Saturday, December 08, 2007

Tres, Trois, Drei, Tin, T'aii, Three

Three is the watchword this weekend for UAA. 3 points out of 4 in the series and Paul Crowder's 3 goals in the 3rd period make it so. I wasn't going to do any post game recaps or analysis this weekend since there was no TV coverage. Naturally, I listened both nights to the always great Kurt Haider but listening doesn't lend itself to me adding any kind of insight or additional information that anyone reading here wouldn't have anyway. And I'm still not going to do any game analysis here. But I couldn't let the most productive WCHA weekend so far this season for UAA pass without some sort of comment.

Crowder's hatty was the first for a UAA player since Martin Stuchlik netted 3 against the Gophers in 04-05. A big phat congrats to Paul. He had only one goal going into this game so it's great to see him breakout of that goal-scoring funk. In keeping with the 3 theme; there are three guys I'd say were definitely leaders this weekend. Merit Waldrop, Peter Cartwright and Blair Tassone combined for 10 points on 3 goals and 7 assists (Waldrop 2g 2a, Cartwright 4a, Tassone 1g 1a). Those numbers combined with their performance last weekend vs. CC tells me these 3 guys are playing at the top of their game and have been displaying lots of on-ice leadership to the underclassmen. I heard Kurt call their names dozens of times each this weekend. Jonny O picked up an assist on the ENG goal. That'll make for a good plane ride home I'd think.

UAA still has 4 games in hand against UMD who still sits in 3rd place in the league standings. UAA and the skating angels from St. Nothingelsetodoville are tied for 9th (last) with 7 points each. Wisconsin and Mankato are tied for 7th (next to last) with 9 points each. Sixth place Minnesota has 10 points. Fifth place MTU has 11 points. UND is fourth with 12. And UMD in third with 13. Sensing something in all that? The league is very very tight. A 4 point weekend could vault a 9th place team to 5th in a single weekend. Wisconsin, SCSU and UAA have all only played 10 games so the chances that the league will get even tighter points-wise sure seem to be increasing. Both CC and DU have given themselves a bit of separation at the top of the league table with 20 and 18 points respectively. Excepting those two, all the WCHA teams are playing at (or damn near) .500 hockey overall.

I'll be back tomorrow with the regular Sunday Potpourri.

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

A great weekend for the guys. Getting three points on the road is what was needed. Listening to the games it seemed to be a total team effort with all lines contributing. Big congrats to Paul on getting the hat Trick. Play the same next week against Denver and we will get points for sure.

Jeff said...

They looked pretty good. It was cool to see us Paul get the short hander to complete the natural hat trick. The next time gci doesnt air a road game, look at the b2 network website and there's a good chance you can find it there.

Anonymous said...

Donald, I was at my last craft show of the season last night and missed all but the third period. I didn't hear either Selby or Tarkirs name. Do you know if they played?

Also, the paper said that Crowder was on the 4th line. Who was on the first with Lunden and Clark?

Anonymous said...

Tarkir stayed in Anchorage this weekend.

Jeff said...

Selby played both nights. He did a pretty good job from what i saw.

Kris said...

I do believe Parkinson was on the line with Lunden and Clark, but if you check Collegehockeynews.com their box score shows all lines and pairings, at least that was reported on the line up cards.

Anonymous said...

Thanks Jeff. Good, that's the pairing I wanted on the first line anyway.

There hasn't been much chemistry with Crowder on the first line, and this past weekend we had several lines clicking. That's what they needed.

Anonymous said...

kris, that side shows Crowder on the first line, but the paper said he was on the 4th line. Maybe coach changed things up mid game.

Anonymous said...

Anyone think Crowder will get the WCHA player of the week with his hat trick? I think he has a good shot at it.

Where is everybody?

Anonymous said...

Damn made the trip to Duluth last year cause I had free time got swamped this year couldnt go I would have loved to trade. Great win on the road and heres to hoping that this is turning a corner to getting out of the basement.

Anonymous said...

cant wait for crowder and clark and lunden to be back together as crowder is just starting to click... this line could be even more dangerous now that there all starting to roll

Anonymous said...

Hey Donald, nice post on Woody's blog. I really think he has a bone to pick with UAA, regardless of what he says. We just need to expose him every chance that we can.

Let's hope that Crowder can stay hot, The seniors keep rolling and for Clark and Lunden to start connecting again, we'll need against DU - they allow less than 2g a game.

Anonymous said...

I think that player of the week will go to Rakhshani, although I would rather it go to Crowder.

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