Oilers Chick
01-17-2004, 12:40 AM
MINNESOTA vs. MINNESOTA STATE-MANKATO:
Minnesota freshman netminder Kellen Briggs would set a new school rookie record and a total of 108 penalty minutes would be assessed in an otherwise rather mundane game tonight in Mankato.
The game opened with MSU with the early jump that would last all of about 3 minutes. For the remaining 57 minutes of the game, it was pretty much all Minnesota. Gophers’ freshman netminder Kellen Briggs was brilliant early, as he was peppered by the Mavericks.
From there, his teammates took over and for the most part had a rather quiet night between the Minnesota pipes. He was excellent when he had to be though.
At the 2:20 mark, Mavericks senior defenseman Aaron Forsythe was called for interference, which put the Gophers on the power play. They did some excellent work in moving the puck around. At the 3:42 mark, it would pay off. It all started with a nice dump in deep into the MSU zone by sophomore Dman Chris Harrington. The puck richochets off the backboards and there to retrieve it was sophomore Gino Guyer (DAL). Guyer then makes a nice behind-the-back pass to junior Barry Tallackson (NJ). Tallackson used his long reach to his advantage, as he was able to sweep the puck to the far side and was able to tuck it in just inside the left post for the goal. Guyer and Harrington would be credited with the assists. The Gophers goal really took the wind out of the Mavericks’ sails. At the 5:52 mark, the Gophers would tally again. It begins with a poor defensive play by MSU in their own zone. Harrington then moves in from the blueline to take a shot at the MSU net. The puck hits then bounces off of Mavericks’ junior netminder Jon Volp, who has trouble finding the puck. When the puck comes down in front of him, he has trouble controlling the rebound, sophomore Tyler Hirsch is there to retrieve the loose puck. After retrieveing it, he takes a shot at the MSU net, only to have the shot hit and rebound up into the air off of Volp’s right pad. When the puck comes down, Guyer is there at the doorstep to wrist it behind Volp for the goal. Hirsch and senior Grant Potulny (OTT) drew the assists. This made the score 2-0 Minnesota. After Guyer’s goal, the energy in the Gophers really began to pick up. At about the halfway mark of the period, the chippiness would begin to rear its head. Sophomore defenseman P. J. Atherton (TB) put a big hit on Mavericks freshman Kurtis Kisio (yes, he is Kelly Kisio’s son). Then it was imposing freshman defenseman Jake Taylor (NYR) giving Mavericks sophomore Ryan McKelvie a few shots to his chops. That earned Taylor a trip to the penalty box. A few moments later junior defensive Keith Ballard (COL) and Mavericks senior defenseman Aaron Forsythe get together for a little yapping session. At the 13:35 mark, Mavericks sophomore forward Brock Becker would be called for a crosscheck, again putting the Gophers on the power play. At the 14:20 mark, the Gophers would produce their 2nd power play goal of the night. It begins with some excellent work along the boards by the Matt Koalska (NSH) line: Koalska, sophomore Tomas Vanek (BUF) and senior Troy Riddle (STL). After Koalska passes off to Vanek, Vanek would then put on quite an individual effort by showing some terrific puck control. As he was carrying the puck around to the opposite (left) side of the net, Vanek splits the Mavericks defense then fools Volp into thinking he was going to shoot, but at the last possible minute slides the puck over to Riddle. Riddle, who was parked just outside the crease on the right side, goes 5-hole on Volp for the score. Again some poor defensive coverage by MSU. Vanek and Koalska would be credited with the assists. This made it 3-0 Minnesota. Towards the end of the period, the seemingly endless parade to the penalty box would begin. 3 consecutive stick-related infractions would be called in a span of 1 minute. It began with Riddle for a hook at the 17:21 mark, then it was Mavericks freshman forward David Backes (STL) at 17:42 and then it was Ballard’s turn at 18:21 for a slash.
The 2nd period began and progressed with little fanfare. That would change at the 7:30 mark, as the fireworks would start up again. This time around it was Vanek and Kisio each being assessed matching roughing minors. At the 8:50 mark, Gophers senior center Matt Koalska (NSH) would extend Minnesota’s lead. It begins back deep in the Gophers zone. Harrington begins skating up the ice with the puck with Ballard, Potulny and Koalska in tow. At center ice, Harrington makes a beautiful soft pass to Koalska, who then proceeds to split the Mavericks, then proceeds in on Volp. Koalska roofs a nice wrist shot just inside the right post corner for the score. Harrington and Riddle would draw the assists. This now made the score 4-0 Minnesota. After he had scored, Koalska slid into Volp and both players ended up in the net. Volp appeared to be shaken up on the play, but he managed to shake it off and continue in net. For the next 5 minutes or so after Koalska’s goal, there was a “lull” in the game where there was no excitement or intensity. At the 13:06 mark, Ballard injected a little bit of entertainment for being assessed on a roughing call. He did the “water ski” move by tugging on freshman Rob Rankin’s jersey before giving him a jab to the back of the head. On the ensuing power play, the horrendous power play generated some scoring chances as well as some chaos in front of Briggs. No goal was scored and in the mad scramble that follow, Briggs emerged with the puck and proceeded to shoot it down the ice to stop play. Briggs showed some impressive concentration on that sequence. At the 14:27 mark, another scrum breaks out. This time it was Atherton and Forsythe. Each managed to get in a couple of jabs at one another before being led to the penalty box on matching minors. At the 15:31 mark, Riddle would be assessed a roughing minor, putting the Mavericks on the power play. Less than a minute later at the 16:27 mark, the Gophers would strike again. It begins with a poor pass up towards the Gophers zone by Mavericks freshman defenseman Kyle Peto at centre ice. Instead he gets his pocket picked by Vanek who then leaves the loose puck for junior Jake Fleming. Fleming then takes the puck and fires it at Volp on a 2-on-1 charge towards the MSU net. Volp appears to have stopped the puck when he went down and squeezed the pads together. Instead, the puck trickles behind him and Vanek is there to tip it in just inside the left post for the score. Fleming would draw the lone assist on the goal. The chippiness and parade to the penalty box continued until the period ended.
The final stanza opened rather uneventfully as both teams weren’t particularly playing well nor doing anything to generate much excitement. However, the second half of the period would see the fireworks in bloom as the period turned nasty and the parades to the penalty box would be longer for some players. It began at the 8:31 mark when Backes and Harrington get together for a little shoving match and some face washes for good measure. Both players start yapping at one another as they’re escorted to the penalty box to serve matching double minors and continue to have words even in the penalty box. About 45 seconds later, it was Tallackson and McKelvie’s turn. It begins with McKelvie taking a hold of Tallackson’s stick. Tallackson then takes a poke at McKelvie and then hauling him down. Tallackson continues to hold McKelvie down to the ice. As McKelvie begins to get to his feet, he takes a poke at Tallackson and Tallackson returns the favour, before getting tangled up and be separated by the linesmen. A little while later Gophers Dman P. J. Atherton gets away with a boarding call after nearly putting Mavericks sophomore Jeff Marler’s head through the boards. At the 11:14 mark, the Gophers would put the final nail in the Mavericks’ coffin. It begins with a nice play along the sideboards by Guyer, who’s able to fend off a Mavericks defender and then make a drop pass to Hirsch. Hirsch then moves in from the sideboards toward the MSU net. Just as he gets to the right side of the net, he backhands a pass to Potulny who is parked in the slot area. Potulny then proceeds to go 5-hole on Volp for the score. Hirsch and Guyer would be credited with the assists. The score was now 6-0 Minnesota. Just as the goal was scored, a scrum broke out between Ballard and Rankin. Rankin, who had put his stick in the legs of Potulny didn’t haul him down but it did draw the ire of Ballard who came in and proceeded to take a few jabs at Rankin. Then Rankin returns the jabs and a jawing match ensues between them as they get begin “bear hugging” one another and exchanging some not-so-kind words to one another. At the 11:13 mark, both players would be assessed a minor and misconduct penalty. For Minnesota, it meant being without Ballard’s services for the remainder of the game. At the 13:04 mark, Minnesota sophomore defenseman Peter Kennedy would be assessed a roughing minor. Again the MSU power play would come up empty. At the 15:32 mark, the tension kicks up once again. This time it was Hirsch and McKelvie. Both were tussling with one another by teh left sideboards. Hirsch then gets the take down on McKelvie and continues to hold him down until one of the linesmen is able to “peel” Hirsch off of McKelvie. Both players would get a minor and misconduct penalty for their altercation. Less than a minute later, a good battle took place for puck possession between Gophers sophomore Andy Sertich (PIT) and Mavericks sophomore Christian Toll. It’s one of the rare times that Sertich has been physically aggressive and assertive this season. Unfortunately Sertich doesn’t always play like that. As the game “fought” its way to the end, the pushing & shoving continued. At the 19:50 mark, Vanek and McKelvie would get together at the MSU blueline near the boards. As the tussle gets more heated, Vanek strikes an over-the-top jab at McKelvie’s head as the linesmen are trying to break them up. Both draw minor penalties. At the 20:00 mark when the horn signalled the end of the game, Potulny comes in with a late hit on Mavericks junior Jon Hart. From there, all hell broke loose as several altercations broke out between all of the skaters on the ice (with the exception of the netminders). After the hit, Mavericks freshman defenseman Chad Brownlee (VAN) decided to send Potulny a message by delivering a cross-check to his face, Gophers senior Jon Waibel and Mavericks freshman Kyle Peto jostled. When all was said and done, the only penalty assessed was on Potulny for his late hit on Hart. Since it took awhile for the players to be separated, freshman Kellen Briggs, who had just set a new Minnesota rookie goaltending record for his 4th shutout of the season, had to wait patiencely for his teammates to come by to congradulate him.
While it was not a displined game played by Minnesota (they were assessed 60 of the 108 penalty minutes), they won due to their sheer dominance over a depleted MSU defensive corp. Two of MSU’s top defensemen in senior Matt Paluszak and junior Steven Johns are both currently out with injuries. Furthermore, Minnesota took great advantage of their opportunities when they presented themselves. Ballard filled the role of “perennial pest” quite nicely tonight as he made life unbearable for the Mavericks by effectively getting in their face, under their skin and on their nerves. Chris Harrington along with Troy Riddle, Tyler Hirsch, Gino Guyer and Matt Koalska also had excellent games. Vanek played the final 2 periods quite well, although he wasn’t all that noticeable in the first period. Briggs, despite not getting much work, particularly midway into the game, was sharp and clutch when he had to be, especially in the opening first few minutes.
For MSU, there wasn’t much to cheer about. However, two players played quite well. Kurtis Kisio, who got abused much of the game show some resilience and made some nice plays despite not scoring. He made concerted efforts to get scoring chances and succeeded in getting them, but not the goals. Another player who was quite good for MSU was the play of freshman defenseman Chad Brownlee (VAN). He was very good at holding up or slowing down several of Minnesota’s rushes and made some nice plays from the point on the MSU power play.
Both teams conclude this series tomorrow night in Mankato.
Minnesota freshman netminder Kellen Briggs would set a new school rookie record and a total of 108 penalty minutes would be assessed in an otherwise rather mundane game tonight in Mankato.
The game opened with MSU with the early jump that would last all of about 3 minutes. For the remaining 57 minutes of the game, it was pretty much all Minnesota. Gophers’ freshman netminder Kellen Briggs was brilliant early, as he was peppered by the Mavericks.
From there, his teammates took over and for the most part had a rather quiet night between the Minnesota pipes. He was excellent when he had to be though.
At the 2:20 mark, Mavericks senior defenseman Aaron Forsythe was called for interference, which put the Gophers on the power play. They did some excellent work in moving the puck around. At the 3:42 mark, it would pay off. It all started with a nice dump in deep into the MSU zone by sophomore Dman Chris Harrington. The puck richochets off the backboards and there to retrieve it was sophomore Gino Guyer (DAL). Guyer then makes a nice behind-the-back pass to junior Barry Tallackson (NJ). Tallackson used his long reach to his advantage, as he was able to sweep the puck to the far side and was able to tuck it in just inside the left post for the goal. Guyer and Harrington would be credited with the assists. The Gophers goal really took the wind out of the Mavericks’ sails. At the 5:52 mark, the Gophers would tally again. It begins with a poor defensive play by MSU in their own zone. Harrington then moves in from the blueline to take a shot at the MSU net. The puck hits then bounces off of Mavericks’ junior netminder Jon Volp, who has trouble finding the puck. When the puck comes down in front of him, he has trouble controlling the rebound, sophomore Tyler Hirsch is there to retrieve the loose puck. After retrieveing it, he takes a shot at the MSU net, only to have the shot hit and rebound up into the air off of Volp’s right pad. When the puck comes down, Guyer is there at the doorstep to wrist it behind Volp for the goal. Hirsch and senior Grant Potulny (OTT) drew the assists. This made the score 2-0 Minnesota. After Guyer’s goal, the energy in the Gophers really began to pick up. At about the halfway mark of the period, the chippiness would begin to rear its head. Sophomore defenseman P. J. Atherton (TB) put a big hit on Mavericks freshman Kurtis Kisio (yes, he is Kelly Kisio’s son). Then it was imposing freshman defenseman Jake Taylor (NYR) giving Mavericks sophomore Ryan McKelvie a few shots to his chops. That earned Taylor a trip to the penalty box. A few moments later junior defensive Keith Ballard (COL) and Mavericks senior defenseman Aaron Forsythe get together for a little yapping session. At the 13:35 mark, Mavericks sophomore forward Brock Becker would be called for a crosscheck, again putting the Gophers on the power play. At the 14:20 mark, the Gophers would produce their 2nd power play goal of the night. It begins with some excellent work along the boards by the Matt Koalska (NSH) line: Koalska, sophomore Tomas Vanek (BUF) and senior Troy Riddle (STL). After Koalska passes off to Vanek, Vanek would then put on quite an individual effort by showing some terrific puck control. As he was carrying the puck around to the opposite (left) side of the net, Vanek splits the Mavericks defense then fools Volp into thinking he was going to shoot, but at the last possible minute slides the puck over to Riddle. Riddle, who was parked just outside the crease on the right side, goes 5-hole on Volp for the score. Again some poor defensive coverage by MSU. Vanek and Koalska would be credited with the assists. This made it 3-0 Minnesota. Towards the end of the period, the seemingly endless parade to the penalty box would begin. 3 consecutive stick-related infractions would be called in a span of 1 minute. It began with Riddle for a hook at the 17:21 mark, then it was Mavericks freshman forward David Backes (STL) at 17:42 and then it was Ballard’s turn at 18:21 for a slash.
The 2nd period began and progressed with little fanfare. That would change at the 7:30 mark, as the fireworks would start up again. This time around it was Vanek and Kisio each being assessed matching roughing minors. At the 8:50 mark, Gophers senior center Matt Koalska (NSH) would extend Minnesota’s lead. It begins back deep in the Gophers zone. Harrington begins skating up the ice with the puck with Ballard, Potulny and Koalska in tow. At center ice, Harrington makes a beautiful soft pass to Koalska, who then proceeds to split the Mavericks, then proceeds in on Volp. Koalska roofs a nice wrist shot just inside the right post corner for the score. Harrington and Riddle would draw the assists. This now made the score 4-0 Minnesota. After he had scored, Koalska slid into Volp and both players ended up in the net. Volp appeared to be shaken up on the play, but he managed to shake it off and continue in net. For the next 5 minutes or so after Koalska’s goal, there was a “lull” in the game where there was no excitement or intensity. At the 13:06 mark, Ballard injected a little bit of entertainment for being assessed on a roughing call. He did the “water ski” move by tugging on freshman Rob Rankin’s jersey before giving him a jab to the back of the head. On the ensuing power play, the horrendous power play generated some scoring chances as well as some chaos in front of Briggs. No goal was scored and in the mad scramble that follow, Briggs emerged with the puck and proceeded to shoot it down the ice to stop play. Briggs showed some impressive concentration on that sequence. At the 14:27 mark, another scrum breaks out. This time it was Atherton and Forsythe. Each managed to get in a couple of jabs at one another before being led to the penalty box on matching minors. At the 15:31 mark, Riddle would be assessed a roughing minor, putting the Mavericks on the power play. Less than a minute later at the 16:27 mark, the Gophers would strike again. It begins with a poor pass up towards the Gophers zone by Mavericks freshman defenseman Kyle Peto at centre ice. Instead he gets his pocket picked by Vanek who then leaves the loose puck for junior Jake Fleming. Fleming then takes the puck and fires it at Volp on a 2-on-1 charge towards the MSU net. Volp appears to have stopped the puck when he went down and squeezed the pads together. Instead, the puck trickles behind him and Vanek is there to tip it in just inside the left post for the score. Fleming would draw the lone assist on the goal. The chippiness and parade to the penalty box continued until the period ended.
The final stanza opened rather uneventfully as both teams weren’t particularly playing well nor doing anything to generate much excitement. However, the second half of the period would see the fireworks in bloom as the period turned nasty and the parades to the penalty box would be longer for some players. It began at the 8:31 mark when Backes and Harrington get together for a little shoving match and some face washes for good measure. Both players start yapping at one another as they’re escorted to the penalty box to serve matching double minors and continue to have words even in the penalty box. About 45 seconds later, it was Tallackson and McKelvie’s turn. It begins with McKelvie taking a hold of Tallackson’s stick. Tallackson then takes a poke at McKelvie and then hauling him down. Tallackson continues to hold McKelvie down to the ice. As McKelvie begins to get to his feet, he takes a poke at Tallackson and Tallackson returns the favour, before getting tangled up and be separated by the linesmen. A little while later Gophers Dman P. J. Atherton gets away with a boarding call after nearly putting Mavericks sophomore Jeff Marler’s head through the boards. At the 11:14 mark, the Gophers would put the final nail in the Mavericks’ coffin. It begins with a nice play along the sideboards by Guyer, who’s able to fend off a Mavericks defender and then make a drop pass to Hirsch. Hirsch then moves in from the sideboards toward the MSU net. Just as he gets to the right side of the net, he backhands a pass to Potulny who is parked in the slot area. Potulny then proceeds to go 5-hole on Volp for the score. Hirsch and Guyer would be credited with the assists. The score was now 6-0 Minnesota. Just as the goal was scored, a scrum broke out between Ballard and Rankin. Rankin, who had put his stick in the legs of Potulny didn’t haul him down but it did draw the ire of Ballard who came in and proceeded to take a few jabs at Rankin. Then Rankin returns the jabs and a jawing match ensues between them as they get begin “bear hugging” one another and exchanging some not-so-kind words to one another. At the 11:13 mark, both players would be assessed a minor and misconduct penalty. For Minnesota, it meant being without Ballard’s services for the remainder of the game. At the 13:04 mark, Minnesota sophomore defenseman Peter Kennedy would be assessed a roughing minor. Again the MSU power play would come up empty. At the 15:32 mark, the tension kicks up once again. This time it was Hirsch and McKelvie. Both were tussling with one another by teh left sideboards. Hirsch then gets the take down on McKelvie and continues to hold him down until one of the linesmen is able to “peel” Hirsch off of McKelvie. Both players would get a minor and misconduct penalty for their altercation. Less than a minute later, a good battle took place for puck possession between Gophers sophomore Andy Sertich (PIT) and Mavericks sophomore Christian Toll. It’s one of the rare times that Sertich has been physically aggressive and assertive this season. Unfortunately Sertich doesn’t always play like that. As the game “fought” its way to the end, the pushing & shoving continued. At the 19:50 mark, Vanek and McKelvie would get together at the MSU blueline near the boards. As the tussle gets more heated, Vanek strikes an over-the-top jab at McKelvie’s head as the linesmen are trying to break them up. Both draw minor penalties. At the 20:00 mark when the horn signalled the end of the game, Potulny comes in with a late hit on Mavericks junior Jon Hart. From there, all hell broke loose as several altercations broke out between all of the skaters on the ice (with the exception of the netminders). After the hit, Mavericks freshman defenseman Chad Brownlee (VAN) decided to send Potulny a message by delivering a cross-check to his face, Gophers senior Jon Waibel and Mavericks freshman Kyle Peto jostled. When all was said and done, the only penalty assessed was on Potulny for his late hit on Hart. Since it took awhile for the players to be separated, freshman Kellen Briggs, who had just set a new Minnesota rookie goaltending record for his 4th shutout of the season, had to wait patiencely for his teammates to come by to congradulate him.
While it was not a displined game played by Minnesota (they were assessed 60 of the 108 penalty minutes), they won due to their sheer dominance over a depleted MSU defensive corp. Two of MSU’s top defensemen in senior Matt Paluszak and junior Steven Johns are both currently out with injuries. Furthermore, Minnesota took great advantage of their opportunities when they presented themselves. Ballard filled the role of “perennial pest” quite nicely tonight as he made life unbearable for the Mavericks by effectively getting in their face, under their skin and on their nerves. Chris Harrington along with Troy Riddle, Tyler Hirsch, Gino Guyer and Matt Koalska also had excellent games. Vanek played the final 2 periods quite well, although he wasn’t all that noticeable in the first period. Briggs, despite not getting much work, particularly midway into the game, was sharp and clutch when he had to be, especially in the opening first few minutes.
For MSU, there wasn’t much to cheer about. However, two players played quite well. Kurtis Kisio, who got abused much of the game show some resilience and made some nice plays despite not scoring. He made concerted efforts to get scoring chances and succeeded in getting them, but not the goals. Another player who was quite good for MSU was the play of freshman defenseman Chad Brownlee (VAN). He was very good at holding up or slowing down several of Minnesota’s rushes and made some nice plays from the point on the MSU power play.
Both teams conclude this series tomorrow night in Mankato.