Hockey Gods Say, "No! Not Tonight"

Seemed like no matter what the Seawolves did tonight it wasn't enough to satisfy the hockey gods. To me that makes the hockey gods a bunch of bastards. Yep, I said it; the hockey gods are bastards. Their mothers are harlots and their fathers are wayward scum! They denied UAA at every turn from the victory they worked so hard to acheive. I wasn't going to write anything because it sucked to watch my team lose, but I've got a couple of doses of Seagram's Canadian perspective booster in my system and have realized who screwed the Seawolves. They didn't screw themselves, the ref didn't screw them and even Bucky didn't screw them.

Wisconsin played a good enough game. They weren't dominating or demonstrably better in any particular phase. They did just enough obviously to get the win. Referee Mike Hunt (I'm mean Marco) didn't make any hugh gaffs. I've got a bit of a question in my mind regarding the apparent UAA goal that he waved off but without having seen a replay I can still accept that the net came loose prior to the puck crossing the line. I'd think it had to be "just barely" but as I said I haven't seen a replay. Even though I'd disagree with a couple of Hunt's penalty calls on the Seawolves I'll give him credit for doing the usual WCHA "even-it-up" job of not screwing either team. The Seawolves didn't screw themselves. They put more than a few shots wide of the net that probably should have been on the net but I blame the hockey gods for inserting themselves at those critical moments and influencing the physcis of those shots. They clearly got involved in the middle of the 2nd when a blistering Seawolf shot (I wish I remember who shot it) rang off the inside of the post and came out. This loss is in the laps of the hockey gods; I hear they really like "Whine and Cheese" and they've had plenty of opportunity to indulge themselves this week eh?

The Seawolves tonight played an overall competitive game. The first period wasn't all it could have been with Wisconsin getting the better of limited chances. The Bagers scored at 13:45 on a heavily screened wrister to the top left corner from high in the slot that Jonny O never saw. It was a good shot, but if Jonny had seen it he would have easily gloved it. UAA had good stretches early in the period and some flashes here and there in the second half of the period but honestly they were a bit outplayed through the middle portion of the period. Olthuis was sharp and Connelly was sharp as well.

The Seawolves regrouped between periods won the 2nd period. But it was the 3rd where they really played with passion and dominated more than a few stretches. After just 3:40 gone in the period Josh Lunden made no mistake off a good feed from Craig Parkinson and Kevin Clark. It was a pretty nice goal and gave the crowd some life for the first time in the game. The rest of the period there was a buzz on the ice and in the stands. Even after Matt Ford picked up a lucky pass in the slot and buried it at 14:45 there wasn't any apparent quit in the Seawolves. In the remaining 5 minutes the Badgers had a couple of decent stretches of possession but UAA had that never say die look about them. After pulling the goalie with about 40 seconds left the Seawolves controlled the puck and were all over the Badgers like ugly on an ape. A three or four second span from about 11 seconds to 7 seconds was the last opportunity for the hockey gods to stick their fingers into UAA's eyes and it seemed no matter what they did with the puck foundering in the crease that none of the 4 Seawolves close in could bang it past Connelly. I'll give credit to Marco Hunt for not blowing the whistle early. The Seawolves had an additional brief chance in the remaining 7 seconds but that wasn't to be either.

I was stunned at the end of the game. The only thought I had was, "How could that puck not get into the net?" What the hell did they have to do? Someone pissed off the hockey gods I guess. Well ... screw the hockey gods. I'm not praying to them anymore. I'm taking a page from Conan the Barbarian's book when he said to his god Crom, "And if you do not listen, to hell with you!" This Seawolf team deserves the respect of the hockey gods but if they're going to ignore UAA then I'm all about pissing on 'em. That's right. Piss on the hockey gods. They don't deserve anything positive from me. The team will do it without them tomorrow night.