Wisconsin 4 - Seawolves 0

Being outscored four to nothing doesn't necessarily mean you were outplayed by that much.  I thought tonight's game was closer than the score would indicate.  The difference to me was that once the Badgers got up by 2 goals they really played well in the neutral zone and in their own end.  The Seawolves were hard pressed to manufacture scoring chances.  

WCHA Offensive POTW: Mitch Bruijsten

Junior Mitch Bruijsten's Friday night hat-trick in Colorado Springs to lead the Seawolves to a 6-3 win earned him WCHA co-Offensive Player of the Week honors.  Congratulations to Mitch on receiving the award.  Here's most of the text from the league's announcement:

Bruijsten, a 6-4, 205-pound junior right winger from Nijmegen, Netherlands, posted his first collegiate three-goal hat trick (on just three shots) to help the Seawolves to a 6-3 WCHA road victory over No. 6-ranked Colorado College last Friday (Dec. 9) at Colorado Springs World Arena. With his team trailing 2-0, Bruijsten netted an unassisted shorthanded goal at 17:37 of the first period to close the gap to one and then tied the game at 2-2 with a power-play tally at 3:00 of the second. After CC regained the lead at 3-2, Alaska Anchorage rattled off four straight goals to secure their first win over a top 10-ranked team, with Bruijsten completing his hat trick with a man-advantage goal at 3:00 of the third period to earn No. 1 star of the game honors.

2011-2012 Junior Class

Mitch Bruijsten, Chris Crowell, Tyler Currier, Alex Gellert, Daniel Naslund, Mickey Spencer and Scott Warner are the seven players that make up this season's all-important junior class.  The senior class's leadership is of course important; but with 359 combined games between these juniors ... the sheer quantity of experience and maturity amongst them will the biggest part of the leadership of this year's Seawolves squad.

Seawolves Take Game One 4-3 Over Gophers

Tonight's game had a little bit of everything for a Seawolves fan.  A great opening period and a half where they built a 3-0 lead by playing a great defensive game had me pumped and full of confidence for a win.  Then 16 seconds changed everything and I was about as anxious regarding an outcome as I have ever been.  When the Gophers tied it at 3-3 that anxiety ramped up another notch.

Step Two: Tied For 6th Now, Eh?

Sean Wiles scored a couple of pretty goals tonight for the Seawolves.  It was a nice way for him to get back into form after a fairly long goal scoring drought.  Wrapping up the sweep and getting the 4 points was good news for the Seawolves.  Again, tonight's game was an all-around team effort.  Everybody on the ice for UAA contributed positively.

Not The Best Outing Ever

The title of this post says a lot.  The Seawolves tonight came out a bit flat and after going down 2-0 early never really looked particularly threatening in terms of getting back into the game.  Mitch Bruijsten did cut the lead to 2-1 on a heads up play pulling a loose puck away from the crease, going behind the net with it and wrapping it around late in the 1st period for the only goal.

Seawolves Win In OT 3-2

Mitch Bruijsten somehow found a ping ponging puck in a mess of bodies with 1:26 left in OT to give the Seawolves a much needed win tonight.  It was the Seawolves first real chance in the overtime as St. Cloud had prevented them from getting deep in the zone while manufacturing their own attempts to win the game.

The 2010-2011 UAA Seawolves Sophomore Class

Mitch Bruijsten, Chris Crowell, Tyler Currier, Drew Darwitz, Alex Gellert, Daniel Naslund, Dusan Sidor, Mickey Spencer and Scott Warner are the nine sophomores donning UAA sweaters this season.  In many ways this group could prove to be the most important class of the four.  Yes, nothing has changed since my senior and junior class previews; the WCHA is still an upperclassmen's league.  But this group could very well have the most guys dressed each game night.  And in that lies their importance to the Seawolves chances for more success this season.