Saturday, January 10, 2009

Badgers 6 - Seawolves 3 ... Sigh

Key thoughts for the weekend.
Shots on goal - Bucky 62 ... UAA 49
Power Play - Bucky 3 for 12 ... UAA 0 for 12
Emotion - Bucky Enough ... UAA Not Enough
The Seawolves gave up their highest number of shots of the season tonight. The drought continued on the power play. And I saw so little emotional play from the team as a whole that it left me wondering how much these games matter to the guys. It certainly wouldn't have bothered me to see a couple of guys "foil up" but, other than Jade Portwood's love tap I was left wholly unsatisfied in a Neanderthal sense. That he got five minutes for a cross-check is ridiculous when the guy he cross-checked took 2 minutes for diving on the play. If the little cheating bitch dives on a cross-check then how can it be considered a major?

It was interesting and surprising to see August Aiken in the lineup. He acquitted himself well I thought. He showed good foot movement and good sense. He managed a coupla/three shots of which one was a legitimate scoring chance. I can see him becoming a threat in time ... hopefully sooner than later.

It was good to see Josh Lunden, Craig Parkinson and Kevin Clark get back on the scoreboard. I thought Bryce played well in both games. He wasn't perfect but he certainly kept goals out that might have otherwise gotten in. It is interesting to me that he got both starts. I'm not sure what to make of it. Perhaps he was just sharper in practices this week? Or is it that Shyiak is leaning toward a #1 goalie? I guess we'll see next weekend if the platooning returns.

I thought the refereeing was typical. The two referee system was meant to cure all sorts of ills but the WCHA "even it up" policy sure seems to be in force. I saw lots of Badger sticks horizontally on Seawolf puck carriers ... so I guess the whole "call it NHL style" crap is a thing of the past.

I'm wondering if another WCHA goalie will get POTW honors after a series with UAA. I haven't looked around at other performances but I'd put 5 bucks on Connelly getting it.

Highlight of the night might have been Kevin Clark checking Dolan at Becky's bench and knocking down Cody Gobofsnuff who was picking his nose on the bench. A two-fer-one! Woohoo. Pretty bad night when that seems like the highlight eh? I don't mean to disrespect the effort to get the game back to 4-3 after they'd been down 4-1. That's worth something ... hopefully they can focus on that one positive. Congrats to Tommy Grant for both of his goals this weekend. He is now the leading goal scorer in the WCHA with .72/game compared to Ryan Stoa's .68/game.

I honestly don't know what else to say. Um ... work hard this coming week guys; tighten it up and go down to Mankato with some attitude.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

a dissapointing weekend to say the least. we shouldve and couldve swept those baby badgers. at this point of the season if your gonna point any blame, blame me. i broke my tradition of not commenting on game day and we lose 4 straight to those baby badgers. but for real, Bryce and Jonny-O should pick up there game. 5 goals against is tough for our offense to pick up. save percentages in the .88 is not gonna cut it.

DC said...

It might be Eidness after tSioux's sweep of the Gophers.
I don't know if any defencemen did well this weekend. I know none of OURS did. Barffffffffff.

Word verification: nontox

Anonymous said...

It's pathetic how UAA markets this team. We brought a friend to last nights game, and when she asked about the military discount, she was informed that it was military appreciation night and got in FREE.

Hello? WHERE did the athletic dept. advertise this? NOWHERE. Not in the paper, not on their website. Commercials? Nope.

When the Aces had their military appreciation night it was on the television for 2 freaking weeks.

Ya think that MAYBE with all the military in the Anchorage area that the arena might have been somewhat fuller had they actually let people know about this?

Pathetic.

Anonymous said...

I just feel really bad for the boys. I know how hard they are working. sighh......

Anonymous said...

Team Canada chickenshit Cody Goloubef looked like an idiot when he went down like he'd been shot. And the Badgers get a powerplay after his elbow and dive. Although the fourth line watched from the bench much of the night, at least they had some life when they were on. Save for Clark, the rest looked apathetic. Coach stuck with the gameplan for 60 long minutes. Ho hum. Let's shake this group up.

Anonymous said...

I agree. A shake-up is needed. When the pp does nothing for the last 6 games, it's really time. Stubbornly, the same ones are out again and again with no success. NO-ONE IS SCORING. Scrap it and start over. There seemed to be more success and chemistry early on. Start there. Like last year, it does start with goal scoring though. More accurate shots at the net. They are getting the chances, they are just not finishing. I'd say have a team meeting with the captains and coaches and throw it all out there. There is so much talent on this team. Their body language is showing a lack of confidence. It's time to regroup. They are a great group of boys. It would be nice to see them have more success.

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