Recruit Blake Tatchell Named SJHL League MVP

UAA Seawolves recruit Blake Tatchell was today named the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey Leagues Most Valuable Player for the 2011-2012 regular season.  Below is the text from the SJHL announcement.

1991 F Blake Tatchell (North Battleford SK) finished second in the SJHL scoring race with 42-goals and 44-assists.  He also finished 31-points ahead of the next highest scoring player on his team.   In addition, the Stars were pretty much guaranteed a win whenever Tatchell recorded two points or more.  His hockey career will continue next Fall at Alaska-Anchorage (NCAA Div I).

The North Stars finished 2nd in the 6 team Bauer Divison with a 41-15-0-2 record in 58 games.  Tatchell, a 5'10" 180lb left-handed center played in 57 games.  The North Stars have a bye in the first round of the league playoffs.

Congratulations to Blake on this very nice recognition.

Recruit Blake Leask Named AJHL Top Defenseman

UAA Seawolves recruit Blake Leask of the AJHL's Bonnyville Pontiacs has received that league's W.G. (Bill) Scott Memorial Trophy designating him as the "Outstanding Defenceman" for this season.  Below is the text from the announcement.

 Blake Leask of the Bonnyville Pontiacs has been selected as the Top Defenceman for the 2012-2012 AJHL Season. The award is given annually to the defensive player who demonstrates the greatest all-round ability in the position throughout the season.

Leask led all AJHL defencemen in scoring with 49 points and was second overall in team scoring. During the 2011-2012 regular season, Leask recorded his first AJHL hat trick, 8 powerplay goals, 2 game winners, and enjoyed 7 games in which he scored 3 or more points. Leask was awarded the Pro Hockey Life Star of the Game five times.

Congratulations to Blake on this nice award.  I'm betting that we'll see more of him at forward here at UAA than we will of him playing on the blueline.

There'll be a comprehensive recruit update here following the season.

Post Game Interviews vs UAF

82 ain't pretty, but it still counts. The Seawolves took the lead in the Governor's Cup with a 3-2 win over Nanooks. It wasn't pretty, in fact the first period had me yelling for them to wake up (sorry guys, but like many UAA alum I don't take poor play against UAF very well). UAA came back in the second period, getting a quick goal from Eric Scheid. UAA then got a bit of a break, Kory Roy was hauled down on a breakaway and given a penalty shot (karma of the water bottle I said, one that didn't get called two years ago). He missed and on the ensuing faceoff Curtis Leinweber scored one past Greeneggsandham for a 2-1 lead. Brett Cameron scored the game winner on a sharp angle shot that went off eggsandham's stick. UAF got one back that needed a review to count but the Seawolves played well down the stretch and got some great saves from Chris Kamal (Rob Gunderson reportedly picked up an injury in practice and did not dress).

At least a point tomorrow and the Cup comes home. On another note, if you can't be in Fairbanks please head out to the Wells Fargo Center and watch the UAA Womens BBall team play UAF. Both games are important as, if my research is correct, no UAF team has beaten UAA this school year and these are the last two meetings. I Want A Clean Sweep! Go Seawolves!

Also: I'm hitting the road and will be up in Fairbanks. I can't guarantee interviews but I will taking some video highlighting the road trip.

Seawolves Burned In Last 10 Minutes

Losing by a big margin in the WCHA can carry the burden of shame.  Such a thing is not the case for the Seawolves after losing 8-3 to St. Cloud tonight.  Why?  Because tonight's game didn't turn into a blowout until about the 10 minute mark of the 3rd period.  It wouldn't be the first time a team ran out of gas on the road in the last 10 minutes of a two game road series.  No shame in that.

For 110 out of 120 minutes this weekend the Seawolves played exactly the kind of hockey that they'll need this next weekend against Fairbanks and during the last furlong of the WCHA season and playoffs.  There were lots of bright spots and things we can look forward to.

Hopefully there aren't too many hung heads on the trip home.  This team should actually be feeling pretty confident.  We've all been saying here that they've been playing good hockey and well ... they have.  So I can imagine this is a team that will come back hungry to take care of the state bragging rights business.  And one that going forward will have something to prove to it's WCHA opponents.

Finally, just let me say that there is too much good going in with the team for me to spend any time thinking about or concerning myself with that last 10 mintues.

Blaine's Eric Scheid Ends Drought with OT GWG vs. St. Cloud

Thank god nobody can say that UAA hasn't beaten SCSU on National Hockey Center ice anymore.  More appropriately, thank Eric Scheid as he scored the Seawolves first and last goal of the night.  I didn't see the game so this entry is about nothing other than putting that long stat of not winning in that joint behind us.

The Seawolves did everything to get a win a couple of years ago as a clock adjustment in the last 30 seconds gave St. Cloud the extra portions of a second along with the clock person at the NHC starting the clock VERY slowly.  It took a 6 on 4 extra attacker and power play to deny that win with .1 second left in the game.  

That night the Seawolves weren't able to score the game winner in OT.  Tonight Eric Scheid picked up that responsibility with his second goal.  I hope Eric's family was at the game to see it.

Good on the boys for the nice win.  That is all.

Post Game Interviews vs Minnesota State 2-11

A really short interview from Coach Shyiak as your idiot blogger forgot to charge his camera and the battery died in the middle of the interview. Oops.

Another close game where a single mistake did the Seawolves in. It is often a broken record that seems to be going on this season. I will defend to the point that it is, for the most part, not Coach's fault. Some onus needs to be taken by the players on their own play. They are after all, adults and should be held responsible for their own faults and successes. A coach is only responsible for so much.

Post Game Interviews vs Minnesota State

Back to the old ways it seems. Just when things seem to get going good the Seawolves come out and lay one out. Yes, the Seawolves scored the first goal on the PP but a bad second period lead to the Seawolves being 2-1 down. Another PP goal tied things but some bad play in front of the net gave the Mavericks the winner.

Mistakes, mistakes, mistakes. Mistakes will be punished. It is a hard lesson that needs to be learned once and for all.

"Not In Our Barn" Week

Welcome to the 1st unofficial UAA Seawolves and the official UAA Hockey Fan Blog "Not In Our Barn" week.  The second half of the season and the convenient six-game homestand haven't exactly gone the way the team and fans would have liked.  So I think it's an excellent short-term goal to not let Mankato think for a minute that they can come into the Sully and take any points.

Winning Saturday is the Better End of a Split

Never doubt that your favorite Seawolves blogger knows how to have a good time.  A win or a loss certainly doesn't dictate that eventuality.  That said (yes it's an overused phrase), enjoying yourself after a nice win certainly has it's advantages over enjoying yourself after a loss.  And let's be honest here ... I should have said "another" loss.  Anyway, I'm currently in the first referenced state of mind.

Post Game Interviews vs Duluth 2-4

The Seawolves win tonight 3-2 over #1 Minnesota-Duluth. It was game that was polar opposite of what had been happening for UAA. The Seawolves were giving up the first goal, often early in the game. Tonight they scored first, very early on. They'd fall further behind and end up chasing the game. Tonight, the got the second goal and made UMD chase. They weren't getting stellar goaltending. Tonight Rob Gunderson gave his best game of the season (and despite Matt Bailey's two goals, Gundy was my #1 star vote). The defense was mistake prone and giving up goals. Tonight, the defense was solid in preventing easy shots and giving Gundy a clear look at the puck.

This is a win that can go a long way. Time will tell if the Seawolves can carry this foward to the rest of the season...

Interviews tonight with Coach Shyiak and Rob Gunderson.

Post Game Interviews vs Duluth 2-3

Interview tonight with Coach Shyiak. No thoughts from me, I don't feel like repeating myself...