Pictures From The Weekend

Post Game Interviews vs Denver 1-28

The Seawolves lose tonight to Denver 6-3. The Seawolves suffered what is becoming an all too familiar start giving up 4 goals in the first period and one in the second to go down 5-0. The Seawolves came back and made a game of it by scoring three straight goals to make it 5-3 with Naslund, Sproule, and Gellert scoring. But a late 5 minute major by Brad Gorham knocked off any chance of a comeback and DU added a PP empty netter.

7 straight losses will not do anything positive to the psyche. The Seawolves are a desperate, young team in dire of a win but, wins do not come easy at this level. The team is not playing terribly overall but, like I said last night, momentary lapses can kill you. The question remaining is whether the players can step up and gut out some points.

Post Game Interviews vs Denver 1-27

The Seawolves are, as Coach Shyiak puts it, in a "tough spell". 6 losses in a row can generally put a damper on things and it seems UAA may just be playing for not finishing in 12th. The Seawolves are not playing terribly. It is a matter of defensive lapses costing goals and not enough scoring punch. The mistakes seem small but in the unforgiving WCHA even small mistakes will be punished. UAA is young team that, to a certain extent, needs to find itself and do some growing. But in this league, it's not easy for team that needs to do it.

Interview tonight with Coach Shyiak.

54 Days, 21 Hours and 34 Minutes

Such is the number representing the amount of time between the end of the last home game on December 3rd, 2011 versus UND and this coming Friday night's game versus DU.  That's 4,742,440 seconds.  Four-million, seven-hundred forty-two thousand, four-hundred and forty seconds.  

Or seven weeks if you prefer simplicity.

That's a long time since we've been at the Sully.  And now of course there's three home series in a row.  That feast or famine cliche seems obvious but nevertheless appropriate.

Wisconsin 4 - Seawolves 0

Being outscored four to nothing doesn't necessarily mean you were outplayed by that much.  I thought tonight's game was closer than the score would indicate.  The difference to me was that once the Badgers got up by 2 goals they really played well in the neutral zone and in their own end.  The Seawolves were hard pressed to manufacture scoring chances.  

Not Time To Scream

Just a quick review of the this past weekend at MTU and a short look forward to this coming weekend at Wisconsin.  Obviously, Friday night was pretty brutal.  Sounded like there was some good play by the team but the breakdowns were too much to overcome.  Giving up quick multiple goals is always a killer.  Good on Dusan Sidor for his play on Friday which was good enough to get him the Saturday game.

Game Day: Seawolves @ MTU

There is no TV.  You can purchase a video stream at Michigan Tech's website.  Gametime is 3:07 Alaska time.  

I have confirmation that Rob Gunderson's absence from this trip has nothing to do with academics.  He was one of the players who missed practice on Dec 28th coming back late from break.  

Feel free to pop into the Chatango Room ... that chat box on the right column... over there ----> .. ya know?  I should be in there and listening to Kurt's call on the radio.

I'm Back ... But Everyone Else Isn't

Blog vacation over.  Bummer sorta for me.  But hockey this weekend against MTU should get me back into the required mode.  There is more to touch on than I hoped there would be.  Mickey Spencer is no longer on the team.  Everyone always wants to know the background when one of these departures occurs.  I'm not privy to any details.  Nor should I be.  Here's a fact about college hockey; players leave their teams sometimes.  And it's for a variety of reasons.  

WCHA Offensive POTW: Mitch Bruijsten

Junior Mitch Bruijsten's Friday night hat-trick in Colorado Springs to lead the Seawolves to a 6-3 win earned him WCHA co-Offensive Player of the Week honors.  Congratulations to Mitch on receiving the award.  Here's most of the text from the league's announcement:

Bruijsten, a 6-4, 205-pound junior right winger from Nijmegen, Netherlands, posted his first collegiate three-goal hat trick (on just three shots) to help the Seawolves to a 6-3 WCHA road victory over No. 6-ranked Colorado College last Friday (Dec. 9) at Colorado Springs World Arena. With his team trailing 2-0, Bruijsten netted an unassisted shorthanded goal at 17:37 of the first period to close the gap to one and then tied the game at 2-2 with a power-play tally at 3:00 of the second. After CC regained the lead at 3-2, Alaska Anchorage rattled off four straight goals to secure their first win over a top 10-ranked team, with Bruijsten completing his hat trick with a man-advantage goal at 3:00 of the third period to earn No. 1 star of the game honors.

Seawolves 6 - Cutthroat Trout 3

There is a difference between not scoring and not being able to score.  The Seawolves showed tonight that they are able to score.  And doing it should help erase the idea from their minds that they are not able to score.  

They've shown excellent offensive tendencies in the first four games of the season scoring 4+ goals a game.  Had tough streak for the next 8 games scoring only 7 goals during that stretch.  And now in the last 5 games they've come close again to the 4 goals per game mark with 19 goals.

This team CAN score.  Nuff said.  Hopefully tonight's result builds some confidence amongst our boys.  From Kurt's always excellent call it seemed that CC imploded and the Seawolves took advantage.  Congrats to Mitch Bruijsten on his hat-trick with the first coming shorthanded.  Nice.

Don't expect CC to piss down their leg again tomorrow night.

Here's the boxscore.  

Note: I'm mired deep in a cold right now folks.  I haven't had a cold like this for quite a few years so I'm keeping this short.  I'll have a post on new recruit Austin Sevalrud as soon as I can get to it.

CC Cutthroat Trout? Better Than Tigers

In the past I've asserted that the CC Tigers had the absolutely stupidest nickname in the WCHA.  That's saying quite a bit with as much as I hate UND.  Of course, Mavericks and Bulldogs are pretty close contenders for the stupidity crown.  College sports team's nicknames should reflect some geographic attribute or regional cultural or something with some sort of local interest.  With Tigers being no closer than about 8000 miles to Colorado Springs it gets the retard crown.

Perspective: Have Some Please

It appears that some of us fans are frustrated with our team's performance this season.  Well, as head Internet cheerleader for the Seawolves it's incumbent on me to say a few things.  Let's take a look at reality shall we?

Post Game Interviews vs North Dakota 12-3

There is a malaise of sorts hanging over the UAA hockey program. The team is losing and not playing well, the players seem frustrated, and the fans seem either uninterested or frustrated themselves. It's tough to be young team finding it's legs in the WCHA as mercy is non-existent. Once again a small time frame with a lapse in play was the doing in for the Seawolves, this time North Dakota used the second period to build a 4-1 lead and never look back.

Interviews tonight with Tyler Currier (the best player this weekend in my opinion) and Coach Shyiak.

A trip to the Springs and CC beckons before the holiday break and then a 10 day road trip to kick off the new year.

Post Game Interviews vs North Dakota 12-2

Tough loss for UAA tonight as NoDak scored 3 goals in the first ten minutes that they made hold up in a 5-2 loss for the Seawolves. Interviews tonight from Curtis Leinweber and Brad Gorham.

... And The Horse You Rode In On

You other fans have no need for me to discuss exactly what being a fan of a team means.  It's a bit different for everyone.  One aspect of being a fan of a particular team often might mean that you hate another team.  The word hate scares a lot of people.  Not me.  What follows is a description of my hatred of UND's Fighting Sioux hockey program.  Don't even click the read more below if full use of language offends you.  

The Only Good Indian Is A Dead Indian

A comment in the last post gives rise to today's preview of the upcoming series against UND.  An anonymous person hoped "for more red meat stuff".  Okie doke ... there is tons of "red meat" stuff that I read every week.  It comes from the ever adroit UAA Sports Information Department put together by the polished and professional Dallas Baldwin.

Scalp The Squaws!!!

I didn't have much to say Saturday about how the guys played since the overwhelming sense I got from that night's game about the refereeing overrode everything.  But there were some nice performances from some guys that should be highlighted.

First Thoughts On A 3 Point Weekend

Points was what I said this weekend would need to be all about.  Regardless of referees Matt Ulwelling and Craig Welker doing everything they possibly could to insert themselves into the result ... the Seawolves held on tonight for the 5-5 tie after winning 5-4 on Friday night.  A three-point road weekend in the WCHA is always real nice.  They led tonight at one point by a 5-1 margin and just thereafter lies the biggest part of the story of an overwhelmingly queer game.   The referees.

Designated Rivalry Weekend Preview Extravaganza

It's a big "WCHA Designated Rivalry" week for the Seawolves as they head down to Mankato to face the purple Mavericks.  Of course, that really means nothing other than it's the one team that UAA faces 4 times year in and year out.  It's hard to say if that familiarity has bred any dislike between the squads over the years.  I have no sense of such a thing for whatever that's worth.

UAA/MTU: Saturday Thoughts

I was gonna use my game notes to write a recap and pretend that sitting in the press box had some usefulness.  Watching the team lose a game 5-0 that really wasn't a five to nothing game is tough on a fan.  I saw a certain couple of fans that I know never leave early getting up and heading to the car with about 4 minutes left.  So let's talk eh?

Post Game Interviews vs Michigan Tech 11/19

In the grand scheme of things, your team will occasionally play like the best team in the world, others they play like Nanooks in disguise. Tonight UAA played like Nanooks in disguise. Outworked, out hustled, outscored (but not outcoached as some dunderhead spoke, how anything that happened in that game was because of coaching is on another plane of existence) the Seawolves endured another frustrating night of poor effort and missed chances.

Interview tonight from Coach Shyiak only, players were unavailable by the time I needed to get out and get out home, apologies there.

UAA/MTU: Friday Night Photos and Recap

During the game last night I was proud of myself for making sure that I wrote down thoughts and observations as they occurred to me.  I've tried making such notes in the past and rarely used much of it in my final posts.  But last night I put gold onto the page.  Pure genius.  Unfortunately for you guys ... the browser window on the graciously loaned Windoze netbook I've been using wasn't actually on the interwebs ... and so all that hockey blogging gold went for naught.  It was frustrating so I went to bed and put this off til this morning.

Post Game Interviews vs Michigan Tech 11/18

Seawolves win tonight 3-1 over Michigan Tech, breaking a 6 game losing streak and picking up their first win in WCHA play. Interviews tonight with Mark... errr Eric Scheid (sorry about that Eric), Corbin Karl, and Coach Shyiak.

A win tomorrow night would bring UAA out of 12th (and move North Dakota to 12th).

What's That Smell? Oh ... Huskies.

We've seen a mix of success so far this season.  A nice start (won both tournaments .. remember?) yes ... but there's no denying that the Seawolves haven't won a game in their last six.  

The bye week is an important factor this week and I think MTU is a great opponent to have coming into your rink following that.  The Seawolves are 5-1-2 against MTU in the last 8 games so everyone on the squad should have some confidence coming into the games about the ability to get what is nothing short of some very necessary points this weekend since they've all experienced nothing but success against the Huskies.

Sunday Potpourri: Good Pics and Bad Blogging

I haven't written for a while.  You may have noticed.  Or not.  No real reason other than every time I sat down at the keyboard anything that came to mind sounded uninteresting, unoriginal and just un-.   And then not writing became more appealing than writing.  For a few years I've managed to schlep text to these pages through some pretty difficult times for a hockey fan.  Honestly though, my inability to get anything posted over the last two-plus weeks has pretty much nothing to do with hockey.

Blogging just dropped down to the bottom of my priority list and the bye week helped that.  A few things above it on the list aren't particularly important and a few things are.  Fear not though, I'm sure my posting frequency will return to something more like normal without too much delay.

So today let's review a few things.  The Minnesota series wasn't fun.  Lucia's tactical use of neutral-zone trapping on Saturday night did the trick.  The Seawolves looked great in the 2nd and 3rd period that night but working extra hard on the last two periods of a weekend was perhaps saving it until too late.  I count that in my list of "shouldawon" games.

Last night's game in Duluth was another for the "shouldawon" category.  The guys sure had their chances I thought.  I counted at least three missed chances that shoulda been easy goals.  Shoulda don't get you a W though does it?

Nobody likes to lose.  Points in the WCHA standings are always important.  But not winning is also a chance to learn something about yourself.  It's still early in the season (not even 1/3 of the way into it).  If you add the two "shouldawon" games the Seawolves would be 5-4-1 right now ... instead they are 3-6-1.  Ask any long time WCHA fan and they'll explain how important it is to perform well at the end of the season versus the beginning.

Just look at last year's Seawolves for a perfect example; after 10 games the Seawolves were 2-6-2.  The last 14 games of the season they went 9-5 splitting with UofM, sweeping MTU, getting swept by UND, splitting with UNO and UA_ before sweeping Mankato in the final regular season series and sweeping the Gophers in the playoffs before losing in the WCHA Final Five to CC.  I'll take the current record with that understanding ... because I have as much patience as the Pope has Catholics.

Now go back to the top and check out the excellent pictures taken by the UAA Fan Blog's excellent sports photographer Tom Acquilano.   Good stuff.  Use the pictures as you wish; clicking on the "get yours" or "view all" tabs at the bottom of the slideshow will take you to the source on photobucket.  If you desire higher resolution of a specific photo let me know via email and we'll get you the full sized original free of charge.

Saturday Live Blog Versus Da Gophs

Seawolves Zero - Gophers Way More

There's not a lot I need to say here tonight/this morning.  Is there?  The Seawolves pretty much got a good ole butt-kickin.  I would hesitate to use a word like dominated but the score is reflective of such.  The boys had their chances here and there but when opportunities arose, the response was lacking.  Shooting the puck wide when the net is open ain't gonna cut it in any league.

That isn't to take anything away from the Gophers.  Kent Patterson came up with a couple of real nice saves to earn the shutout and their offense was a machine-like.  Is there really anything else to say?

To make it a game tomorrow night the Seawolves will have to do two things better than they did tonight and those things in general are called offense and defense.  They'll have to finish and they'll have to find a way to keep the Gopher snipers from finding their spots.  I know ... it's obvious.  Nevertheless, it's true.

I didn't find it to be an ugly game.  I found some bright spots; Leinweber looked good up on the wing but perhaps not quite fully comfortable.  Nice to see Eric Scheid get his first ice time along with the first chance to see Kory Roy.  Both did ok under the circumstances.  The Seawolves did block a lot of shots but I think the better game plan might be to test the opponents goalie a bit more than they did tonight.  Eh?

All the lines had their moments.  If our boys had finished their best chances it would have been a much closer game.  Fuck having to say "if" though.  Sorry to be blunt.  But it sucks to write "if" in that context.

Nights like tonight remind us why the two-game series in college hockey is special.  Saturday is another day.  That's all I have.

Game Day: Seawolves v. Gophers - Certain Retribution Edition

Watch/Listen:

TV: GCI Channel One (Live Statewide - 10:30pm tape-delayed in Anch/MatSu)
Live Blog: Here ...
Live Audio: KTZN 550AM (Kurt Haider) pay-per stream available at GoSeawolves.com
FREE Video Stream: uaahockey.nmtvsports.com

Other Stuff to read:
ADN Story: Da Gophs-r-gud (Doyle Woody)
Star Trib: Nate Schmidt Feature (Roman Augustoviz)
Star Trib: Big Series (Roman Augustoviz)
GopherSports.com: Q & A with Kurt Haider

It's getting to be a regular motivational quote factory over in the Minnesota hockey program.  Last season after the UAA's Friday night victory Gopher player Jake Hansen said, "We knew that we are a better team than they are and we didn't take advantage of it [Friday]." This time around the quote torch has been passed to Gopher radio man Wally Shaver.  Click this link to hear what he had to say at the end of his program "The Goal Line" for Gophersports.com.

2011-2012 Seawolves Intro Video

AKSWF alerted us in the Chatango to the release today of this new Seawolves Intro on their Facebook page.  Pretty nice.  I like it lots.  Best one yet.  Christopher Hargrave gets the credit for producing this.  Well done Christopher.  The 36 Crazy Fists music is great.  A fine job all around.

How Many Dead Gophers Does It Take To ...

The Seawolves were the first WCHA playoff opponent to win a game at Mariucci Arena.  That wasn't last year.  On March 10th, 2007 the Seawolves broke that Gopher unbeaten streak. Last year they became the first team to win 2 games at the Mariucci Arena during the WCHA playoffs.  Then the next night they became the first team to win 3 games at the Mariucci Arena.  The Seawolves are 6-8-2 against the Gophs since.