Friday, November 14, 2008

Seawolves Survive For 3-2 Win

A late power play goal with 2:04 left in the 3rd period gave UND an opening which nearly enabled them to tie the Seawolves. Through the first 57:56 of the game the Seawolf penalty kill was perfect. They killed 31 seconds of a 5-on-3 chance during a span where they killed near back to back to back penalties at 14:33, 17:01 and 18:30 of the 2nd. They killed a 5 minute major beginning at 3:17 of the 3rd period. They did all that by forcing UND to the outside and blocking numerous shot attempts. They were stellar in their efforts and Jonny O was solid saving the few shots that did get through. Yet things weren't settled until the final horn as the power play goal from Ryan Duncan spurred a desparate final couple of minutes with the extra-attacker. The despartion was rewarded with a 2nd goal at 19:19 while the Seawolves were reeling a bit from the pressure. Following a Seawolf timeout they were however able to clear the puck once and win a final faceoff for another clearance.

While I'm sure the Seawolves are happy to have the win and pleased with their shorthanded play I think they might also realize that their play tonight was spotty at times. I thought that perhaps the timing of the penalties they took kept them from establishing the usual game plan. I have to credit an outstanding all-around effort in thier own end however, their own power play chances were ineffective in generating many offensive chances. Both the Backstrom and Leinweber goals were created by good traffic in front of starting goalie Walski. Sean Wiles goal (note that on Sunday I mentioned that he could very well get his first goal this weekend) came from making the best of an opportunity. Paul Crowder's nice pass made it possible and Sean made no mistake beating Walski high on the glove side with a nice first timer.

For tomorrow night they'll have to limit their penalties and find a way to increase their time of possession in the UND end if they hope to sweep. They'll be facing a team that will play harder and be more determined. The look on Hakstol's face tonight during the 3rd period tells me that he won't settle for less than an all-out full-on desparate style tomorrow night. The Seawolves will have to match their intensity shift by shift. A win on the road is a real nice thing to have but a sweep would be special. Congrats to all the boys for their fine play. Keep your heads about you tomorrow night, give it everything you've got and the plane ride home will be a blast.

28 comments:

Anonymous said...

Congratulations Wolves, that was a fun game to watch!

Anonymous said...

Seawolves quite simply were physically overpowering. End of story.

MeanEgirl said...

Congrats, UAA!! It's exciting to see your team doing well so far, Donald!

Donald Dunlop said...

Thanks MEg ... good luck to you guys against Minnie. I'll be watching.

Anonymous said...

Peanut farm rally tomorrow night. Nice game boys, don't say it, don't say it........ok lets say it SWEEP THE SOUIX. Crowder for HOBEY, think big UAA fans, he is the real deal. We will miss him next year; yes I know he is a junior but the NHL is calling.

Anonymous said...

We still need to stay out the of the penalty box. Lets face it, UND came out flat and was 1-7 on the PP, including not taking advantage of Portwoods 5 minute major.

Don't get me wrong, I am glad we can play 57-58 minutes of great hockey. But, if we give more penalties than we receive, it kills the chance at us winning. We are slowly becoming that team that can overcome it, but last week when we allowed 3 PP goals, and a 4x4 goal at home against MSU, it tells me that our ability to prevent penalties will tell us how the outcome of the game will go.

None said...

(posted by the artist formerly known as "the P")
Where are all the flickertail fans??? They were telling us how bad our team sucks for the past week.

Hello? Nodak? Anyone there?

On Wolves!

Anonymous said...

I wouldn't say your team sucks. I think the Wolves will end up to having a good season. What is UAA's current best season record if I may ask? And this is no dig so you smack talking UAA fans be still!

Congrats on the win though UAA. The performance by the Sioux was god awful. It was pretty horrible to watch. The score isn't a good indicator by the way. You can't come and play the last 2 minutes and expect to win or pull out a tie(most of the time).

UAA did what they had to too win and a kudos to that. If UND plays like they did Friday then UAA can definitely pull out a sweep. Not even worth talking about our PP if you can even call it that with the way it's been doing.

None the less I hope the Sioux can regroup and turn out a better performance Saturday night.

Once again though good win UAA.

None said...

(posted by the artist formerly known as 'the P')

Well said Moderateflikertailfan.

However, in response to the mouthbreathing farm hands that were stinking up this blog for the past week I have this to say: Shyiak is entering his fourth season. Think about it. His first recruiting class is now seasoned enough to make a difference in WCHA games. Clark, Crowder, Lunden, and so on.

True, we were the WCHA doormat in the past, but Shyiak has us going in the right direction. And we just came into the house that degenerate gamblers built and bitchslapped you.

But hey, head up flickertail fan, you still might manage a split.

On Wolves.

Anonymous said...

when we can get wins like this after the Christmas break, than I will get excited. our late season swoons are well noted.

Anonymous said...

Seawolf fans meeting at the peppermill tonight.....peanut farm not hosting

Anonymous said...

Iam so happy for Johhny O ...BRYCE says he is the best Goalie Partner he ever had...Congrats guys TC

Anonymous said...

Pretty much agree on your game analysis, Donald.

Glad to get a win we may not have clearly deserved. Starts to make-up for all the ones that had the opposite outcome of late.

We’ve discussed this before, but it’s interesting that UAA actually isn’t taking a huge number of penalties on average compared to the rest of the teams in the league. It’s more that the Wolves opponents seem to always bring their halos.

In league games, UAA has been called for 2.9 more penalties per game than their opponents, but is only 6th in penalties/game, whistled for 0.3 more that the league’s average. 3 of the 5 league teams with fewer penalties/game than the Wolves have been the UAA’s opponents to date (Duluth, -1.48/game, 1st; NoDak, -0.98/game, 2nd; Tech, -0.65/game, 4th). Mankato skews things the other way as they’re a penalty/game more than UAA.

Be interesting to see if those stats hold through the season. Will UAA’s early season opponents have been called for fewer average penalties, or will teams just not see the box as often when playing the Wolves?

WhiteBeard

BrettB in STL said...

To: On wolves, or the artist formely known as "p" or whatever you call yourself..

I've read all these posts on this blog this past week, and noticed you can't get over UND's arena, or Ralph Engelstad or the Fighting Sioux nickname... I know the arena is the best in the world, even NHL players, coaches, and GM's have said they'd love to have that as their facility. The Sioux logo is pretty badass too, I mean Hockey News ranked it in the top 4 this year... As for your bashing of Ralph, the man started a construction company in Thief River Falls, MN, and turned himself into a billionaire.. I'm jealous too, but like he told me: "The harder he worked, the luckier he was."

Onto Hockey: UAA beat UND last night, it happens in college hockey. I think you can officially start dropping bombs and "I told you so's" when UAA earns a trophy or makes it deeper in any of the playoffs. Something greater then, UAA beating UND in a game or 2... I mean UAA swept UND in what year?? And how far did UND go into the playoffs and where did UAA end up that year?? I don't think you'll find too many Sioux fans dropping comments on here, as they made some great points about how UAA has no credibility in talking trash.. Untill you're the team to beat don't feel bad, embrace the role as the underdog...

Anonymous said...

every goalies nightmare
"I Got jerked playing UAA"

Anonymous said...

WhatEVER BRO WHERE SO FUKIN HAPPY RIGHT NOW WE are for real

Donald Dunlop said...

brett:
As far as UND bashing goes. It is what it is bro. That fanbase overall has the smallest sense of humor in college hockey. My intent every week here is to bash and wind up the other teams fans in whatever way I can. The Susie fans of course think that I reserve the bashing for them. Go back and look what I said about Mankato last week. UND just has more targets so the "jealousy" label is ridiculous. Of course, it isn't a new response ... in fact it is the typical response. As if nobody could just not like their team so instead they are jealous of the Arena? Laughable.

As to your hockey comments ... speaking for myself you'll see that in those terms I mostly gave their team their due during the week (of course I'm never going to slather ANY opponent with praise before a series ... I'm not trying to be an unbiased journalist ... which is why I included the words "Fan Blog" in the title). I clearly didn't heap any praise on UAA for their first win in this two game series either nor have I proclaimed them the next great thing. I fully expect both teams to come out differently tonight. The Seawolves have a chance at a sweep. I hope they get it. If they do you won't see me proclaiming anything other than happiness that they got 4 important points early in the season.

Donald Dunlop said...

PS.
That's just the things that came to mind when reading your comment. Not necessarily that my thoughts were directly related to same.

Anonymous said...

Anonymous said...
WhatEVER BRO WHERE SO FUKIN HAPPY RIGHT NOW WE are for real

November 15, 2008 2:43 PM

another happy to be living in
no-where-land resident....but he can see the tv/cb tower from his house....whoopie.....
and he's savin up to go to on vacation at Chuckecheese

Anonymous said...

Damn penalties. You take 3 you sit the next game. Just a thought.

Anonymous said...

Didn't Grant take 4 penalties tonight?

Anonymous said...

I guess I might have lost count. More than 2 is too many anyways. But 3 seems to be a fair limit. You take that many, you are benched and you sit the next game. If you have been scoring during the game already, then maybe a reprieve, but tonite that did not happen, so next week-end, sit. Play Selby.

None said...

Brett. First, and most important, you are clearly a d bag.

I mentioned the house that degenerate gamblers built once. (That I recall, I, unlike you apparently, don't spend too much time reading my posts) I'm struggling to understand how that qualifies as not being able to get over something. And on the name, I'm not the one thats making the flickertails change their name, the NCAA is. And I could really give a damn about who likes their name, the NCAA doesn't either.

Regarding hockey, the posts were intended for the semi-literate flickertail fans that were on our blog all week shouting about an easy sweep. You seem slightly above semi-literate, so it wasn't really generated at you. Although, if you took offense, I can't say that I'm too distraught.

The rest of your white noise doesn't really deserve comment. I will however point out that you love Nodak so much that you moved to StL... sweet jesus. I'm sure Missouri is beautiful this time of year. Try not to get caught in gang crossfire while walking to your car, luck be with you sir.

On Wolves

BrettB in STL said...

On wolves, I'm not White, I'm Native American. I have a house and business here in STL, and a house in Grand Forks still. So my family hopes I don't get shot anytime soon.

As for Hockey, a splits a split, WCHA teams love to do that this time of the year. I've noticed a few former UAA players making noise in the NHL Glencross, and Burrows if I recall.. Well I'm sure Dave will start recruiting more talent, as your team is in the best league. Have a good season till the teams meet again.

Anonymous said...

great game, but those 2 goals in the 3rd period shouldnt have happened

Anonymous said...

UAA really needs to start improving in the third periods, that has been the worst so far this year. Very low scoring and letting the opponents put them away.

None said...

Congratulations on being Native American. Though I'm wondering what that has to do with anything? I doubt the NCAA cares what you think, if that was your flimsly argument.

Anyway, good job not addressing anything that I posted. Also, better talent? Brah, you are writing on this blog. Compaired to you I'm Hunter Frigin S Thompson. But an impressive miss with a last flailing shot on your way to the mat. -9-10... it's over. You've got nothing, take your weak trash talk elsewhere chief.

Anonymous said...

you can't really blame the goaltenders-those late softies-looked like each one either Jonny-O or Bryce was out of position and the puck sneaked in(okay they didnt sneak in) but as Aces Head Coach Keith McCambridge has said, "the defense should take it upon themselves to defend their goalie" or something really similar. Im not bashing our defense im just saying the game isnt over into its over-its never to late to do the small things(also those goals were made by lucky bounces and mis-directions and some great passes)

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