Sunday Potpourri: Don't Bother Reading

I write these Sunday entries differently than posts on other days of the week. I open the editing window and write this or that as the day passes. I'll do whatever minimal chores and/or errands that have to be completed and sit down when something comes to mind. Usually, that means a little of "this" and a little of "that" gets onto the blog. Not today.

I've got nothing. I could speculate about the team and what we might see. But honestly, if you look back over the last month I've done TONS of that. What else can I say? I think the team will be much improved. They could have their best season since joining the WCHA. I know that's a pretty big leap and virtually any fan from any other WCHA team expects exactly the same thing from this years squad as they've seen the last three years. I could make a more concerted effort to dispel those conventional beliefs but that's a waste of time. So few other college hockey fans take any time at all to consider their opponent's status that nothing I say (if anyone other than fervent UAA fans believed me) would matter.

I could make fun of Sarah Palin but I sense she's becoming enough of a caricature that my efforts aren't required. Not to mention that it is apparently unacceptable to some of my readers that I wander off-topic into the political realm on a random Sunday. Don't think for a second that I'm not aware that my personal political beliefs are probably shared by less than 1% of the American populace.

If there were some major breakthrough in Physics/Astronomy then perhaps I'd fill a day like today with that info. But alas, we're still stuck with the same answers as yesterday regarding the origin of the universe.

The WCHA Coaches Poll will probably be released sometime in the next couple of weeks. Woohoo. They'll pick UAA for 10th. Guaranteed. No point in talking about how meaningless they are. We all know the reason they play the games is to determine such things. Polls are dumb. Discussing them as if there is any relevance is dumber.

I could talk a little bit about UAA Alumni and how they're all progressing in their pursuit of playing in the NHL. But you know what? Doyle Woody does an EXCELLENT job covering all those connections. I read him to find out what's up with ex-UAAers and you should too if you're interested. Don't bother looking here. Following ex-players is just too much interneting for me.

I'll save a brief recruit update for next Sunday or the Sunday after that. It's early in the season, and to get any idea of how each might do requires more time. So for now I'll let the recruits simmer and hopefully they'll provide something tasty later on.

Maybe I just didn't feel much like writing. I hope you didn't spend any time reading all this nothing; but hey ... I warned ya. But if you did then at least let me offer 13 UAA Hockey Fan Blog "points" to whomever correctly identifies the woman pictured at the top of the post. 100 UAA Hockey Fan Blog "points" can be redeemed for a free beer at the Sully.

USNDT Enough - UAA Not Enough

The first word that came to mind on the ride home regarding the game was nonplussed. I didn't think it would matter to me much if UAA lost and if they'd played a bit better then maybe that would be true. I wasn't impressed with the backchecking. The U-18's got chance after chance to put a stick on the puck in the Seawolves offensive zone that they should have been denied. That inability to put a positive stick on the puck in their own end cost UAA 2 goals. And straight out of last years playbook on the other end ... the Seawolves didn't finish on chances that they should have finished. In one situation it was one pass too many when a shot could have converted. Another Seawolf player was high in the slot with an solid opening but chose to carry it in a couple of strides and then the opening was gone. And later ... Brian Bales gets nothing but crossbar.

The lines were a bit of a mish-mash. Lunden, Bales and Clark looked like a quality combination. Brian layed on a beauty of a pass to a trailing Luka Vidmar for a pretty tic-tac-toe goal. Kevin Clark rolled in on a clean break from the blueline and gave a nice deke before going backhand and finding the top corner. The 2nd line was Grant, Crowder and Moir. As the game progressed these guys seemed to find a little bit of chemistry; at least they started looking good on the cycle. They had more than a few chances but I'm not sure they'll be a permanent combo. The 3rd line was Selby, Parkinson and Jeremy Smith. I'll give props to Jeremy for effort. He created an opportunity or two with his hustle. I don't know when if ever Jeremy has played wing so I hope he enjoyed it. He played like he was enjoying himself. But overall the line was ineffective and all three guys looked like they were "pushing". The last line was Portwood, McCabe and Wiles. I think the third and fourth lines both managed a fair bit of time in the offensive zone (and overall the Seawolves had a pretty big advantage) but the 4th lines chances were few and far between.

The primary disappointment for me though was the last 5 minutes of the game. This was the part of the game where there was no question that the Seawolves were putting out 100 percent effort and generated good chance after good chance with nothing to show for it. Not being able to finish while creating that many chances is a problem. It was THE problem last year so any evidence of it this season isn't welcome. I know it's just preseason game #1.

I couldn't have liked what I saw from Curtis Lienweber any more than I did. I watched him closely. He made a couple of mistakes defensively but overcame them immediately. He contributed hugely on the offensive end. My pick for play of the night would be the sweet little lob pass he layed on for a Josh Lunden breakaway. It was a great pass. Expect to see Curtis play a lot this season. Expect to see him on the PK and the PP. If last year you'd thought the Seawolves were "x" number of players away from being successful then I promise you the number is now "x-1" because Curtis is the real deal.

I really liked what I saw from Tyler Moir going forward. He is a fine skater and brings a load with him into the corners. I think he might have been a wee bit overwhelmed by the speed of the game. I say that because I thought he looked a little lost a couple of times on the backcheck and he just couldn't seem to decide where to be. I'm sure he'll adapt; when he does he'll skate in a lot of games no doubt. In the same sense, I liked what Jade Portwood did tonight ... when I noticed him. The 4th line though was admittedly a bit out of sync so I'll have to watch Jade more closely before I can gauge how much ice time he is likely to see this year. Daychief and Tuton won't be out for long and it would take some hella good performances to keep them out of the lineup. I was glad Sidor got in the game for the last 7 minutes or so. He looked fine but didn't face any intense tests.

The only other player I hadn't seen before tonight was Brian Bales. Everything I've said about him appears to be correct. He can both score and set up. He was in good places for his linemates all night. He backchecked aggressively. He put out a full effort worthy of a spot on the 1st line.

All in all it's good fodder for much thoughtful analysis by the coaching staff. One more preseason game.

Click here to see the pictures I took. They're not what I wanted or was hoping for. But I'm no where near giving up on the effort. I'll get better as the season goes along just the same way the team will.

UAA vs. USNDT: Locals To Play For USA

Tomorrow night I thought we'd see a semi-boring exhibition game. I would have expected the Seawolf players and staff to not really care about the end result. That may still be the case but an announcement yesterday by the Alaska Avalanche will put a damned interesting spin on what would otherwise be semi-boring. Alex Young, Kyle Pichler and Tyler Currier impressed the USNDT coaching staff enough during the just completed NAHL Showcase in Blaine, Mn to be invited to fill out their somewhat short roster for this Thursday's game versus UAA.

Cool beans eh? What a great opportunity for these three kids! Jeremiah Bartz in the Valley Frontiersman reported on Monday that the USNDT had extended the offer. The only quotes from a player in the story are from Alex Young. He expresses that playing at UAA in the future is a goal for him. He sounds genuinely excited and I'll definitely be pulling for all three of these guys to have a great game. By every measure on paper this Thursday's game is UAA's. Division 1 teams are typically 2-3 years older on average than the USNDT team. That's a lot of maturity for even very talented 18 year olds to overcome. From time to time the USNDT pulls off a nice upset over a D1 team. I'm fairly comfortable saying that mostly happens when the D1 team makes a substantially lackluster effort. Regardless of the effort on UAA's part Thursday night, if any of these three guys (or their play as a line) has an impact on the game result then I'll be thrilled for them. I can't be happier that they're getting the chance. Make the best of it fellas.

Now don't for a second think that I really want the USNDTers to win. I'd also love to see local boys and DU recruits goalie Adam Murray and defenseman William Wrenn "PWND" by the Seawolves all night long. Sorry local guys, but you're going to play at a rival school I'm not digging that, you might not quite be snail slime in my book but I ain't about to cheer for ya either. Last year UAA put a 9 on the USNDT goaltender(s). I'm hoping for a 10 this year.

On Sunday, I wrote a short paragraph espousing the idea that the Seawolves staff look closely at the local talent base. I advocated that when they look at a local kid that wants to play here that they give him more weight. I wish I'd left the whole paragraph in. I didn't because the idea is a bit provincial and I didn't want to come off sounding like a rube. But what the hell? The fact that USNDT decided to include 3 of the 6 best other local kids to the roster makes my idea a bit less than strictly provincial. A local player with aspirations to play for the local university team is never a bad thing to have on a team regardless of the players evaluated potential. A kid like that has a crapload of built-in motivation. The list of local Anchorage (and Alaska) based talent in the past tells the story; Derek Donald, Paul Williams, Todd Bethard, David Vallieres, Jack Kowal, Matt Shasby, Chris Fournier, Lee Green, Justin Johnson and Chris King all make my point. NONE of these guys were scouted to be NHL material; and those scouting reports proved true since none of these guys were able to break into the NHL. But ALL of them made significant contributions to the Seawolf team partly because they were playing for their hometown team.

There's been a ton of other decent players that I loved seeing in Seawolf uniforms. I wouldn't include Jace Digel on my above list but I loved every shift that kid took in a Seawolf sweater. He never failed to NAIL someone during his shift. So I say the time to start grabbing more local guys is upon us. Pichler, Currier and Young aren't the only local guys that are looking to D1 as the next step in their careers. Let's get more than our fair share of the best local kids in the next couple of years eh ... even if they just end up being a role player.

Sunday Potpourri: "Fall" Edition

In case you missed it, the ADN reported yesterday that Jared Tuton will be out for up to 10 weeks with a broken leg he suffered during a "fall" three weeks ago. It seems that he wrenched his knee at the same time but apparently xrays showed no ligament damage. Good news and bad news. Bad news that Jared won't be on the ice; but good news it wasn't season ending. Out of difficulty though may an opportunity arise. In this case, the situation presents a chance for any one of several players to step up. In Jared's first two seasons he's pretty much been a fixture. Not because he puts the puck in the net but because he does everything else so well. Every team in the league deals with some sort of injury to a key player during the year. I'm heartened that Jared's occurred before the first practice because I know he'll be back (sooner rather than later) and when he comes back, I know exactly what sort of positive play he'll bring to the ice. And while he's out I'll be interested to see who steps up and what dynamics they might bring to the team. Silver lining right?

SNL had a little skit last night in which they lampooned Alaska by showing all the reasons that people wouldn't want to come here. It was a bit dumb. The fascination by non-Alaskans with Polar Bears always makes me shake my head. Polar Bears exist over a range that would make it the tenth largest state; but in that large area there are probably less than 25,000 people. So ... way less than .5 percent of the 49th least populous state has ANY chance to come across a polar bear in their day to day life. So uh... jokes about getting eaten by a polar bear are just beyond dumb. As you regular readers here know it's the grizzers that ya gotta worry about. Pretty much every city/town/conglomeration/berg is located in an established grizzly/brown bear habitat. If you know someone that is working on their own Alaska-based lampoon/skit make sure you steer them away for the polar bear references. At least I didn't hear a penguin reference though it wouldn't have surprised me.

The USNDT team is playing in the NAHL showcase this weekend and though they've got a couple of highly touted players I wouldn't say they're likely to present much of a challenge to the Seawolves. Past development teams have surprised a Division 1 opponent or two but this early in the season such a thing is unlikely. I expect Coach Shyiak to use this first game to evaluate his players and practice offensive and defensive systems. I hope all three goalies get to play one period. I've been following the showcase via boxscore and wrap-ups and I noticed the Alaska Avalanche look to be perhaps much improved this season. Of note are the contributions by the Alaska kids on the team. Good luck to the Avs this season; if you prove you can put a highly competitive team on the ice with Alaskan kids then the pain of the last few years will have been worth it. I am seeing a couple of pretty nice talent years for Southcentral Alaska as I look around the various junior leagues and I'm expecting to see lots of committments to D1 teams.

As for UAA's 09-10 class. Gustav Bengtson is off to what I'd call a bit of a slow start. He's played in 3 of Topeka's first 4 games and has tallied 2 assists. The Roadrunners are 4-0 and outscored their opponents 20-5. There is an alleged condition purported to sometimes arise when a younger hockey player commits to a D1 school. It is said that it can actually lead to a stalling of development because the player "relaxes" as he knows the next step in his career is assured. I'd prefer to see Gustav use his last year of Junior hockey to show that he can grow into quality D1 player.

Matthew Bailey's Tri-Cities Storm lost their opening exhibition game to the Omaha Lancers by a score of 6-4. Bailey's name didn't turn up on the boxscore. The only write up was on the Lancers website (get it together Tri-Cities!!). For Bailey this season is one for him to take that first step up from the Manitoba league in terms of competitiveness. Much like the WCHA, only the top players really make any impact in the USHL in their first season. Matt has the benefit of being a junior veteran even if it is just his first year in the league. Hopefully, as the season progresses Matt will become a key player for Tri-Cities.

Down in the "B", Mickey Spencer has one assist in Cowichan's first 4 games. I'd think that Cowichan's coaching staff will be hoping that Mickey develops as a team leader throughout this season. I'd anticipate he'll be among the top scorers on the team by year's end. In terms of future performance for UAA I certainly hope that Mickey finds a sustained scoring touch this season. His scoring last year was streaky. It also seemed dropped off after his committment to the Seawolves so perhaps a snippet of relaxation was involved. If he can score goals consistently throughout the entire season then his final year (before coming to UAA) will have been a success.

It's difficult to say whether one or two more players will be added to next year's incoming roster. I could see rationale for adding 3 for a total of 5 but that's unlikely to happen.