight up makes it look like a Gopher fan did the punching. The friends/family of the punch thrower show up in all venues defending what a nice guy punch thrower really is.

It's a shame someone was seriously injured, but by all accounts he's going to be fine. Apparently, there was no discernable brain injuries associated with his broken crown. I say it's a shame because the humor the of "It was a Gopher fan" ... "Wrong! It was a UND fan" pissing contest surrounding the event was classic.

My take? Who the hell cares if it was a Gopher fan or a UND fan or a UND alumni who may or may not be a Gopher fan. Let's focus on the site of the incident. That's what matters. Slightly muted versions of this crap happen every week at that forlorn and accursed joint. Why? Because, UND fans think they have an NHL franchise. They've so overpumped themselves with self-importance regarding their program that serious goading, intense shit-talking and physical confrontations happen there as frequently as any sporting venue. There's a word for it ... Hooliganism.

How many black eyes does this particular college hockey program have to get before they clean up their act? I understand that the only cops that attend hockey games at the Ralph is the school's police department. Beer is available throughout the arena. I understand there is a shit-load of underage drinking. I haven't been to the place, but I can only imagine the crowd is something like WWE meets MMA meets ECHL. There are few good options for those of you thinking about attending a game at the Ralph as an opposition fan.

1. Change your plans and don't go. Nobody will care if you don't go. They won't lose any money cos the joint is pretty much always sold out. But instead of quietly not going. Send a letter to UND and the Arena and explain why you aren't going. If enough people were to do so then you'd think that things would eventually get cleaned up.

2. Go. But sit on your hands and keep your mouth shut. This is what the locals want you to do. It's why the hooliganism and intimidation exists. The last thing the UND fanbase wants is to hear opposition fans cheer for thier team. This option will almost certainly allow you to get out of the place unscathed.

3. Go. And don't allow any amount of intimidation and/or hooliganism dissuade you from reasonably cheering from your team. Be prepared though to defend yourself. Don't turn your back on any UND fans. Get out of the arena first and walk backward to your vehicle.

4. Go. Be every bit as obnoxious and irritating as the shit-talking hooligans. And when the inevitable physical confrontation starts (history says it will). Get off the first real punch. Seriously. End it early. Knock the fucker out. If you don't then he's likely to do so to you (history says so) you're wrong. Just make sure you have these guys number in your pocket.

Make sure nobody associated with you makes any statements regarding the incident to the press. Don't talk to the cops until your lawyer shows up. After he gets you out of the pokey, file a multimillion-dollar lawsuit against the arena, UND and the city of Grand Forks. Don't include whoever you punched. It's not their fault that all those entities enabled them to be an asshole. And being an asshole isn't against the law anyway. Their price for being an asshole is the shiner you gave them. Be satisfied with that.

I recommend option #4 only to those of you with stalwart constitutions. The shit storm surrounding such a series of events would likely be draining. But the fact they sell so much beer and have such lax security in place would make this an easy case for a good lawyer. A good lawyer could also obfuscate the facts of the events well enough to get you out of whatever criminal charges might come or at minimum have the charges reduced substantially.

The long history of hooliganism and intimidation is however strongly on your side. See ... you had no choice but to defend yourself. The history of hooliganism and intimidation dictates that you'd do so. It's by no means a slam dunk to multimillions. But for the right person in the right situation ... it could be a bonanza of cash.

So which option would you choose? Did I leave one out? This comments section will be dedicated to answering those questions. If my account of the specific events is somehow flawed then I apologize. I'm restating what I've read in a wide series of previous accounts that I've read.

I'm not interested and won't tolerate comments that aren't related to the options that opposition fans have with regard to attending "Fighting" Sioux hockey at the Ralph. I don't care about the parties involved. Bad unjust shit happens to people all over this country everyday. Whether crutches dude or his brother or punch throwing dude or his friend are at fault don't matter to me. Your opinion on what is the best option for visiting fans is my interest.

Free Hockey! Seawolves Promotions

Want some free tickets to any regular season Seawolves hockey game at the Sullivan? All you have to do is follow some simple clothing rules.

On Friday nights, wear Green & Gold to the game and get up to two complimentary general admission tickets for kids 12 & under.

On Saturday nights, wear a hockey jersey and get up to two complimentary general admission tickets for kids 12 & under.

Both promotions can only be nabbed by going to the student desk inside the NW entrance of the arena. That's the door with the geometric sculpture "thingy". Click the flyers for larger versions: