I'm not going to give extensive analysis/commentary since it's almost 11pm as I start this and I need my beauty rest. A couple of comments first then onto the two games. I hate to have to get on the bash the referees bandwagon this early in the season (not that I'm ever necessarily shy about it) but since everyone always likes to point out that the WCHA is the "premier" league in college hockey, I have one serious question. Can this league ever go a weekend without legitimate questions about the performance of it's referees? Tonight in the Ice Breaker tournament at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, RPI got jobbed by a WCHA referee. I think few people would dispute it. Late in a tied game (at 15:31) referee Brian Thul (Tool) called a 5 min CFB against RPI which allowed the Gophers to have the man-advantage for the remainder of the game. 3 minutes and 18 seconds into the penalty the Gophers scored the GWG. I didn't see the game or the call. I'm confident though from reading commentary here on the Interweb that it was a bogus call (I base that on Gopher fan comments primarily). Here in Anchorage I honestly couldn't be happier that RMU defeated BU 3-2 but the WCHA refereeing in this game was questionable as well. Over the first two periods BU had 5 power plays and RMU only 2. I didn't think it was necessarily out of line. After BU went up 2-0 in the third period, and in a nearly empty arena during play I yelled (loudly mind you) "Hey ref! Even it up!" three times. Not more than 30 seconds later Albers whistles BU for hooking. It was technically a hooking call but even with the tighter standards it was a play that would just as often be overlooked as called. During the ensuing RMU 5-4 Albers nails BU with a cross-checking penalty to give RMU the 5-3 advantage. All credit to RMU for converting on their chances, but come on! I'm not saying that Albers heard me and it influenced him. But it was about "that" time in a WCHA refereed game where we see this sort of thing all the time which is why I "sarcastically" yelled what I did. So why am I droning on about this late at night when I'd rather be kicking back? Because we see this sort of crap from the WCHA refs year in and year out. People rightly complain (and yes sometimes they're just "whining") yet nothing ever changes. It's embarrassing when the "premier" league in college hockey has events like these virtually every weekend. It's clear that whatever mechanisms (if any) the WCHA has in place to evaluate and improve it's officiating are a complete and utter failure.
Game One: RMU 3 - BU 2
BU did not get jobbed tonight. They had every opportunity to win this game vs. RMU. They dominated the RMU zone for virtually the entire game. They fired a lot of shots at the net outshooting the Colonials 35-15, but must have had upwards of 60 attempts I'd estimate. RMU won the game for three reasons. Their goaltender Christian Boucher was outstanding, the defense in front of him was effective and they showed a lot of heart in capitalizing on the chances that presented themselves. Prior to the 5-3 when they tied the game the Terriers had 5 power play chances. Following that they had two more full chances on the power play. They dominated the game at full-strength and went 0-7 on the power play. While I don't dig the whole "even it up" philosophy of WCHA refs, I have to say that BU had it's fate in it's own hands and didn't take care of business. Credit has to go to coach Derek Schooley who ensured his team packed it in tightly on the defensive end. I didn't count blocked shots but Boucher (even with his excellent perfomance) should be grateful for the effort of the players in front of him. It's possible RMU's style was just as much an effect of the pressure but I'm going to give Schooley the credit for realizing his team was "outgunned" and for packing the slot to limit the quality chances. The game winning goal came as a result of some flukey play and actually went in off Karson Gillespie's back but the RMU forwards were playing with great heart and desire at the time. The majority of the 1000 or so folks in attendance were cheering for the underdog. We know what being the underdog is like here in Anchorage, so we appreciate being in that position. So ... congrats to "Bob" for the excellent and fun first game. They deserved the win; regadless of the wanker ref. Best player on the ice for RMU, #10 Tom Biondich. Best player on the ice for BU, #28 Brian McGuirk (he played passionately). MVP of the game Christian Boucher.
Game Two: UAA 5 - Wayne St. 2
It's not good form to gripe about a 5-2 win. And I'm not really going to gripe. But there was some pretty sloppy (early season) points in the game for the Seawolves tonight. An awful lot of little things that will likely be "clicking" later in the season were just not happening tonight. I won't gripe about a guy who had a 3 point night but Josh Lunden didn't have his best game. He was sharp on both excellent assists to he made and sharp on his goal. He had other good moments as well. But he had more than his usual share of little goofs. I don't want to single Josh out (even though I guess I am) but moreso use him as an example. Obviously its only the first game of the season but frankly if things had been "clicking" then UAA could have put up a much bigger number. Freshman Brad McCabe had two beautiful scoring chances in the 1st period that both went awry the moment the puck and his stick met. Easy to write those off to anxiousness/nervousness in his first NCAA game. Merit Waldrop however made sure Brad got on the board with the most unselfish play of the night on a 2-0. Kevin Clark was one Seawolf that didn't have any gaffs on the night. Both of his goals were results of excellent choices to go hard to the net. His assist (he didn't get one on the boxscore but trust me, he made the play) on Josh Lunden's goal was a thing of beauty as he beat a Wayne State forechecker to the boards in UAA's zone and sweetly popped the puck to a breaking Crowder and Lunden who took it 2 on 1 from UAA's blueline to score. Craig Parkinson, Tommy Grant and Winston Daychief all had good scoring chances but only Craig managed to get a goal in his first NCAA game. Tommy Grant showed some good turns of speed and a quick release. Winston Daychief looked intense and showed he knew where the net was. Jonny O was solid. He made two great saves, wasn't responsible for either goal against and was in control of everything that came his way. The blueliners all had good games. Mat Robinson is a stud. Luke Beaverson had a strong game. Trevor Hunt had a very solid outing as did Nils Backstrom. Lafranchise and Vidmar didn't much look like rookies. They're both going to grow into dangerous offensive defensemen at some point. In summary it was a bit of a mixed bag which is to be expected I suppose in the first regular season game so if I sounded like I was griping then I apologize. The team can play better, but winning 5-2 means griping should take a backseat eh? Best player on the ice for UAA, #9 Kevin Clark. Best player on the ice for Wayne State, #11 Derek Punches. MVP of the game Kevin Clark.
Game One: RMU 3 - BU 2
BU did not get jobbed tonight. They had every opportunity to win this game vs. RMU. They dominated the RMU zone for virtually the entire game. They fired a lot of shots at the net outshooting the Colonials 35-15, but must have had upwards of 60 attempts I'd estimate. RMU won the game for three reasons. Their goaltender Christian Boucher was outstanding, the defense in front of him was effective and they showed a lot of heart in capitalizing on the chances that presented themselves. Prior to the 5-3 when they tied the game the Terriers had 5 power play chances. Following that they had two more full chances on the power play. They dominated the game at full-strength and went 0-7 on the power play. While I don't dig the whole "even it up" philosophy of WCHA refs, I have to say that BU had it's fate in it's own hands and didn't take care of business. Credit has to go to coach Derek Schooley who ensured his team packed it in tightly on the defensive end. I didn't count blocked shots but Boucher (even with his excellent perfomance) should be grateful for the effort of the players in front of him. It's possible RMU's style was just as much an effect of the pressure but I'm going to give Schooley the credit for realizing his team was "outgunned" and for packing the slot to limit the quality chances. The game winning goal came as a result of some flukey play and actually went in off Karson Gillespie's back but the RMU forwards were playing with great heart and desire at the time. The majority of the 1000 or so folks in attendance were cheering for the underdog. We know what being the underdog is like here in Anchorage, so we appreciate being in that position. So ... congrats to "Bob" for the excellent and fun first game. They deserved the win; regadless of the wanker ref. Best player on the ice for RMU, #10 Tom Biondich. Best player on the ice for BU, #28 Brian McGuirk (he played passionately). MVP of the game Christian Boucher.
Game Two: UAA 5 - Wayne St. 2
It's not good form to gripe about a 5-2 win. And I'm not really going to gripe. But there was some pretty sloppy (early season) points in the game for the Seawolves tonight. An awful lot of little things that will likely be "clicking" later in the season were just not happening tonight. I won't gripe about a guy who had a 3 point night but Josh Lunden didn't have his best game. He was sharp on both excellent assists to he made and sharp on his goal. He had other good moments as well. But he had more than his usual share of little goofs. I don't want to single Josh out (even though I guess I am) but moreso use him as an example. Obviously its only the first game of the season but frankly if things had been "clicking" then UAA could have put up a much bigger number. Freshman Brad McCabe had two beautiful scoring chances in the 1st period that both went awry the moment the puck and his stick met. Easy to write those off to anxiousness/nervousness in his first NCAA game. Merit Waldrop however made sure Brad got on the board with the most unselfish play of the night on a 2-0. Kevin Clark was one Seawolf that didn't have any gaffs on the night. Both of his goals were results of excellent choices to go hard to the net. His assist (he didn't get one on the boxscore but trust me, he made the play) on Josh Lunden's goal was a thing of beauty as he beat a Wayne State forechecker to the boards in UAA's zone and sweetly popped the puck to a breaking Crowder and Lunden who took it 2 on 1 from UAA's blueline to score. Craig Parkinson, Tommy Grant and Winston Daychief all had good scoring chances but only Craig managed to get a goal in his first NCAA game. Tommy Grant showed some good turns of speed and a quick release. Winston Daychief looked intense and showed he knew where the net was. Jonny O was solid. He made two great saves, wasn't responsible for either goal against and was in control of everything that came his way. The blueliners all had good games. Mat Robinson is a stud. Luke Beaverson had a strong game. Trevor Hunt had a very solid outing as did Nils Backstrom. Lafranchise and Vidmar didn't much look like rookies. They're both going to grow into dangerous offensive defensemen at some point. In summary it was a bit of a mixed bag which is to be expected I suppose in the first regular season game so if I sounded like I was griping then I apologize. The team can play better, but winning 5-2 means griping should take a backseat eh? Best player on the ice for UAA, #9 Kevin Clark. Best player on the ice for Wayne State, #11 Derek Punches. MVP of the game Kevin Clark.
11 comments:
Clarkie almost had himself a hat trick. if uaa wins tomorrow, and he scores or gets an assist, then he'll be tournament mvp.
That would be nice to see, Clark has heart.
Yeah, the 5 minute call on RPI at the Ice Breaker was a terrible call. Woogs said he wouldn't have even called a penalty on the play. Not a great game for my gophers, as they were sleep walking until it was 3-0 RPI.
Didn't see the BU/RM game. UAA was very sloppy tonight. They play like that in WCHA games vs. Minnesota, No Dak, or Denver and they'll get run out of the building. Clark was fiesty.
anybody read what doyle woody said in the paper this morning? finally gives the team its props even though they played like shit
in response to Jason, I did think that there were some large chunks of time that the Wolves were not playing well enough if it were against most, probably all, WCHA opponents. That is why I think that tonights game will be so important, with BU you are getting much closer to the talent level that you will see in the W. In the loss BU was by far the faster bigger stronger team, and I do mean by far. It really just seemed that they didn't do a good job of capitalizing on their scoring chances. They are going to come out hard after that loss. You know Jack doesn't want to losses to start the season.
And to Anonymous 10:19am,
I did read the 'positive' articles from Andrew and Doyle, although Doyle started well and ended fairly well the middle seemed like another shameless promotion of the Aces, he calls them consistent after the team was sold on ebay 5yrs ago. But it was a step forward for Woody, even if he usually seems a little more positive in the early part of the season. Andrew's article as good though.
Also to close my long spurt, there were things that weren't that bright for the team, like their PK. And these things HAVE to be fixed before tonight and before the rest of the season Gov cup and WCHA. But, the team did look more confident and hungry to score. The team should put up more goals than last season which would be very good. Hopefully Johnny O will be very steady in the net. He seems like he is a little more steady than Nathan was but it is how well he performs that will be the question, which I think he will do great and surprise many people.
Woody's article was a back handed slap at UAA. He has been a reason why so many people stay away from the games. His consistantly negative articles over the years did NOTHING for UAA. Now he tries to write a positive column and it deteriorated as with each word he typed. He would do UAA and us all a favor and stay away from the rink.
I am glad to see UAA win last night despite being what I thought was terribly inconsistant. They took several uncalled for penalties. Despite all this, they still won. Mcabe missed (the puck) twice right in front of the net until he finally buried his third try. If he keeps getting ot the net we could have what we've been missing for years - someone to pass to in front of the net! Grant reminded me of a mix between, Charlie K and Justin Bourne. He'll be a good player for UAA. Daychief was kind of quiet, I'd like to see him get a coouple of points soon, so he can build some confidence. I really think that we will see a lot of points from Crodwer/Lunden/Clark this year. Did anyone notice that Waldrops second shift lat night came with 8 minutes to go in the 1st? Beaverson caught some pine time too. Something happened and I believe a message was being sent. Olthius wasn't really tested in goal. Wayne State didn't get much traffic in front of him. We'll see tonight when BU dumps half the team in front of Johnny O.
Here's the comment I left at the bottom of Doyle's commentary today regarding UAA on adn.com:
"Doyle:
You are wrong when you say "number of seats sold" and compare it with "butts in seats". Ever notice the bar code ticket readers? Oh of course you wouldn't. You haven't paid to get into a hockey game in 20 years. In any case, the ticket takers use bar code readers to um ... count (something we all should doubt your veracity as being able to do) the number of people through the door.
If folks want drunken crowd rowdiness and fighting on skates with some hockey mixed in, go to the Aces games. If they want to see THE highest level of amateur hockey in the world then go to a WCHA game at the Sully and watch the Seawolves challenge this year. Kids all across this country put their heart and soul into the game for the sake of an education. They should be respected and honored and not judged by ECHL or other professional standards (even though the majority of them are fully capable of playing at that nearly lowest of professsional levels).
Your abondonment of the team on which you cut your hockey writing teeth is evident to all Seawolf fans. They understand the fiscal and bandwagon nature of that decision by your employer. They don't understand nor do they forgive the negativity (such as all the "backhanded" compliments) you show for the Seawolves (the team that essentially built your precious Aces) virtually anytime you deign to comment on them.
Do us all a favor. Stick with the Aces. Let Hinkleman establish himself. As a relative "noob" to this community, hopefully he'll grow into a positive media presence. That is of course if you're not mentoring him."
I read that article by Woody. I don't why I do anymore. Instead of a "Hey go out and see this team" article we get the typical Doyle "Man UAA can't draw fans and the ones that are there are quiet so why should you go?" article.
I just wanna kick him in the nuts some day.
Donald, I can't find his commentary. When I go to the UAA articls (Seawolves come out swinging), and click on the link for Woody's "blog", all I get is
"We are sorry, but the page you requested is not available".
Did it get pulled?
Here's a link to Doyle's commentary called "This UAA Squad Worth a Look"
Post a Comment