CC Cutthroat Trout? Better Than Tigers

In the past I've asserted that the CC Tigers had the absolutely stupidest nickname in the WCHA.  That's saying quite a bit with as much as I hate UND.  Of course, Mavericks and Bulldogs are pretty close contenders for the stupidity crown.  College sports team's nicknames should reflect some geographic attribute or regional cultural or something with some sort of local interest.  With Tigers being no closer than about 8000 miles to Colorado Springs it gets the retard crown.

Tigers have nothing to do with the front range of the Rocky Mountains in Colorado.  In 1994 the name was almost changed to Cutthroat Trout.  That would certainly have been better than Tigers but not exactly one of those names that inspires fear from opponents.  I still think Black Bears would be their best bet.  There actually are some of them in the state now (there were none when I lived there in the late 70s).

They should be mocked for their nickname.  It perhaps doesn't deserve the same vitriol as the former name of UND which as we all know denigrated a whole race of people.  Anyway, send Ken Ralph an email making fun of his school's nickname.  His email address is Ken.Ralph@ColoradoCollege.edu ... Come on Ken ... I know you're ambitious and are hoping this ill-considered move to form a new conference will make your resume look good but it'll take some time to see if that was a smart move or not.  Leading the change from your pathetically ludicrous nickname to something reasonable like Black Bears could go on that resume right now.

Ken is a UAA grad and member of the UAA Sports Hall of Fame for his swimming exploits.  So at least he knows the pride that a decent nickname can instill in amateur athletes versus the absurd one they are using now.

Our boys are likely lounging comfortably in one of the worst cities in the U.S. as I write this.  Why do I say that?  Because that joint is more full of extreme right-wing conservative nutbags than any place I've ever been.  There's so much wrong with that place that I really can't begin to explain it all for this post.  I have detailed some of the fucked-uppedness in the past here.  Search it if you are that interested.

Now about their hockey team.  The Seawolves played those guys six freaking times last year.  A scheduling anomaly put them in last year's tournament here in Anchorage and then it included 4 regular season games.  In those 5 games UAA held the advantage with 3 wins and 2 losses.  As it turned out CC turned out to be the Seawolves WCHA Final Five opponent.  Our boys pretty much outplayed them (territorially etc ..) but came up short.

So there is every reason to expect that the Seawolves can snag some points this weekend down there.  To do so they'll have to put the brakes on the highest scoring offense in the league.  Not a small task for a team that has had some struggles putting together 60 minute games.  If I was coaching it would be all defense this weekend.  I'd throw everyone back in front of the UAA goal and give whoever is in net the kind of support they'll need to keep CC from getting on the board too much.  

Offensively, I'd do the same thing I'm doing while I write this.  Cross my fingers.  Chances have been manufactured in enough quantity for the Seawolves to have won some games they've lost.  Finishing hasn't been there.  A coach can't do shit about that really.  The guy with the puck on his stick in front of the other team's net is the only solution.  Our boys have to find a way to finish.  My advice?  Get excited after the puck goes into the net ... getting excited beforehand is a recipe for a miss.

Not a lot of other stuff I can say about this weekend.  It's the last games before the Xmas break.  Going home and celebrating the holidays will be sweeter with those points.  Here's the UAA release if you want to read something useful about this series.  There's no TV ... (there never is from that place) and the webstream is from that crap outfit America One.