Sunday Potpourri: Cult of Personality

Don't think for a second that Sarah Palin can't come close to rivaling Obama in making whatever that connection is with people which we call "Cult of Personality". She is fully capable of doing so. She is exceedingly personable, naturally disarming, charming and her MILF status is well known. She'll turn it all on and the PUMAs will love her. If this thing wasn't close before, it is now. Dems should fear the Palin. She named her kid Trig Paxson Van Palin in partial homage to the band Van Halen. No shit.

Everyone worrying about her abortion politics can stop. She said in Alaska that she wouldn't let her personal beliefs in that area affect her ability to carry out the law and she didn't. She either recognizes the truth of compromising for the sake of progress or she talks a good game; she ensured insurance coverage for "domestic partners" through her actions (without endorsing it) and she didn't take action when she could have to interfere with pro-choice ruling. I'll credit her for separating personal dogma and governing; that's a step forward in civility. We'll see now whether she backtracks to partisan world or remains true to that ethos. Is she a future VPILF?

Lastly, don't think for a second that her entire attractive persona isn't motivated by a sense of expediency in whatever she does. In other words, I have no doubt she can be capricious if needed in order to satisfy her ambition.

And that's all I got about politics except to say I'm sick and tired of the damned Presidential Election. 18 months of wall to wall TV coverage? As Obama said, "Enough". I could care less who wins.

I'm thinking it's time to retire my tradition of wearing shorts to the hockey games. The main reasoning I'm using is superstition. Ok. So you say superstition has no basis in reason. Whatever. I know a bunch of us fans have our own superstition. Whether it's driving a specific car to the game or a pregame snack or wearing a certain hat in a particular fashion or a lucky pin. I think we should all eliminate or change one of our superstitions. The past record shows that only improvement should come from such a collective change. At worst the math says that the Seawolves will get a slight positive bump from whoever controls the superstition rewards department. Just think of it. I stop wearing shorts and the team makes the NCAA's? I get to take credit. If you want some credit too then dedicate yourself to changing or eliminating one of your superstitions. I better go buy some long pants.

There is still plenty of time for you to stand up and decry the use of shootouts in our game. Sign the petion here. It takes about a minute. I will be making ongoing references to this effort. I honestly don't know how many people will sign. But I plan several spates of "marketing" throughout the season in an attempt to get the word out as widely as possible. If you are likeminded then I hope you can identify one other fan who feels the same way and get them to sign the petition. I noticed that Don Lucia came out publicly against shootouts this past week. He added that he thought most (if not all) other WCHA coaches probably felt the same way. Hopefully they'll add their names to the petition! Whatever small amount of influence this effort can have remains to be seen but without some reasonable number of signatures it stands little chance.

I'll be selectively applying my subjective judgement this season with regard to the comments section here. That means if you make a comment that I deem stupid you can expect it to be gone. If it has a shred of relevance to the topic at hand or took you more than 5 seconds to compose then it'll probably be safe. But I just don't feel like addressing the weenies anymore and so I won't be doing it unless I decide it is more fun to apply a butt-kicking.

Yes. The season is almost upon us. Over the next couple of weeks the primary goal for me is to get the class-by-class previews completed and then to put together a comprehensive season preview. Once the season starts I'll pretty much be posting something nearly every day.

WCHA 08-09: How I See It

Here is my encapsulated view of the upcoming WCHA season.

Colorado College
This list is in alphabetical order but it almost is a foregone conclusion that CC is the team to beat on paper. The "paper" Tigers return a whopping 15 upperclassmen, the majority of which were key contributors last season when the non-paper Tigers finished first in the league. If Richard Bachman plays anything like he did last year then there isn't much to stop them from finishing there again. This team will have two 1st lines that could threaten on every shift and a 3rd line that will be the equal to many other teams 2nd lines in terms of production. It has defensemen that are relatively proven when it comes to scoring. It's got a couple of "well-papered" incoming freshman that could make reasonable contributions as well. And they play a very disciplined defensive game in front of a very talented young goalie. Other teams will get some wins against this apparent juggernaut but NO other team will be able to plan on it.

Highest Finish: Duh
Lowest Finish: 1st

University of Denver
There is one big question and a few smaller questions that will need to be answered affirmatively for DU to see the most success this season. The big question is directly between the pipes in their end of the ice. Can Marc Cheverie take the reins? How well he answers that question will likely be proportional to DU's success. One small question is Joe Colborne and how he'll do his first (only?) year. It's a small question because DU can still have success if he only produces like an average freshman. Denver's offense should be more than adequate to put the team in the top half of the standings. Depth on defense hasn't been a strength in the past couple of years. This year should see some improvement with a couple of players who should come more into their own this season. Chris Butler will probably get tagged with the "prototype WCHA defenseman" label. He pretty much does everything any WCHA coach would want you to do. Look for a career year in scoring from him.

Highest Finish: 3rd
Lowest Finish: 7th

Michigan Tech
The original Huskies return 14 upperclassmen from last season. My expectations for them last season were much higher than what they acheived. I based that on the large class of upperclassmen. Come to figure out that it isn't just a big class size that determines production. And in those terms MTU doesn't appear to bring much back. Their highest returning goal scorer put only 5 pucks in the net last year. There are legitimate questions about goaltender Rob Nolan's ability to do the job for the full season though I think he'll be much more of an asset than a problem. Jamie Russell will get them playing a disciplined defensive game in relatively short order. They'll be a tough team to play against but more often than not MTU opponents will find enough cracks to come out on top. They've got a fairly large freshman class coming in and perhaps one of those kids will be a diamond in the rough. Maybe a new role will mean someone in the upperclass steps up big time? Who knows? Realistically though without some big unexpected (even dramatic) offensive production from somewhere this can only be considered a rebuilding year.

Highest Finish: 7th
Lowest Finish: 10th

Minnesota
I can only imagine that Don Lucia would characterize the last two seasons as frustrating. When things out of your direct control go badly for you it is frustrating. There don't appear to be any looming surprises this year for tDon. The last two years should have taught the core of his team the meaning of teamwork. Having seen the majority of the last quarter of the regular season and almost all of the Gophers postseason games I think they began to play like a team. There's got to still be some defensive concerns but tLucia and company should get this young defense squared away fairly quickly. Part of that puzzle will be to ensure that Anderson and Fischer show leadership and stability as examples. None of that is too much to hope for. Scoring looks to come first from Ryan Stoa. Maybe Mike Carmen steps it up to the next level? Much the rest will come via committee. A freshman forward or two are likely show up on scoresheets with GWG's and Rookies of the Week and such. No discernable problem exists with Kangas in the net. The "gopher five-hole" may even be a thing of the past. Whether he can maintain that level of play in virtually every game this season is the only unanswered question? And he may very well be called on to play in nearly every game. Definitely a better year in twinkietown than the last two though.

Highest Finish: 2nd
Lowest Finish: 5th

Minnesota St, Mankato
Halitosisville could have easily become the new name for the city of Mankato at the end of last season. Their team played over their heads all year long and they were left with nothing but a bad taste in their mouth. Will the Jutting mind games (bequeathed to Jutting by his sister Craig Dahl) convince his squad to play the same way again this season? I'd expect most of their returning forwards to put more pucks in the net this year. Will that be enough? Will the goaltending be as good? Jutting has a fairly big core back from a team that was every bit the Gophers equals in their playoff series last year. Nevertheless, unproven isn't a word that I can dismiss easily. Perhaps it's better to say that it is just yet to be known.

Highest Finish: 3rd
Lowest Finish: 7th

Minnesota Duluth
Ah. tUMD. Many many questions to answer down near the Iron Range this year. Scott Sandelin can be fairly labeled as someone who has failed to get the most out of the talent in front of him. He's got one of the better classes of incoming freshman in the league hitting the ice this year. He's got a talented (and perhaps a wee bit flaky) netminder. His blueline crew is perhaps underwhelming in it's transition skills but this team will have a surprising amount of skill up front. In some ways I see this team as a recipe waiting to be put together properly. I've seen little evidence in the past that Sandelin can handle much more than boiling eggs. So I think this year he really needs to prove that he can take a diverse set of ingredients and come up with something tasty. There should be enough maturity returning to provide some stability.

Highest Finish: 5th
Lowest Finish: 9th

North Dakota
The "future" Zephyrs (my suggestion for replacing the Sioux name which is under a deadline to be changed) this season have the exact same question to answer as Denver. Goaltending. Goaltending. Goaltending. Lammy played in pretty much every game they played last season. Every goaltender they have on the roster this year didn't. Last year I pegged goaltending as the big question in Grand Forks and Lammy proved me right. They rode that kid to the end and he held up. The "future" Zephyrs weren't an especially talent team last year (but they did have talent). They weren't disciplined. Sometimes they even looked like they were having a chinese fire drill. But then Lammy would come through and they'd respond with inspired play. They were opportunistic. This year they look young with 15 underclassmen. If North Dakota ever does rebuild as opposed to the usual reload then this is likely to be such a year.

Highest Finish: 4th
Lowest Finish: 8th

St. Cloud
It all about scoring goals this year for the OtherHuskies. With at least one preseason poll putting them at #2 in the nation it seems this season is one which they only must embrace to succeed. Goaltending will be fine (serviceable at least and good at best). The defense isn't flashy but there's enough speed throughout the lineup to cover the ice as quick or quicker than most of their competition. Personally, I'm not putting any money on them to win an NCAA game this year but they sure ought to get there to give it a try. That's something I guess. At least that's what all the conventional wisdom is saying about St. Cloud this year. We'll see.

Highest Finish: 2nd
Lowest Finish: 6th

Wisconsin
The WCHA is a defense first league. Playoff hockey every night. The Badgers execute a disciplined defensive effort more efficiently than any other WCHA team. It's become their trademark under Mike Eaves and they'll be sticking to that again this year. They're also absolutely stacked with talented blueliners. Mostly it won't matter how many goals the Badgers score. The key will be how few goals their opponents score. Bill Howard or not the goaltending will be steady enough to handle the few quality chances that other teams will be able to generate.

Highest Finish: 3rd
Lowest Finish: 7th

The Seawolves
The big question for the Seawolves will be whether they can maintain consistency througout the length of the schedule. For two straight years the team has struggled to find a win in the second half of the season. There is a solid core of talented upperclassmen who are virtually all threats in the offensive end. A large group of sophomore forwards all of which will likely increase their decent freshman numbers. College Hockey News picked Craig Parkinson as a "Player to Know"; nothing wrong with that choice per se but I would have went with Brad McCabe who I think might have more potential goals in him. The goaltending situation is healthy. Jonny O's game should be lifted by having serious competition for playing time and Bryce just may be the kind of kid who can stand on his head and change a game singlehandedly. UAA's transition game made huge improvements over the last 3 years. With the talent now on the blueline that part of the game should finally be in UAA's favor most nights.

Highest Finish: 4th
Lowest Finish: 8th

The 08-09 Schedule

I've copied this seasons schedule at the bottom of this post. It's useful to look at the matchups and changes from past years. Home games are in CAPS and Conference games have an asterisk.

The major change (that some Seawolf fans aren't going to like) is that UAA and UAF play only twice this year in a home and home series at the end of February. The 4 games per year to contest the Governors Cup are a thing of the past. Dropping two games against our instate rival opens up the schedule for two non-conference games against a larger diversity of opponent. This has the potential to improve the "Out-Of-Conference" component when calculating PWR for NCAA playoff participation. It is an important and necessary step. Every year it seems that some team in the WCHA misses out on the NCAA's due to PWR calculations and often the key factor is their record in non-conference games and the strength of those opponents. This situation also makes those two games very very important. Both teams always contested the four games with vigor; but with only two games for the trophy, I expect even more intensity.

This move also allowed the other big change to the schedule from past seasons. UAA and UAF are hosting their tournaments cooperatively. The "Kendall Classic" comes first on October 10th and 11th. The following weekend the Seawolves will travel north for the "Brice Alaska Goal Rush" in Fairbanks. Both tournaments use a fixed schedule format. In Anchorage UAA and UAF will both play Connecticut and Northeastern. In Fairbanks they'll both face Maine and Mercyhurst. From an attendance perspective this should be a boon for both programs. Typically (no matter who attends) any tournament games that don't include the home team are marginally attended. I watched a great RMU/BU game last season with probably no more than 1000 other people in the rink. I can imagine that plenty of Seawolf fans will show up to watch Northeastern beat UAF. Conversely, UAF fans will likely show up in droves to see UAA play Maine. Of course there are UAF fans that live in Anchorage and UAA fans that live in Fairbanks as well. I congratulate Forrest Karr and Steve Cobb for this scheduling agreement. It's a good idea and should prove to be valuable for both teams over time.

The next change is the mid-season break over the holidays. In the past I've wondered what effect the holiday break may or may not have had on the teams second half performance. The last two seasons saw dramatically worse results in the second half and both of those seasons included a shorter break for the players. I think the longer break this year (from Dec 7th thru Jan 9th) will be one of the factors that improves the second half record. The players will have to ensure that they get some workouts in during the break so that they don't lose any intensity from the first half. They'll have to be responsible; and that is always a concept for the players at this level that must be adhered to closely. But I think the chance to spend quality time with their friends and families at home is important.

This season the unbalanced conference schedule means that we won't see the Gophers or Pioneers at the Sullivan and the team won't have to travel to Colorado Springs (woohoo! no crappy webcast with the disturbing floating Tiger head!) or the National Concrete Center in St. Cloud. From the looks of things (i.e... how the WCHA will likely shake out) it's a pretty favorable schedule for the Seawolves. The longest road trip will be the first road trip of the year to Houghton on Oct 31/Nov 1 to face MTU. After all that, it's pretty standard stuff.

Thu, Sep 25 U.S. NATIONAL UNDER-18 TEAM Wasilla, Alaska 7:07 pm
Sat, Oct 04 UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA Wasilla, Alaska 7:07 pm
Fri, Oct 10 Northeastern vs Alaska Fairbanks at SULLIVAN ARENA 5:07 pm
Fri, Oct 10 CONNECTICUT SULLIVAN ARENA 8:07 pm
Sat, Oct 11 Connecticut vs Alaska Fairbanks at SULLIVAN ARENA 4:07 pm
Sat, Oct 11 NORTHEASTERN SULLIVAN ARENA 7:07 pm
Fri, Oct 17 Maine at Fairbanks, Alaska 4:35 pm
Sat, Oct 18 Mercyhurst at Fairbanks, Alaska 4:35 pm
Fri, Oct 24 MINNESOTA DULUTH * SULLIVAN ARENA 7:07 pm
Sat, Oct 25 MINNESOTA DULUTH * SULLIVAN ARENA 7:07 pm
Fri, Oct 31 Michigan Tech * at Houghton, Mich. 3:07 pm
Sat, Nov 01 Michigan Tech * at Houghton, Mich. 3:37 pm
Fri, Nov 07 MINNESOTA STATE * SULLIVAN ARENA 7:07 pm
Sat, Nov 08 MINNESOTA STATE * SULLIVAN ARENA 7:07 pm
Fri, Nov 14 North Dakota * at Grand Forks, N.D. 4:37 pm
Sat, Nov 15 North Dakota * at Grand Forks, N.D. 4:07 pm
Fri, Nov 21 COLORADO COLLEGE * SULLIVAN ARENA 7:07 pm
Sat, Nov 22 COLORADO COLLEGE * SULLIVAN ARENA 7:07 pm
Fri, Dec 05 Wisconsin * at Madison, Wis. 4:07 pm
Sat, Dec 06 Wisconsin * at Madison, Wis. 4:07 pm
Fri, Jan 09 WISCONSIN * SULLIVAN ARENA 7:07 pm
Sat, Jan 10 WISCONSIN * SULLIVAN ARENA 7:07 pm
Fri, Jan 16 Minnesota State * at Mankato, Minn. 4:37 pm
Sat, Jan 17 Minnesota State * at Mankato, Minn. 4:07 pm
Fri, Jan 23 MICHIGAN TECH * SULLIVAN ARENA 7:07 pm
Sat, Jan 24 MICHIGAN TECH * SULLIVAN ARENA 7:07 pm
Fri, Jan 30 Denver * at Denver, Colo. 5:37 pm
Sat, Jan 31 Denver * at Denver, Colo. 5:07 pm
Fri, Feb 06 ST. CLOUD STATE * SULLIVAN ARENA 7:07 pm
Sat, Feb 07 ST. CLOUD STATE * SULLIVAN ARENA 7:07 pm
Fri, Feb 13 Minnesota * at Minneapolis, Minn. 4:07 pm
Sat, Feb 14 Minnesota * at Minneapolis, Minn. 4:07 pm
Fri, Feb 20 NORTH DAKOTA * SULLIVAN ARENA 7:07 pm
Sat, Feb 21 NORTH DAKOTA * SULLIVAN ARENA 7:07 pm
Fri, Feb 27 Alaska Fairbanks at Fairbanks, Alaska 7:05 p.m.
Sat, Feb 28 ALASKA FAIRBANKS SULLIVAN ARENA 7:07 pm
Fri, Mar 06 Minnesota Duluth * at Duluth, Minn. 4:07 pm
Sat, Mar 07 Minnesota Duluth * at Duluth, Minn. 4:07 pm

Sunday Potpourri: Seawolves To Bite Back

For those unfamiliar readers this has been a damned interesting year for human/wildlife interaction in the city of Anchorage. This past Friday while cruising down Gambell St. (just past the Sullivan Arena and perhaps the more famous Cal Worthington Ford dealership) a man hit an 800lb, 13 year old Grizzly Bear with his truck. The collision gravely injured the bear but that didn't stop him from snarling and threatening the driver until a couple of minutes or so later when police arrived on the scene. They righteously terminated the poor suffering Yogi.

Humans 2, Grizzlies 0 -- because earlier in the week the ADF&G offed a sow that was the probable culprit in several close calls and two hardcore maulings on a trail in Bi-Centennial Park called Rover's Run. The first notice came when a 15 year old female mountain biker was torn from her bike in the early AM during a 24 hour endurance race. She spent quite a while in Intensive Care and is apparently doing better. Following that incident UAA Seawolf cross-country runner Auston Ellis outran (and outfoxed) perhaps the same marauding grizzly in the park. Then just a couple of weeks ago a woman with her dog was mauled at about the same place (she got out of the hospital last week). In both instances the victim was believed to have come between the sow and her cubs. The Fish and Game fellas were able to trap one of the offending sows progeny (which is now incarcerated at the Alaska Zoo before being shipped off to Indiana for a lifetime of gawking) but last I heard the other Boo Boo was still at large. The local paper and the city are all atwitter (<--- a link to ALL the "bear stories" in the Anchorage Daily News) with the ongoing drama. It's a lot of grizzly action which frankly is not necessarily the usual thing in the middle of this town. I dunno why those bears don't learn that we humans have opposable thumbs; and opposable thumbs can't be defeated.

With the word out that it's time to deal with this ongoing bear threat the UAA Seawolves hockey team will be conducting an unofficial and unannounced team building exercise in Bi-Centennial Park next Sunday August 31st at 8:00 PM. Word is that all drills will be conducted in full gear.

The strategy will be to put the 3 goalies on point immediately followed by the freshman class; with defensemen on the flanks and the forwards in the center. Head Coach Dave Shyiak explained,

"We wanted to give our goalies some experience with taking the fight to the enemy. During the season we'll be depending on these guys to keep the puck out of the net. So, it's defend defend defend for them. This will be the ultimate change of pace."

He added, "Obviously, we'll use last years leg pads." Associate Head Coach Campbell Blair added,

"By putting our fleet footed defensemen on the flank we can assure that an Ursus insurgency from any angle can be efficiently deflected. I'd dare any grizzly to bring a full charge toward any of our D guys. They're all just too quick and deadly with their sticks. And with some solid backchecking from the forwards that bear won't stand a chance."

Newly hired Assistant Coach Regg Simon has been quietly scouting the Rover's Run area for the last week and will continue to map out any grizzly movements so the team has the best opportunity to find a worthy encounter. Simon explained, "I've spent more time in the woods at twilight than I have at the rink since I got here but hey, I sure do see the benefit of this exercise." In his time coaching in the USHL Coach Simon became a renowned snipe spotter throughout Iowa. "I have the experience and the tools to help make this an excellent team building exercise. I know I can spot em a big one."

Several players (all freshman of course) seemed to question the sanity of this team building exercise but refused to go on the record for this story. But the majority of the players are reportedly psyched for it. Paul Crowder said,

"There was this 4 year vet when I played my first year of juniors and he showed me a wicked move to butt-end someone in the jaw. I'd never use it in a game so I'm looking forward to trying it out on the bear."

Jared Tuton added with a laugh,

"In Canada, bears stay in the woods. If it's up to us to send these bears back to the woods with their tails between their legs then we'll damn sure do it (psst ... don't tell my dad I said 'damn')."

Kevin Clark seemed especially keen on the idea,

"I hope I can line one up with a nice solid tree. Boarding? You think you've seen boarding before? That bear has a big surprise coming! I'll definitely be leaving my feet!"

FWIW, my money is on Jeremy Smith and Trevor Hunt combining for the first kill. After the meeting announcing the exercise, they both sat quietly with big evil grins on their faces. Mat Robinson and Kane Lafranchise talked about their plan to to make a supply of sharpened rocks which they could drop and then use their slap shots to impale the bear at 90mph. "I'm looking for that headshot," explained Robinson, "Boom! I'm pretty certain I can nail one right between the eyes!" Lafranchise followed up almost boastfully, "If that sucker opens his (or her) mouth for one of those intimidating growls, I'll plug that gullet with this here 3 ounces of rock!"

An unnamed player explained poignantly,

"We've got to protect our cross country running team. They don't have the benefit of using a stick in their sport. Since we do then it's only right that we go out after the bear that tried to eat one of them skinny dudes."

When questioned about the need for this specific team building event Athletic Director Steve Cobb said,

"We got a saying back home; if grasshoppers carried .45's then birds wouldn't mess with 'em. We're doing a service for the community. We'll teach them danged bears on which side o' the holler they're meant to tread."

He walked away adding,

"That might be a bigger cud than I can chew but these guys are all young men. I'm even sure there's a coupla Dan'l Boone's in thar. I just hope they remember that Alaska Department of Fish and Game regulations say that they must salvage the skull and hide."

As I understand it, the salvaging of the skull and hide will be a sort of initiation for the freshmen. So um ... good luck to the Seawolf hockey team. I look forward to seeing the survivors at the annual blueliner picnic in September.