Sunday Potpourri: Drained

Big surprise announcement here: I can be wrong. Sorta. Ok well ... I was wrong about something and waffling with a sorta won't change that. About 3 years ago on USCHO I went with a definitive statement and I've been proven wrong. Like I said, big surprise. What did I say? I said that a kid playing for the Nanooks who couldn't skate his way out of a wet paper bag and scored as many goals with his thigh as his stick would never ever skate in the NHL. Mostly, it was a reaction to a segment of UAF fans that touted the kid like he was the second earthly appearance of Yahweh. Yep. I figured that NHL scouts would look at him skating and then take a pass on him. Well, they know more than me. Another big surprise eh? Eric Carlson of the UAF Hockey Blog (whom I respect and greatly admire) has quite rightly taken me to task for that statement. The guy has now skated in the NHL and scored 3 goals (guess how he scored his first one) for the Minnesota Wild. And yes ... despite indications to the contrary they actually are an NHL team. I was definitely wrong. Is this an apology for being wrong? Nope. But hey, I was wrong. Make your calendar.

Speaking of Fairbanks; Gustav Bengtson's first three games in a Texas Tornado jersey were against the Fairbanks Ice Dogs. Gustav warmed up to the future rivalry between UAA and UAF with a slash in game 1, a GWG in game 2 and an assist in game 3. Unfortunately, the Tornado lost two of three games to Fairbanks over the holiday weekend. At least Gustav won't have to worry about that when he gets to UAA. UAF remains the one team in Division 1 so far this season without a victory. It's been tough sledding so far for the Nanooks but they did manage to gain a tie this weekend vs. UNO. In other games of interest SCSU split with Clarkson, Minnesota tied Michigan State and was drubbed by Michigan, Wisconsin had the same results as the Gophs tieing MSU and losing (albeit not getting owned) to Michigan. DU and CC both won in their own rinks in their home and home series but CC really pasted DU the first night. UND split with UMD at the Ralph to maintain their destined 2008 National Championship run from 5th place in the WCHA. I've got to say here that with as much whining about refereeing as I saw on the Interweb this weekend from a couple of those fanbases means we UAA fans should never again worry about being called-out for criticizing WCHA refereeing. Speaking of refereeing. The SCSU Angels got called for 14 penalties this weekend with their first exposure to referees that weren't indoctrinated/brainwashed with the whole Bob "we're going to play clean hockey" Motzko bullshit propaganda. Hopefully, the WCHA refs will recognize how they've been manipulated by the media and start calling the Bluffskies games the same way they call every other WCHA series.

There's no change in the WCHA standings during UAA's bye week because of the splits this weekend. That's a good thing as always. The more that other WCHA teams split, the more chances UAA will have to improve themselves in the standings. We're currently in 8th place. Points this coming weekend (like all of them) against CC are going to be very important. There is still a pretty big variance in the number of conference games by all the WCHA teams with three teams (CC, UMD and MTU) having played 10; four teams having played 8 (DU, UND, UMTC and MSUM); and three teams (SCSU, UAA and UW) having played only 6. After the last bye-week UAA admittedly came out sluggish in their first game versus UMTC but this coming weekend against CC that sort of thing just won't fly. The team will have to be sharp from minute 0 to minute 120 of next weekends games. Anything less and 1st place CC will take advantage of it.

From every indication I have the Seawolves will dress two players in the second half that we've yet to see on the ice. I could be wrong (not like it is unprecedented eh?) but expect to see former NAHL Minnesota Express defenseman Jeff Carlson turn up and be added to the already deep blueliner crew. Reports would indicate that Jeff is another likely future power play quarterback. Jeff is not in school yet and so hasn't practiced with the team but was one of the top scoring defenseman in that league last season. I don't necessarily have any big expectations for any impact from him during the 2nd half but ya never know eh? Unlike Jeff, Brian Bales is in school and has been practicing with the team. He's sitting out the first half since he is a transfer but Coach Shyiak has said that Brian would be in the lineup today if he were eligible. I do have some "hopes" that Brian can be an impactful player as he has maturity and experience. His career at Bowling Green was a bust but lets not forget he was one of the top players in the USHL (61pts in 54 games with a +31 rating and was Sioux City's captain) before enrolling at BGSU.

I love turkey sandwiches don't you? I cooked my ass off on Friday but haven't been able to do the dishes because I stopped-up the damn drain with potato peels. ARGH! It's a very very stupid stupid drain and my efforts so far to clear it (valiant as they have been) have all proven futile to this point. My advice to others; never ever run hot water down the drain after you've put the potato peels through the disposal. I thought the thing was clear but didn't run enough cold water prior to using the hot. ARGH! And yes, I've tried everything but taking the pipes apart to clear it. You can't snake the damn thing since it's the disposal side! I guess the pleasure of eating the banana cream and pumpkin pies will have to work as some sort of offset to the pain that damn drain is causing me.