Seawolves Get A Hard 6-1 Lesson

If you play badly against a good team. You'll be made to learn a hard lesson. If you just think of tonight's game in terms of learning opportunities ... then you'd be forced to conclude it was a hugely successful night for the Seawolves. Much learning to be had at the venerable Sully tonight.

Things didn't go well (obligatory understatement). Missed passes were abundant; both due to poor passing and poor catching. Defensive responsibilities were blown left and right. If Michigan had scored every time the coverage in UAA's zone broke down; then we could have seen one of the ugliest losses ever. Bryce pulled their asses out a couple of times. And a couple of times the ugly helmets just blew their chance. There were a couple of good defensive plays made by Seawof defenders. But they generally only had to happen because of a mistake/turnover.

Nothing happened with any consistency for the Seawolves. Nothing. They were never able to generate any sort of sustained offensive pressure outside of the occassional single shift. They were hemmed into their own zone by Michigan's offensive pressure all too often. I wouldn't have expected Red Berenson to allow his team to play like shit for two nights in a row. And they didn't.

I'm going to limit myself here to one specific criticism that I think was a big factor in tonight's outcome. The Seawolves all too often assumed that their first touch was going to be sufficient. The Wolverines didn't ... they knew it would take 2nd and 3rd chances to gain the puck. The Seawolves didn't. So as a result, Michigan generated lots and lots of turnovers. The Seawolves simply lost a LOT of little battles for the puck.

Michigan did also play a positionally strong defensive game. I thought UAA was more effective when a defenseman carried the puck up in transition. When an ugly helmet did turn the puck over in the UAA zone, the Seawolves often found themselves giving it right back up to a perfectly positioned different ugly helmet. Saying they took away time and space is the tried and true hockey phrase coaches use. But I'd go a step further ... they owned the passing lanes.

When that happens ... you'd like to see your team respond by carrying the puck versus trying to make sweet breakout passes. Michigan had our breaking forwards pegged and more often than not disrupted the pass. If UAA completed a first transition pass through the neutral zone, then Michigan disrupted the 2nd.

When the NJ Devils were charging to their first Stanley Cup ... they played exactly the sort of game we saw from Michigan tonight. The Devils often put up a big number on their playoff opponent by owning the passing lanes and scoring off of neutral zone turnovers. Smart, good skating defenseman can attack that sort of play. Lest we forget that two good puck carrying defensemen are out injured. Backstrom's and Hunt's return will improve the transition game. It's also useful that the next two opponents aren't nearly as talented as Michigan.

I think all the freshman forwards could learn a lesson from watching tonights game. They'd get to see the ineffectiveness of their backchecking. They'd notice the ugly helmets standing in front of UAA's crease that they apparently didn't notice when they were actually on the ice. Not to be overly critical, coming up to speed on the defensive side of the game (for a rookie in the WCHA) is common to most everyone. But I can't ignore the fact that it happened often this evening.

I like Chris Crowell's work tonight when the Seawolves did manage possession deep in the Michigan zone. I think I underestimated his foot speed. More than a few times he was really smart off the puck showing good anticipation. It's hard to teach a player anticipation. You either have it or you don't. I'll definitely give him credit for hockey sense. I'd credit Drew Darwitz with a much better game tonight than he had on Friday night.

Nothing I saw tonight from Mitch Bruijsten or Daniel Naslund diminished my hopes for them. Mitch showed a bit of toughness in the corners and in front of the net. Naslund continued to do good things with the puck. I think they both passed up shot attempts. They shouldn't. Kevin Clark's goal is a good example. He could have passed that puck or even waited for something to develop. He didn't though. He shot. He scored. But I think they'll both come up to speed relatively quickly.

Sean Wiles is vying for the "wheels" nickname. He really turns his feet over so much faster than when he got here. He is a threat to break in wide on any team and get to the net. Awesome to see his skating so strong. Craig Parkinson seems to be getting more shot attempts outside the 5ft mark where he says all of his goals come from. And I'm liking his ripping wristers. I like them better when they don't go high or wide. But that's not worth griping about. Not every shot can be perfect. Jade Portwood looked good as usual on the penalty kill and I suspect his play around the opponent's net is going to start paying off more often for him as the season goes on.

I think the new league mandated 3 "official media" timeouts per period is going to have a significant impact on the WCHA this season. I think overall 4th line minutes are going to go down. With a full minutes rest at the bench a lot of coaches are going to skip rolling 4 lines and throw their #1's and #2's back out. It might be early to assume that but it's something I'll be paying attention to as the season goes on.

It's early in the season. It's early in the season. It's early in the season. Those repetitive declarations are for my own benefit. I don't like watching them lose. Like any fan, I want to know "whats up" when they do. It's early in the season. There can be no other reasonable course of analysis but to remind myself of that.