Sunday Potpourri: Jesse Martin, Hypocrisy, The League

DU forward Jesse Martin is in a Minneapolis hospital today having surgery to alleviate swelling around his spinal cord associated with three fractured neck vertebrae resulting from a hit applied on Saturday night by UND's Brad Malone.

Post Game Interviews 10-30-10 vs Minnesota State

Quick note, I only talked to Coach Shyiak. The players were still handing out candy and autographs at ~10:15 when I had to leave.

It's been a frustrating weekend for the Seawolves, losing and tying two games that they could've and should've won. Not for lack of effort on UAA's part, they had plenty of chances, but ran up against a strong defensive effort and stellar goaltending (I second the vote for Cook as Defensive POTW). UAA has played 8 games and 7 of them have either been tied or one goal games, as coach mentioned the team could easily be 7-1 instead of 1-5-2. The season is still as young as the team is and their luck can change (as I thought it had with Grant's goal) very easily.

The Power Play got another goal tonight, this time from Parkinson, that's a goal each for both games. The Power Play had good looks and some chances but, again, the goalie made some good saves and controlled his rebounds. It was a positive weekend to me for the PP despite the seemingly lack of scoring.

The team has a week off (A designated week off, meaning they can't practice officially I believe) before heading to beautiful (*groan*) Bemidji. The Beavs have to win in their shiny new building so that'll be an interesting weekend.

Off topic, I got an interview with the guys from Seawolf Thunder tonight, I'll be working on that tomorrow so look for that.

(Look Donald! A "center" tag! :P)

Seawolves 2 - Mankato 2

When you see your team do so many things right yet not get rewarded it's frustrating.  A lack of finishing on this night spells T-I-E.  And T-I-E on this night was no reward on a weekend when (admittedly biased and homerish as I am) you watch your team outplay the other over the course of 125 minutes.

Post Game Interviews 10-29-10 vs Minnesota State

What a frustrating night eh? It's been a tough season for the team and this game is just another frustrating one goal loss. UAA was not without their chances, outshooting MSU 31-18, but MSU's defense and some stellar goaltending held the Seawolves to a 3-2 loss.

Interviews are with #5 Justin Kirchhevel (call him Kirch) who had both goals tonight, his first two as a Seawolf, and Coach Shyiak (who, understandably, did not have much to say).

I'm off to bed. Please go to look at the actual youtube page to bump up the number of views. I'd appreciate that very very much.

Also tomorrow I'll be talking to the guys of Seawolf Thunder, so look for that as well.

Seawolves Fall 3-2 To Mankato

Tonight's game had a little bit of everything.  It was overall a tightly played game by both teams.  When clear scoring chances were manufactured by either squad they were more often than not quickly denied.  Both goaltenders played well.  While large parts of the game were defensively oriented there were nonetheless sections of the game that were wide open.

Game Day Post: Seawolves vs. Mankato

Friday, October 29th 2010

UAA Seawolves vs. MSUM Mavericks

Sullivan Arena::Anchorage Alaska

7:07PM (Alaska Standard Time)

What Is Mankato All About?

The Seawolves first WCHA home series of the season is nearly upon us.  But you already knew that.  What neither of us know at this point is what Mankato is all about this year.  Of course, that's aside from them being all about getting home on Sunday with zero WCHA confernce points out of the series.

Seawolves Weekend Halloween Promotions

So I meant to come back yesterday and go back through the weekend with some analysis.  It would have been mostly about being 1-4-1 after six games when we've seen pretty solid starts over the last few years (09/10 -- 3-3-0 .... 08/09 -- 4-1-1 ... 07/08 -- 3-1-2).  I would have talked about how close 5 of the 6 games have been and how the teams we've played were mostly all ranked fairly high.

Sam Mellor Selected for WJAC Canada West Squad

Sam Mellor has been named to the Canada West 2010 World Junior A Championship roster.  Mellor was among 8 BCHL players chosen to the squad.  

Seven AJHL players, 3 MJHL players and 1 SJHL player round out the selections.  7 of the named players are veterans from last years team.  3 players are 2010 NHL draftees.

Congratulations to Mellor on the selection.  

The Canada West team begins play with a pair of tune-up games versus Canada East and the U.S. on November 5th and 6th before beginning group play on November 8th versus Switzerland and the 10th versus Russia.  

The semi-finals are on the 12th with the gold medal game to be televised nationally in Canada on the 14th.

With 21 goals in 19 games so far this season Mellor's scoring pace is nothing short of fantastic.  Best of luck to Sam and all the other participants in this tournament.

Sunday Potpourri: Recruits, Fascists and Truth

Imagine you're 19 again and playing junior hockey.  You're in a tightly contested game still in the first period.  And there's been a wee bit of nastiness and some hurt feelings.  The other team had a player tossed after a shoving match.  Minutes later some more shoving and ungentlemanly-like play sees a couple of more players to the box.  Then on your next shift, a 6ft 7in, 230lb, 18 year old behemoth challenges you to a fight.  Do you do it?

Seawolves Suffer Tough Loss 6-0

The Famous Bethlyn @ UMD game RePReZenTIN ...

Until tonight the Seawolves had been in every game they played up until the end.  Every game had been decided by one goal or had ended in a tie.  Tonight the winning goal was scored before a minute had passed in the game.  Unable to get any sort of offense on-track the Seawolves fought hard for about half of the game before succumbing. 

Game Day Post Saturday: Seawolves vs. UMD

Saturday, October 23rd, 2010
UAA Seawolves vs. UMD Bulldogs
Duluth Entertainment & Convention Center::Duluth Minnesota
4:07PM (Alaska Standard Time)

Audio/Video Links

TV: None
Local Radio: 550 KTZN (Kurt Haider)
Webcast: FUCK B2 Networks ... don't buy their shit!!!
UAA Radio Stream: Splashzone (Pay Per Listen)

Other Media Links

ADN: Seawolves Strike First (Doyle Woody)

DNT: Decent Recap (Kevin Pates)

No Recap: Blame B2 'Cause They're "TEH SUCK"

I didn't get to watch the game.  So there's pretty much nothing I can say about it.  Kurt always does a great job calling the games on the radio but what can I add if I didn't see the game.  Thanks a lot B2.  If your website was on fire I wouldn't piss on it.

Game Day Post: Seawolves vs. UMD

Friday, October 22nd, 2010

UAA Seawolves vs. UMD Bulldogs

Duluth Entertainment & Convention Center::Duluth Minnesota

4:07PM (Alaska Standard Time)

Seawolves In Dull-uth To Open WCHA

From a fan blog writer's perspective, it doesn't get any more boring than having to come up with some sort of angle to write about Duluth.  In a state full of boring 'bergs and cookie-cutter hockey programs Duluth is the median of the bell-curve.  

I Heart Statistics and Other Ramblings...

I should preface this post by saying that I work for UPS and I've had to see this commercial many times, and I don't like it. But if I have to suffer so should others...

Mellor On Hockey News Hot List

Sam Mellor in action with Trail Smoke Eaters

The Hockey News Hot List compiled by Ryan Kennedy on October 12th lists Sam Mellor amongst 10 players he says "we're excited to see in the NHL one day."  The blurb on Mellor says,

One point off the British Columbia League’s scoring lead, Mellor’s 28 points through 14 games is nonetheless impressive for a 17-year-old. A demon on the power play, Mellor can also throw a nice check and is committed to the University of Alaska-Anchorage for next season. Draft eligible in 2011.

The other nine players listed are Mark McNeill (Prince Albert-WHL), Alexx Privitera (Muskegon-USHL), Luke Adam (Portland-AHL), Brandon Saad (Saginaw-OHL), Nikita Kucherov (CSKA2-MHL), Rocco Grimaldi (USNTDP), Mark Pysyk (Edmonton-WHL), Maxime Clermont (Gatineau-QMJHL) and Tobias Rieder (Kitchener-OHL).

So my guess on Sunday that NHL scouts may somewhat overlook Mellor because of his size was perhaps a bit hasty.  I suppose I better be more vigilant in my regular searches.  If I had been then I would have seen this article prior to making that prediction.  

It's worth noting that this is a "hot list" which is indicative of the various players listed "hot" early seasons and not some sort of prediction about the NHL draft.  It is a regular weekly feautre.  In any case, have a read and it'll become apparent that Mellor is being talked about in some pretty nice company.

(Edit): I wasn't on top of the fact that the Central Scouting Bureau's "Watch List" was so close to be published when I posted this Mellor article last night.  My bad.  Today they released their first watch list for 2011 and Mellor is included as a "B" prospect amongst the 7 other BCHL players listed.  Here's a link to the PDF document listing all the players.

Monday Brice Goal Rush Review

Through participating or reviewing the chat log from the weekend or reading my recaps I'd imagine everybody is aware that I think the Seawolves weekend was marred by ineffective backchecking and not enough shot blocking.  Here's the thing that occurs to me that I didn't mention; balancing the attack with defending is not a simple thing.  

Sunday Potpourri: Recruits, WCHA Reviews, Bad Humans and Good Humans

I'm imagining that lots of good will come from this past weekends experience for the Seawolves.  That's the great thing about sports and being a fan.  Tomorrow.  The future.  The next game.  The next season.  I know our guys will learn from past games and apply those lessons in the next; they're students ya know ... they're all about learning.

Seawolves Lose 4-3 Again

I felt like titling this post "4-3 So Nice, Seawolves Do It Twice".  But that wouldn't reflect the fairly decent offensive effort from the boys tonight.  And of course, there isn't a Seawolves player that didn't want to win tonight.  The Seawolves put 36 shots on net tonight with 3 finding their target.  That's a very positive sign. 

Game Day Post: Seawolves vs. Union

Brice Alaska Goal Rush Tournament

Saturday, October 16th, 2010

UAA Seawolves vs. Union College Dutchmen

Carlson Center::Fairbanks, Alaska

4:05PM (Alaska Standard Time)

Seawolves Lose 4-3 to Black Bears

My overriding feeling after last night's game is one of disappointment with the team's defensive effort.  Seemed to me that the Seawolves (at times) got caught running around in their own end a bit.  And that disorganization cost them in the first period.  They managed to tie the game up on three occasions and that's awesome but they could never manage to get the lead.

Game Day Post: Seawolves vs. CC

Brice Alaska Goal Rush Tournament

Friday, October 15th, 2010

UAA Seawolves vs. Colorado College Black Bears

Carlson Center::Fairbanks, Alaska

5:05PM (Alaska Standard Time)

CHN's Tale Of The Tape

Brice Alaskan Goal Rush Preview

This weekend the Seawolves face an opponent they've never played.  And also one they've played 87 times.  The newly competent Union Dutchmen and the Seawolves have never played.  CC and UAA play each other 5 times this season.  But before we get too deep into the preview, I'm going to describe my automatic association anytime I hear the word Dutchmen.

Monday Kendall Classic Addendum

The first weekend of the season is gone and I should clear a few things off my mind that I just didn't get to during the weekend.  The first is that we'll see no more job announcements from UAA for a head coach.  That's right, Shyiak's immigration issues are a thing of the past.  He is completely and properly documented as of last Thursday.  Congrats to him on being done with that nightmare.

Sunday Potpourri: An Ingrate, UAA > Aces and Other Stuff

Dave "Too Busy" Hakstol (center) ...

UND's victory over UA_ gave them the tournament championship regardless of the outcome of the UAA and Air Force game.  Why?  Because they won the Friday night shootout.  All well and good and congratulations for that.  But let's never invite them to a tournament in Anchorage ever again eh?  Not because they took the tourney title.  That's quite meaningless, two teams were 1-0-1 in the tournament.  

Post Game Interviews 10/9 vs Air Force

Second effort on the video side a little more timely. This stuff does take time to edit, encode, and upload (youtube is kinda slow at that, GCI doesn't help) so it won't be up right afterwards. Talked to Rob Gunderson (who played well and had some fantastic saves), Sean Wiles (two goals and All-Tournament team, playing well), and Coach Shyiak.

Quick note, I don't edit much out, just the parts where I get the camera set. The questions and responses are left alone. No shenanigans from me.

Also, I do embed the videos but I would appreciate a view to the youtube page to bump up the "view" count. If I get high enough views I can apply for revenue sharing from youtube, which would be real helpful. Also you can subscribe to me, Jimjamesak, as well.

Finally, go visit GoSeawolves.com and check out some of their videos. I'm really happy to get a chance to do this and the University doesn't have to let me but they do. So go and support their work as well, it is worth it, it's good stuff.

Seawolves Management Yields 3-2 Win

Matched up against a competitively playing never-say-die bunch of future Air Force officers on this Saturday night, the Seawolves managed a 3-2 victory.  I say managed because after scoring 3 straight goals in the 2nd period, the Seawolves played smart and mostly controlled the outcome.  

They "managed" their lead.  A questioned but allowed EN goal gave the AF boys a brief glimpse of hope and they manufactured a legitimate scoring chances in the last 5 seconds that could have earned them the comeback tie of the weekend award.  But it wasn't to be.

Abbreviated Game Day Post: UAA vs. AFA

Apologies for the brevity and uselessness of this Game Day Post.  While not explaining the reasons allow me to take full responsibility.  I'm including the ChatRoll program today just for ease of implementation.  The link to use for tonight's GCI Stream of the game is ...

http://seawolves.gci.net/

There is a "watch" button to press on that page.  If you can't access the stream that way then try this:

http://seawolves.gci.net/watch

Post Game Interviews vs North Dakota 10/8

Sorry about the lateness on this folks. Also about the quality as I edited this in a hurry.

First up is Tommy Grant follow by comments from Coach Shyiak.

Seawolves Score 4 Straight To Earn Tie

Down 5-1 with a little over 12 minutes left in the 2nd period, it looked to be a long night for us Seawolves fans.  But a gritty hard-working comeback over the remaining portion of the period left the score 5-4 at the break.  Then with just 1:34 passed in the 3rd period Brett Cameron nabbed the game tying goal.  

Kendall Game Day: Seawolves vs. UND

Kendall Hockey Classic::Friday October 8th

UAA Seawolves vs. UND Fighting "Redacteds"

Sullivan Arena::Anchorage Alaska

8:07PM Alaska Standard Time

Links

ADN/Woody: Tough Opener

GFH/Schlossman: UAA are rookies

GFH/Schlossman: Dell to play this weekend

UND Official Travel Blog: Stuff about them

Meanwhile Back On The Ranch ...

I stopped by and visited with the always friendly and professional administration staff at the Wells Fargo Center yesterday on blog business so I've got a few little updates about some things and then maybe some other stuff.  Nothing riveting necessarily but all well worth the update.

Making an Entrance

In the past few months I've been asked by people to give them an idea of I how thought UAA's season will go. My reply: I... don't know.

Releases, Releases, Releases ...

Prepare for linkedness and lots of it.  The releases from Air Force, UAA, the CCHA and the WCHA are available at the links below.

Air Force's Release

UAA's Release

The CCHA's Release

The WCHA's Release

Apparently, UND doesn't share it's releases with the UAA Sports Information Department.  Go figure.  But I've managed to track it down on their hostile and abusive website.  I'll be so happy when I don't have to be subjected to that obscene logo of a decapitated Lakota after this season.  

And of course, up in Squarebanks they just can't seem to provide a timely release but if you click the link you'll note I've graciously included them in the hopes that they actually do some sort of weekly release.

And lastly, here's a link to a short interview in which Campbell Blair talks about this week's preparations for the tournament.  Once again, I apologize for not being able to embed the video.  Blame Microsoft and their shitty attitude toward's Mac users.  Why they should care if I have Microsoft Silverlight on my machine (which I do) when I'm trying to embed a Silverlight video on a Google run website is beyond me.  But that's Microsoft.

Seawolves Media Guide Available Online

The 2010-2011 UAA Seawolves Hockey Media Guide has just been released and is available online.  There is so much information in it that you'd be foolish not to give it a good long look.  As always, the UAA Sports Information Department has done a great job putting this together.

Let's Talk About My Needs

Self-Actualization RuLEz ...

Shall we?  If I may be so bold as to assume the mantle for select college hockey fans around the nation to examine what it is that we (me) need out of our team this season.  When I say select what I mean is that any and all fans of teams that have won something significant can piss off now.  That's right gtfo.  I ain't talking to, about or for you.  Bye ... 

My Thoughts On This Year's WCHA

Whut???  Nicotine helps me think ...

Time for me to tell you what I really think.  Silly prognostications aside and faux-appointing UA_ as number one now in the background; I do have some ideas of my own about how the competition looks in the WCHA this year.  So in reverse-alphabetical order here we go:

Seawolves Win Exhibition 4-1

Coach Dave Shyiak got his first look tonight at a young Seawolves team.  In his pregame interview with the awesome Kurt Haider Shyiak emphasized that there are indeed openings for playing time.  And lots of freshman got their first chance ... 9 out of 10 of them.

Game Day Post: Seawolves vs. Windsor

I'll be hosting a chat here for tonights game.  I'll put any relevant links I come up with throughout the afternoon for you perusal.  Best of luck again to the team for a successful productive game tonight.  The CoverItLive Chatroom will open at 6:30 PM.

I am hoping to identify the best resource for listening to the game and I'll make sure I post a prominent link when I do.  Currently (2pm), I cannot make the Kenai radio streaming work for some reason.  But I'm sure I'll get it figured out by then.

Fairbanks is #1?

In Lieu of an actual preview of any sort, I submit tonight's 9-0 victory by UAF over the University of Windsor Lancers.  Nuff said.  Doesn't matter who or what the Lancers are about since the upcoming UAA exhibition against them is nothing more than the first chance for Coach Shyiak to really see what he can do with his extensive lineup.