Saturday, January 29, 2011

Seawolves Frustrate Gophers To Win 1-0


Well that was quite the different game from last night wasn't it?  At 1:28 of the 3rd period, Matt Bailey buried one of the few really unchallenged shots that the Seawolves got tonight by beating Patterson clean and high on the blocker side.  The Seawolves had opened the 3rd with excellent energy at one point outshooting the Gophers 7-2.

That's a pretty hard-fought win for the team and Chris Kamal sure did a great job after not having a start for quite some time.  On the pregame show Kurt noted that Kamal's dad was in attendance.  Awesome for him to see his son play so well and get the shutout.  

It was a stellar defensive effort all night that keyed this win.  The Seawolves blocked tons of shots.  Last night the Gophers got 48 shots to the net.  Tonight Chris faced 30.  The Seawolves won the face-off battle once again going 35-28 and that was another important facet that contributed to this win.

On this 4 game road trip the Seawolves played some damn good hockey overall.  Last night's game then can indeed be seen as an aberration.  Though they didn't get any points at DU, they outplayed the Pios on Friday night and for big portions of Saturday.  Tonight they didn't outplay the Gophers so much as they frustrated them.

They didn't allow them to free-wheel in any zone and they blocked lots of shots.  Mark Pustin and Curtis Leinweber returned to the ice with Chris Crowell and Quinn Sproule in street clothes for the evening.  Tyler Currier played both nights against the Gophers and continued to contribute nicely on the defensive side of the ice.  Lots of good efforts all around by everyone really.

There can't be too much praise laid at any individual players feet tonight as once again this season the accolades must go to go to the entire team.  That said, I'd definitely give the player of the game to Chris Kamal.  He was dead solid for the entire game and came up with 3 or 4 really tough saves throughout the game to keep the Seawolves in it.

Congratulations to the guys on finding a way to make their long plane ride home somewhat of a happy one.  No doubt everyone (fans, players and coaches) would have liked to get 4 points out of the weekend but they can take some pride in the gutty performance on this night.

It was an important win that keeps the Seawolves ahead of Mankato and on pace with St. Cloud in the standings.  Mankato beat the Bluffskies 6-2 tonight and so UAA and SCSU are tied with 16 points each.  SCSU has two games in hand however.  The Gophers and Colorado College remain two points ahead tied for 6th with the UND/CC split this weekend.

18 comments:

Anonymous said...

I thought Liney played an excellent game (as he always does), and Pustin added a lot of energy out there. Good to see them back in the line up. Hope it stays that way.

Anonymous said...

I don't know who was more frustrated, the Gophers or their announcers. I thought that was one of the funnest parts about tonight was hearing those babies (and Coach Putulny and Hill) whine about the way the Seawolves were playing, like there are special rules to play some other way. Ha! Ha! Fuck 'em!!!

Alaskana said...

Yeah Donald, I agree that Kamal deserves POTG tonight. Especially for delivering UAA's first shutout of the season, first shutout at Minnesota ever and 2nd shutout in UAA/Minnesota's combined playing history. But to be sure the rest of the team put in a great effort as well.

Anonymous said...

Check out the Gophers schedule for the next couple of weeks. They will have their hands full with UMD and Denver. We will have a chance to pass them and I think it's OUR TURN for some Glory.
Excellent effort from the Whole team tonight. and nice to see a shutout for Kamal, especially with your dad there. have a safe trip home
Let's go Seawolves...

arcticfox said...

I didn't realize that the Gophers have a live chat (the exact same type as on here).. but I saw it when I dropped in there to read their game recap.

To Chris Kamal's cousin (user name "FUAAF") who was blogging over at the Gopher's website, drop in here sometime when THIS live blog is up!

I promise - We'll be friendlier to you that those Minny fans were!! ;)

BBEF said...

Good for you girls... We had our ass handed to us tonight but in the end I was hoping for a split...

BBEF said...

Also - I love clean linen after shitting the bed... That looks cozy Donald!

Suze said...

Nice to see Bailey with 8 goals and 7 assists. Nice numbers for a freshman.

Anyone have an update on Pickering?

Anonymous said...

Want a laugh? Go read Gopher Puck Live. He calls UAA inept and refers to them as "one of the most awful looking offensive teams you could possibly watch play NCAA D-1 hockey".

I guess he doesn't realize how many teams have a worse record that UAA does? Or how many good teams UAA has managed to beat? Then he says our game winning goal was FIVE HOLE. Really? Did he even attend the game? Sheesh. That is embarrassing if you are a Gopher fan.

Donald Dunlop said...

BBEF,
Glad someone noticed my visual metaphors.

Jimjamesak said...

People get up in arms about the Minnesota fans yet it's always the same arrogant asses they have been, so why bother?

But to respond, I guess playing defensively really grinds the gears of Minnesotan people (that and not having players from Minnesota!) but always remember, defense wins championships.

One tidbit from the broadcast, Woog was talking about Shyiak complaining the officials won't let the team be physical any more, they just call penalties anytime we do.

Too right, too right.

Alaska Hockey said...

Great effort Seawolves was worth the trip.

Anonymous said...

Saw you on TV AlaskaHockey, looked like you were having fun

Anonymous said...

Yeah, fuck those Gophers. It will be plain awesome when we sweep next wknd and they gain 0 points with their two losses to Duluth. We'll see who the "inept" team is after the Gophers lose to Duluth, Denver and then Wisconsin. Good luck Minnesota. You're going to need it. Go Seawolves!

Anonymous said...

I liked when the Gopher fell down with about 3:30 left and everybody was cheering like, Yeah we got our required home ice powerplay to end the game when losing until they realized the ref didn't call it because he was letting it go on both sides for the last 10 minutes.

I have to give the announcers credit because they were not bad until they realized Min. was in trouble. They even said that the hit behind the net was clean with the UAA player going shoulder to chest but still getting the penalty. It was funny when it started to fall apart for the announcers and they said that falling behind might be just the spark the Gophers needed only to watch the Seawolves shut them down for the next 7-8 minutes and create a bunch of chances by forcing turnovers.

One of, if not the first, game I've seen where the Gophers lose and don't throw a cheap shot or try to start something after the game, probably because they were outclassed physically.

FUAAF said...

Yes, it was VERY frustrating having to blog with the enemy! But it was worth it and I think Dan (Chris' Dad) had it tougher than Chris! It's probably going to be the only game he sees this year, so it was very special for the entire family. Hopefully the team will build on this and continue a stretch of solid play.

Anonymous said...

One of the toughest things about watching the Seawolves play at the John was listening to those horrible sing-along’s when the rodents score. Oh, how I would have loved to been there last night when the Richardson ground squirrels didn`t score. That would have been a beautiful sound. (And those misogynistic cheerleaders between periods… don`t get me started.) -30-

Anonymous said...

30, both Haider and the UM announcers made mention of how quiet the crowd was. Love it!

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