Saturday, February 28, 2009

Seawolves 3 - UAF 0

A second consecutive shutout for the Seawolves tonight gave them their 3rd straight Governor's Cup. Tonight was a much more defensive oriented game yet it generated 3 times as many goals. College hockey is crazy sometimes. The Seawolves had half as many shots as last night. They hit twice as many posts as last night. There were two breakaways for UAA compared with none for either team last night. Two Seawolf players missed the net on WIDE OPEN chances. UAA could have had 6 goals ... but they weren't exactly dominant. Credit UAA's power play for both wins this weekend. They controlled the puck well and moved it well both horizontally and vertically while keeping their feet moving. They got many more good looks on the power play because of the puck and foot movement. Nice job.

I wasn't able to get to the game but I was glad to hear it was a good crowd. Coach Shyiak emphasized the crowd support twice during his post-game interview. On a night when I couldn't make it to the rink I'm glad lots of other people did too. I'd echo Shyiak's sentinment when he noted that the atmosphere tonight was what it SHOULD be every night for this Seawolf team.

This series sweep confirms a couple of things for me. For one ... WCHA 9th place is> CCHA 4th place. The second is ... the rest of the WCHA teams seriously SCREWED THE POOCH when it came to non-conference action. I'd been mentally debating for some time whether this was a so-called "off year" for the WCHA. I never bought the hopeful bullshit from writers outside the WCHA that somehow the league had less talent than other years or that other leagues were catching up. It simply isn't the case. It is true that more than a few WCHA teams fumbled, stumbled and bumbled their non-conference games. But it isn't true that other leagues are somehow catching up. I don't know how many WCHA teams will ultimately get into the NCAA playoffs but if they get the courtesy of not having to face each other in regional playoffs then I'd put 20 bucks today on 2 WCHA teams reaching the Frozen Four.

Congrats to all the Seawolf players; look for Bryce Christianson to be named WCHA defensive player of the week this coming Tuesday. I thought they played a strong game overall. There were mistakes here and there but the Nanooks were so inept at goal scoring that those few mistakes never cost UAA anything. All weekend the Seawolves looked stronger shorthanded than UAF looked with the man advantage. If the series had been played 5-on-4 the whole weekend I'm pretty sure that UAA would have still won. Dean Talafous the 2nd up in Fairbanks has some young players that were big time scorers in juniors. If he continues with the trapping strategy he used this season those offensively minded players and the STUDS he has coming in (and they do have some hella good looking prospects coming into their program) aren't going to be happy campers.

I just about sent an email to Erik Drygas last night when I listened (though his incessant "uhhhhs") to his obtuse and inaccurate description/analysis of the Seawolves WCHA season. Erik was a good defenseman and showed a lot of promise before his horrible injury and he's an integral part of the Fairbanks hockey community. I'm sure he's well-liked and respected. But if someone is paying him ANY amount of money to do color commentary they are pissing their money down the toilet. The fact that he's coached High School hockey and continues to be so involved in the game is a credit to his character as a person. But really Erik ... get off the air buddy ... the Seawolves were competitive in 90% of their WCHA games and had home playoff possibilities until very recently.

Thanks especially to the "Hockey Mom" Governher for not showing up. Once I knew I wasn't going to the game I figured my seat mates would at least be glad that I wouldn't be there to heckle that bimbo.

26 comments:

Anonymous said...

Congrats seniors, 3 out of 4 years with the cup and very piviotal in teaching the younger kids how important these games are to the program, GOOD LUCK guys and thanks for the 4 years with us.

Anonymous said...

Sweet victory, I actually feel a bit sorry for the nooks and there anemic offensive play. I really doubt if Butterbean will change his style of play no matter how many offensive studs he has coming in. Question is, how many will be leaving after this year. Chad Johnson has carried there team this year, kind of like Naumenko did back in the Talafous days at UAA.

Threepeat is SWEET!

Anonymous said...

Great way to end the home season, and the Sully was almost full!! And yes, your seat mates did miss you tonight. Everyone around us was asking us where you were.

Thanks for the great blog! It was sweet to get back to back shut outs against UA_. Wish you could have been there, hope all is well!

puckdangler said...

Way to dominate UAF! GO SEAWOLVES!!

I'll be there in Duluth next weekend with my UAA jersey on to support UAA. Kick some Bulldog ass!! Go UAA!!

Anonymous said...

Congratulations to the Seawolves! What a sweet victory to all, especially the seniors. having the Sully with so many fans made this a night to remember and hopefully one that brings back an old tradition of packing 'em in. It was great to see a few more students in the student section and a few cheerleaders there. Thanks to whomever was responsible for the balloons and the "clackers". The flags looked great too. A great night for everyone, except the Nanooks!!!

Shane, Mat and Jeremy - you will be missed. Best of luck with future plans.

Jeremy, you rocked tonight. Hope you had fun!

Anonymous said...

Did I miss Selby tonight?

Any reports on Leiwieber and Wiles?

Glad to see August back on the ice 2nd period. Scared us just a little bit there.

Anonymous said...

Great game... Even though there were fewer shots it seemed a bit more like "Seawolf hockey" tempo tonight than last night (could be the difference between watching a very poor television broadcast and being there in person). After the first 19:58 the seawolves started to dominate with their size, physical play, and speed. Another great game by Bryce...

Congrats seniors, good luck...

Anonymous said...

I thought I heard coach say that Wiles was done for the year - not sure why. Leinweiber has a high ankle sprain. Selby didn't play probably because the seniors all got to play.

Anonymous said...

shyiak said that both leinweber and wiles are out for the season. wiles was at the game at the end celebration but was wearing a cast on his right foot. so im assuming he got hurt pretty bad at last weekends game against UND when Trupp tripped him or something.

Anonymous said...

Great game, great blog, and who cares if HockeyMom showed up!

What I'd like to know is how the hell the bowl part of the trophy snapped and broke like it did!?

Can't we let our guys hoist a cup that isn't falling apart?

I wasn't sure whether to laugh or feel terrible for the guys watching them out there with a broken trophy. Fran Ulmer was standing there when it broke and the look on her face was priceless!

In any event, Congrats Seawolves!

Sherry Beary

Anonymous said...

Is Bryce a Pro Like Crowder and Grant?

Anonymous said...

Is Bryce a Pro Like Crowder and Grant?

Anonymous said...

Congrats to the Seniors. Thanks for the time spent as Seawolves. Good luck in the future.

Anonymous said...

Who cares about the trophy breaking. This is the Governor's Cup. Put some freaking quack tape on it and it would really be Alaskan!

Way to go guys!!! Two goose eggs! This is right up there with the year we won it back.

Anonymous said...

To PuckDangler and anyone else going to Duluth next week, go to the DECC on Wed. and Thur. night if you're there. Two HS section finals. On Wed. it's Virginia vs. Hibbing and Virginia has a kid from Anchorage on their team, Derek Howard #6(dad is from Virginia). Also, Thursday Duluth East vs. Elk River should be an incredible game, #15 for East is going to UND in two years, #27 is going to UMD next season. Was fun three years ago at the DECC during the semi's seeing the UAA players there and their mouths drop looking around at the sell out crowd and intensity of the games. Have fun!!!! Duluth is a great city!!! One other note, if fans stay at the Radisson or Holiday Inn downtown you can take the skyway right to the DECC.

Anonymous said...

The players were saying after the game that the cup actually broke LAST year. Must not have been in the state budget to get it fixed...

Anonymous said...

Well, thank you, Doyle Woody, for giving the Seawolves the headlines in today's ADN.

Sorry to hear about Sean and Curtis. Wish you guys well and a speedy recovery!

Donald Dunlop said...

Anon Palin lover:
Start your own Seawolves Blog. Please. I'm sure there are enough Palin-dittoheads to give you a lot of traffic. Plus I'd imagine you have all sorts of quality insights about the program that you can deliver in entertaining ways. I promise you that if you do and have ANY measure of success in doing so that I will immediately stop blogging. Step up ... here's you chance.

Anonymous said...

I wonder where palin was last night. She was at the gov cup finale two years ago

Anonymous said...

I heard on the radio that Wiles was out for the season, but that Leinweber was out "for a few games", which gives me hope he'll be ready for the playoffs. Anyone know if Curtis is really done for the year as mentioned earlier here?

I think this weekends games against Duluth should be a good match up. UAA took 3 points in the Anchorage series, and both teams had nearly identical results against Minnesota. Both tied the Gophers on Friday and lost by 2 goals on Saturday. These are very much winnable games, so GO FOR IT Seawolves!

Anonymous said...

Great weekend seawolves. Way to go Bryce for having two shut-outs. Good luck to all the seniors your going to be missed. All three guys played awesome in their last home game. Jeremy you were on your hitting freezie again you rockim hard. Our next focus is Duluth Best of luck next weeknd.

THE SEAWOLVES RULE!!!!!!!!!

Lastly why in the hectic does the hockey blog have to include anything about the Governor Palin. Who gives a shit. Stay focus on the topic at hand. If you want to bad mouth John Hill by all means DO. At least it relative. In my opinion Hill sucked as a coach he thought he was a better coach than what he is. One of the biggest grips I had with him is that he psited off some great local talent. It was a pleasure to see him leave.

Anonymous said...

I agree. We should try to keep politics out of a hockey blog as best as we can. Although it was the governors cup which makes it hard to avoid talking about it. Obviously there are liberal and conservative readers on this blog so someone will get offended about any political related subjects. Our common interest is hockey; that is why we read this blog.

Anonymous said...

great finish to the regular season at home. Bryce is playing well with the approaching playoffs.
Let's stay healthy for the play-offs. Play disciplined in minnesota and get ready for denver or und.
All the best and thanks for a entertaining year at the sully.
Fan

Anonymous said...

Ok so you had your little moment in the sun getting the Governors cup again, too bad the Seapuppies choked in the first round yet again. Butterbean and the boys are heading to the Joe, sorry you couldn't join em.

Anonymous said...

dont talk about erik drygas that way, i doubt you've ever been alaskan of the year.

Anonymous said...

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