Seawolves Sweep UAF

Paul Crowder's 3rd goal of the weekend at 5:46 of the 3rd period tonight secured an unbeaten non-conference season for UAA; the Seawolves finished 3-0-1 versus rival UAF, beat Merrimack and tied Nebraska-Omaha.

UAF forged a 2-0 lead with goals at 9:27 of the 1st from Lucas Burnett and 8:47 of the 2nd from Curtis Fraser. Up to that point it'd been a fairly evenly played game with UAA perhaps sitting back a bit more than usual. The second goal though seemed to act as a bit of a wake up call for the Seawolves and they began pressing offensively more effectively than in the first half of the game. Chad Anderson's 5th goal of the season at 12:06 of the 2nd broke the drought for UAA. Chad waited for some traffic in front of the net and buried a hard wrister past Chad Johnson from near the blueline. I'd have to go back and check but it seems to me that all of Chad's goals this season have been virtual carbon copies of each other. Keep it up Chad. I'm all good with cloning.

Chippy play was most evident throughout the 2nd period with 8 penalties called (4 on each team). Overall the weekend saw 37 penalties (19 on UAF; 18 on UAA) ... if you think it was a WCHA "even it up" referee you'd be right. Friesma though deserves some measure of credit though as none of the chippiness ever really got out of hand.

The Seawolves tied the game 2-2 when Kevin Clark took a Chris Tarkir clearing pass in neutral ice and turned on the afterburners into the UAF zone. A nifty flip of the puck to his shooting side and a step outside the defenseman was all the room Kevin needed to absolutely bury the puck in the top right corner. Prettiest goal of the night. Kevin was much more effective tonight than on Friday and seemed to have more passion all night. At one point in the 3rd period in neutral ice he was being pestered by Kyle Greentree but totally schooled him sending Kyle to the bench shaking his head while I laughed my ass off.

3 minutes and 39 seconds after Kevin's goal Crowder netted the game winner when Nils Backstrom smartly passed up a shooting opportunity to instead feed him on the right side down low. And as he did last night Paul finished very intelligently. With his brother drafted and considered a good prospect I wouldn't be the homer that I am if I didn't point out that UAA has the better Crowder. Sorry Tim. I guess you don't suck with your 2 goals this weekend but little bro is owning you so far. I haven't looked at all the stats from the weekend but Paul would seem like a strong candidate for ROTW from the WCHA.

Peter Cartwright scored his second empty net goal of the weekend at 19:18 to finish the sweep.

The most notable accomplishment out of this season's 4 games series versus UAF is that I'm pretty sure that no goalies were run this year. Pretty hard to believe in a rivalry that probably leads all of hockey in goalies getting run. The only injury of the weekend that I noticed was when I'd guess Trevor Hunt turned his ankle early in the first period tonight. I was sure he'd be done for the night but he did play a fair number of shifts in the rest of the 1st period before retiring for the evening.

A good weekend to end 2006 with a strong St. Bob team coming up. Later in the week I'll have a preview of that series that even graduates of Jan Brady State will be able to understand.

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Edit to rant:

Dear Sullivan Arena Mngt,
Your blatantly over-officious "staff" cast a shadow over the post game celebration when the team took the trophy over to the UAA Student section to thank the students and get them into the trophy picture. By making any attempt to control the miniscule number of hard core fans who were being honored by the team they support your staff has greatly offended the longest term ongoing client of your arena. Please train your staff to recognize the difference between an effusive show of support and an actual dangerous situation where their presence might be required. Not only was those particular students experience marred but now the pictures of the cup will have a couple of asses in yellow shirts.

Ewe of Eh Gets An "F"

The Alaska Nanooks did their best to remove the "F" from their name at the beginning of the season but tonight they earned back the "F" with a 4-1 loss to UA Anchorage (the team that isn't ashamed of the city they live in). UAF went 1 for 8 on the power play as the Seawolf penalty killers were in excellent form all night. At 4:05 of the first, a Xmas gift of a 5 minute checking from behind major set the tone as UAA were able to match UAF's number of shots while shorthanded during the 5 minutes. Both teams pressed hard in a period that I thought was fairly intense emotionally.

Paul Crowder opened UAA's scoring with a power play goal at 1:28 of the 2nd when a softly placed pass from Chad Anderson left him alone on the doorstep. Paul hesitated just long enough to find an opening and roofed the puck over Roger's left shoulder. Prettiest goal of the night. Jay Beagle got a typical Jay Beagle goal picking up a 2nd rebound low in the slot and shoveling it behind Rogers on a power play at 6:09. That turned out to be the game winner.

Paul Crowder picked up his 2nd goal of the night on a Merit Waldrop shot from the blueline at 3:14 of the 3rd. I was fairly sure the puck took a deflection before going in and it was originally announced as Merit's goal. Would have been nice for him to be off the schneid but apparently Crowder was the one to tip it in. The even strength goal took the steam out of UAF and made the 5150 fans in attendance realize who'd won the Governor's Cup this year. With Josh Lunden off for tripping at 14:45 UAF pulled Rogers in favor of the extra attacker and Peter Cartwright's whiffed shot went right through the the massive hole in Kyle Greentree's stick into the empty net to make it 4-0 at 15:28. UAF fans left en masse at that point.

It's good to have the whole "Governor's Cup" thing over and done with. 2 of UAF's five last Governor's Cups were decided by shootout's when the season series was an overall tie. Regardless of tomorrow night's outcome UAA has won this season's series outright and there'll be no stupid shootout. Congratulations on that ... now go out tomorrow night and show the CCHA exactly what a competitive WCHA team is all about.

Randomology

So this is mostly filler and random. I don't like much when UAA plays Fairbanks. The early games this year were mostly clean but inevitably there'll be some cheap shots this weekend. And that sort of thing tarnishing a season series where UAA went undefeated against it's one and only rival would be a shame for all involved. Hopefully, it'll be a clean weekend. Going into St. Cloud after a couple of nice wins vs. UAF will give the team some confidence to play another very very important WCHA series.

On todays CSTV's Tuesday at the Rink Chat; Tavis (what's a Tavis?) MacMillan said his team won't be successful this year if Greentree doesn't get more support . I'm all about helpfulness ... so let's support them both with the following cheers this weekend eh?

Brush Your Green Teeth ... clap clap . clap clap clap
What's A Tavis? ... clap clap . clap clap clap
Pull Your Johnson ... clap clap . clap clap clap

There's all the usual stats about the series:

UAA is 72-48-9 all time.
41-19-5 in Anchorage.

I learned recently that my ancestral family motto is "Merito". With 11 assists so far this season I'd say Merit Waldrop is playing up to that motto but he deserves more than the 1 goal he's netted. I hope he loosens his grip a bit this weekend and gets a little more lucky when trying to score.

I was going to do a midseason review and give out grades and all that. But I didn't. I would have given a lot of B's and a few B-'s and maybe a B+ and C+ for this or that. The team is getting there but has played inconsistently. Getting home ice will be an overall A. But they're tied for 5th at the halfway point and there is still plenty that can be improved so only a B.

Is a week off enough to get fat and lazy? Yeah. It is.

And finally, yes ... if both UAA and UAF have good seasons at the same time there is a possibility that it could enhance both schools chances to get into the NCAA's. So that reality deserves mention along with my other points about playing these guys 4 times a year in my post about it last Wednesday. Of course I have to add that it remains more likely that one or the other or both could get nicked off a bubble as a result of the current 4/yr schedule.

Recruit Update: The 07-08 Freshman Class

Here are my profiles and up to date information about Kane Lafranchise, Winston Daychief, Brad McCabe, Jeff Carlson and Tommy Grant; next seasons incoming UAA Seawolf freshman class.

Kane Lafranchise
Defenseman 6' 1" 195lbs (Shoots Left)
Edmonton, Alberta
Turns 19 on May 27th 2007

The kid with one of the great sports names of all-time is currently in his 2nd season with the Spruce Grove Saints of the AJHL. In his 1st season Kane played in 60 games, scored 7 goals and added 13 assists. In his first 38 games this season he has scored 10 goals and added 19 assists more than doubling his point per game output. Interpreting the "scouting" information that is available indicates that Kane is an outstanding skater. His stats make me believe that he has become more of a team leader this season. The UAA press release regarding his signing contains the following comments from Spruce Grove coach Steve Hamilton,

"Kanie is an outstanding skater who has developed into a prominent offensive player for us this season and has played strong on both sides of the puck. He contineues to lead our defensive corps on the backend and will play an important role on our team success this year."

Coach Shyiak's comments:

“Kane is a very good puck-rushing defenseman who can jump in on the rush as well. He’s a good skater and has developed into a solid power-play point man at the Junior A level. His skating ability should aid us as we try to get more offensive production from our defense"

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Winston Daychief
Forward (RW) 6' 1" 187lbs (Shoots Right)
Standoff, Alberta
Turned 19 on November 23rd 2006

Winston is in his second year with the Cowichan Valley Capitals of the BCHL. He is currently 10th overall on the B's leader board with 20 goals and 31 assists in 37 games. Winston is another player who has doubled his point per game output from his first season. 13 of his 20 goals have come on the power play. In his first season he scored 20 goals with 23 assists in 60 games. An email from a Cowichan fan indicated that Winston is skilled, very rugged and a fan favorite. Winston will play in the BCHL All-Star game on January 17th for the Coastal Conference team. The UAA press release regarding his signing has these comments from Cowichan coach Scott Robinson;

“Winston is a very good possession player who has great touch around the net. He goes hard to the net and can play in traffic. Winston competes hard every game and plays with a tremendous amount of passion and energy."

And Coach Shyiak's comments;

“Winston has good size and has the ability to create scoring chances. He’s a good power-type player who can play both the physical and finesse game.

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Brad McCabe
Forward (Center) 6' 200lbs (Shoots Left)
Gearhart, OR
Turns 19 on July 15th 2007

Brad is in his first year of Junior A hockey with the Wasilla based Alaska Avalanche NAHL team. He scored 31 goals with 30 assists in 31 games with the Ft. Vancouver Pioneers of the North Pacific Junior Hockey League in 05-06. This season has been injury shortened and with only 16 games with the Avalanche, Brad has scored 11 goals and added 5 assists and is the team current goal scoring leader. Brad is still out of the lineup nursing a medial collateral ligament injury. It's possible he could return to the team near the end of January. When Brad signed with UAA, Avalanche coach Dean Larson had this to say:

“Brad is a great athlete who likes to win at everything. He’s a strong power forward who possesses good speed and skills. What I like best about Brad is his competitive nature. He competes every shift and wants to get better.

Coach Shyiak's comments:

“Brad is a character kid who is just starting to scratch the surface of his potential. Dean Larson and Corey Millen have done a great job in developing his overall game. Brad can skate, play with speed and also play physical. He will certainly fit in with the style of play we stress.”

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Jeff Carlson
Defenseman 6' 2" 200lbs
Richfield, MN
Turns 21 on May 19th 2007

Jeff is one of the two verbal committments that UAA isn't allowed to comment on. He is in his second year with the Southern Minnesota Express of the NAHL. Jeff is currently the 2nd leading scoring defenseman in the league with 9 goals and 16 assists in 32 games this season. Last year he scored 9 goals with 27 assists for the Express in 56 games. His numbers are obviously good news. Last season Jeff had interest from a couple of other WCHA teams according to Chris at the Western College Hockey blog. Apparently there was some sort of academic issue which prevented him from entering a school but all indications are that those have been resolved. Chris also indicated to me that Jeff is a "really talented player". His maturity should mean that he'll be able to step in at UAA and contribute right away. If my memory serves me he is the third UAA Seawolf with that name.
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Tommy Grant
Forward 6' 2" 175lbs (Shoots Left)
North Vancouver, BC
Turns 21 on August 21 2007

Tommy is the Westside Warriors leading scorer with 15 goals and 21 assists in 33 BCHL games. He began the season with Quesnel but was traded to Westside after 11 games. His 1.1 points per game average is nearly 3 times his output from his first two seasons in the "B" with the Victoria Salsa. 8 of his goals this season have come on the power play. Tommy is reputed to be a fast skater with a hard wrist shot (maybe "Tommy Gun" is his nickname?). Westside isn't one of the higher scoring teams in the league. His 36 points so far put him at #37 overall in the league. My interpretation is that he is a classic B.C. power forward.