J.J.'s weekend

Since two ties is like kissing your sister twice there isn't much to talk about from this past series with MTU in Hotun. UAA battled back nicely on Friday night after going down 2-0 to tie it at 2-2. Saturday's game though found MTU struggling to keep pace with UAA until :23 seconds of regulation when they tied the game. Sister kissing in spades. Yuck. 2 points on the road is better than none though. Nathan Lawson was dead-on solid to spectacular both nights. But the highlight of the weekend in my mind was the play of Justin Johnson. Justin's aggressive physical play has always been his hallmark for UAA. But this weekend saw him score 50% of UAA's goals. Two beauts. J.J.'s play has been one of the few consistent efforts we've seen from UAA players this year. His absolutely stellar short handed goal a couple of weeks ago along with the goals in back to back games this past weekend give J.J. a season to remember so far. From the newpapers account it sounds as if Mr. Johnson blamed himself for the second MTU goal on Saturday night. Pfffffttt. There were 5 players on the ice that also could have cleared the puck but didn't. The weekend shouldn't have resulted in any UAA players hanging their heads though. In both games UAA showed up to play and that is a step toward consistency. Keep that sort of effort up and they could at least dig their way out of the hole they've put themselves in.

Justin has always been a fan favorite and opposition players and coaches often comment about his intensity and physical play. J.J. is showing the sort of leadership on the ice that we'd expect from a four year Senior player. He puts his heart and soul into every shift because he knows that NOTHING is going to happen if you don't bust your ass. And J.J. never stops busting ass. If I was the coach I'd have every other player on the team write a 5 paragraph essay about what they see J.J. contributing to the team. It would give each and every player the chance to reflect about how their own efforts compare.

J.J. is the man.