One more thing, why does it matter whether or not I think my own team played hard? It doesn't cheapen the Gophers wins, 4 points is still 4 points no matter what so it really doesn't matter if I or anyone else says that the Huskies did not give their best effort.
Kind of a slow week in the W for it being this early in the season. there a couple of intruiging non-con matchups, CC and Clarkson and DU/Ohio State. Depending on which Buckeyes team shows up the latter could be an entertaining tilt. Both teams have speed to burn.
Game of the week: gotta be the Border Battle. The young Gophs will be tested in the hostile confines of The Kohl Center after an impressive sweep of a very good SCSU team. It's a little early to say this is a "must win" situation for Bucky, but I think the Bs need at least two points to get their season on track. If the Rodents come into to Madison and sweep then it will be very hard to restore morale on an already reeling team. I haven't seen any calls for Eaves head among the Badger faithful (except me), but 2 losses to Minny could change that.
The Seaswolves are off to a nice start. Their tilt with a much improved UMD team should be good up in Anchorage. AA is always competitive on their home ice. Rounding out the action SCSU wil visit the WCHAs surrogate little brother, Bemidji. The Beavers have started disastrously and need to pull out all the stops, otherwise St. Clouds offense could burn out the red-light lamp.
Ok, it was a non-conference tilt, but still a good win for the Pioneers.
Some brief observations that I made:
First, a few words about OSU -- The thing that immediately jumped out about the Buckeyes to me was their much-improved/faster skating forwards (collectively). If OSU could ever find a goalie that they could ride consistently, they could actually make a serious run in the CCHA. While I thought Carlson played really well tonight (even if he did get sacked with the loss) they'll need that kind of goaltending more often and more consistently.
If a wide-open, run-and-gun style is your cup of tea, then watching OSU's system this year will bore you to tears. Markell definitely has his team playing that perennial defense-first, stifling kind of system.
Zac Dalpe just wowed the heck out of me and I can see why the OHL pushed so hard to get him to NOT come to OSU. He plays a really complete game. What I mean by this is he's really good in all three zones. He's a very smart player and has remarkably great awareness. I also really like the way he skates and his transitioning was also quite impressive. IMO, he was the best player for OSU tonight, even if he didn't get a point.
Now a few things about DU -- Denver continues to use their depth to great advantage. But in tonight's game, they absolutely burned the OSU defense with their speed up front. I thought Kyle Ostrow was pretty darn good tonight.
While I wasn't overwhelmed by what I saw, I was impressed with what Joe Colborne showed me tonight. I can see why he is so highly touted, but having said that, I also think he's not completely out of his shell yet. What I mean here is that, he still looks a bit tentative out there. IMO, the biggest hurdle he has to overcome right now is his willingness to trust himself and build up some confidence. Where this was particularly noticeable was his sometime reluctance to shoot. Yes, he really DOES need to shoot the puck more! I do like the way Joe uses his big frame, especially in protecting the puck and his play around the net. He skates really well too. He showed good and patience with the puck (now if he can only shoot it more often...). It was nice getting glimpses of what he can do, and I think as he gets more comfortable with the college game, and gains that confidence, I think we'll all see the Colborne that had everyone's tongues wagging last year.
BTW DU fans, Clarkson tied CC tonight 1-1. From what I heard, Paul Karpowich played a heckuva game for Clarkson. That should make the Blues fans around these parts very happy.
DU = the new #1 in the polls next week?
Rabid Husky: BSU beat your boys tonight. What's up with that?
zac Dalpe is the guy I said would live up to his hype in another thread. OSU is set up front, the D is very young so I'm not surprised DU exerted their will over them. I knew they would probably make it an interesting tilt at Magness. I have no doubt the Buckeyes will challenge for tops in the CCHA next year. As for DU, it looks like Cheverie will continue the run on excellent goaltending.
I figuered RabidHusky would need some extra Maalox today after the sneaky Beavers one-upped the Huskies. Same here after seeing Wisconsin native Sam Lofquist costing Bucky 2 points. I just hope he doesn't turn out to haunt the Badgers the way Ross Carlson did, well, every Minnesota team he played against.
How about the Seawolves, the team fans are vaguely aware of, vaulting up in the WCHA standings? That must have been a yawner last night seeing only 28 total shots from both teams. Beware of Anchorage!
zac Dalpe is the guy I said would live up to his hype in another thread. OSU is set up front, the D is very young so I'm not surprised DU exerted their will over them. I knew they would probably make it an interesting tilt at Magness. I have no doubt the Buckeyes will challenge for tops in the CCHA next year. As for DU, it looks like Cheverie will continue the run on excellent goaltending.
I figuered RabidHusky would need some extra Maalox today after the sneaky Beavers one-upped the Huskies. Same here after seeing Wisconsin native Sam Lofquist costing Bucky 2 points. I just hope he doesn't turn out to haunt the Badgers the way Ross Carlson did, well, every Minnesota team he played against.
How about the Seawolves, the team fans are vaguely aware of, vaulting up in the WCHA standings? That must have been a yawner last night seeing only 28 total shots from both teams. Beware of Anchorage!
Nah, no extra stomach meds, but I have been trying to talk some of my Husky brethren off the ledge. Fact is there is no shame in losing to Bemidji in their home opener. They got an outstanding performance from their goaltender and took advantage of a couple of defensive miscues by St. Cloud.
The boys are working hard and have played better in each of the last 4 games. It's going to take a bit of time for this team to gel. If you look at the box scores, St. Cloud is playing 5 upperclassman out of 18 regular skaters right now, and that number could get smaller once Rioux is made eligible Nov. 15th.
The PK is struggling right now and the PP comes and goes, (INCH had it we are 10-25 in our wins but 1-24 in our losses) but the scoring balence is starting to show.
This team will continue to get better and could be very dangerous come February.
Pretty good weekend for the W, there's really no dull matchups to be had. The State of Minnesota hockey showcase will debut this weekend. I think it was Spisak on the USCHO page that seemed incredulous about this generating interest. Yeah, it's unlikely hockey would interest Minnesotans, after all. I think this event would be better as a tounament, though.
Game of the week! Do I even need to say DU/CC? This is great early matchup of the two powerhouses of the W. So far I give the edge to DU because their competition has been better, but bragging rights could be settled after this tilt.
Runner up is UM and Mankato. The young Gophs are impressive and should be tested against MSU. Mankato has a veteran team with talent and muscle that is playing with some swagger. I thik they can beat any team on any given day if they play well.
Bucky goes to Sioux-land in what would usually be the premier series of the weekend. This one loses some luster because both squads look like they would have a hard time beating the University of Phoenix Online team right now. It's early but this is must win for both sides. NoDak has shown glimpses of promise while UW looks punch drunk. The way the refs are calling penalties there may be some records set in terms of penalty minutes in a game. I think we can still expect plenty of bruises for both sides.
AA takes their fast start to the second coldest WCHA destination, Houghton, to face the Huskies. If the Seawolves come out with a sweep they will put themselves in a pretty good position this early in the year.
St. Cloud and UMD round out the Showcase matchup. Duluth has looked steady this year while you never know which Husky team will show up. If it's the sloppy one UMD will make them pay, if SC plays cohesively then this will be a entertaining matchup.
Some non-conference games you may want to give a look is Northeastern and New Hampsha. Everyone forgot Northeastern had a pretty good year last year and wrote them off. Ohio State and Michigan should be great. The upstart Buckeyes and their rookie goalie, Cal Heeter (sounds like an adult film star name, eh?), showed what they could in Denver last weekend. Michigan needs to rebound from getting crushed by BU. I wish I could get this game on the tube.
I hope everyone has a great hockey weekend except Sioux fans!
Like I said wait till they hit the road.Lose at Tech tonite 4-2.Meanwhile the SIOUX handed bucky loss #6 on the year 3-2.Could of been worse if it weren't for Connelly standing on his head at times.
I don't know but the SIOUX worked em pretty good tonite.I believe when I looked at the scoreboard for the last time the SIOUX outshot them 40-22.We shall see how they respond tommorrow nite.
Sister kisser in Denver tonight. Fantastic game. Bachman was incredible for CC. Mark Cheverie wasn't too bad himself.
__________________ Colorado Avalanche Prospects-- News and updates on the future of the Colorado Avalanche! Colorado's Future -- Team * Manning * Landeskog * Tulowitzki
First off i do not think Eaves is a bad coach. But with all that talent he has not really changed it up. Some of his guys can get out and fly. But he still has a "system" style approach.
Also look at who they have played. At UNH, BC, x2 at DU, MN x2 and at NoDak so far x1 with one more tommorrow. Does not get any harder than that. Captain goes down.
First off i do not think Eaves is a bad coach. But with all that talent he has not really changed it up. Some of his guys can get out and fly. But he still has a "system" style approach.
Also look at who they have played. At UNH, BC, x2 at DU, MN x2 and at NoDak so far x1 with one more tommorrow. Does not get any harder than that. Captain goes down.
Eaves is not a bad coach, but I never really thought he was "the guy". Offensively his system you refered to is pretty stale. Usually the D is solid, this year they are shambolic abd there's really no reason for it other than the guys aren't responding to him. They've given up 5 or more goals several times and left the goalies to the wolves.
The schedule is brutal, probably the hardest in the league, but they let the games to BC, Minny, and last night's get away because they are tanking in the 3rd period. Not to mention blowing a 3 goal lead against DU. Things have been tense since the preseason and are getting worse. I hate that Connelly's senior year is going this way because he's put together a good career at UW. Personally I'm willing to suffer tanking out a while longer if it gets Eaves out of there. He's a great recruiter but has caused too much drama as coach because of his authoritarian way of running things.
Last edited by RabidBadger: 11-01-2008 at 03:07 PM.
Colorado College holds on vs. Denver 3-2. 40 saves for Richard Bachman
Watched that game.Bachman is the best goalie in the league hands down.Made some unbelievable saves tonite.I don't like my SIOUX chances going in there this week with him playing like he did tonite.Will be happy as heck with a split.
Hey gang. For those of you that have the ability to see WCHA games with frequency I'd love your opinions on the Thrashers prospects over on the Atlanta forum. We have a small group of players in the Dubya and unfortunately do not get to see these kids often at all.
Thanks for the insights in advance....
Jesse Martin Denver
Alex Kangas Minn
Andrew Kozek N DAK
Hey gang. For those of you that have the ability to see WCHA games with frequency I'd love your opinions on the Thrashers prospects over on the Atlanta forum. We have a small group of players in the Dubya and unfortunately do not get to see these kids often at all.
Thanks for the insights in advance....
Jesse Martin Denver
Alex Kangas Minn
Andrew Kozek N DAK
No nothing on Martin.Kangas is the real deal even though he plays for the hated rodents and Kozek has an NHL caliber shot but has not progressed like I thought he would.He has a chance to make the big club once he is done with the SIOUX but it may take a year or 2.
Nice Bizzaro-World outcomes last night: The UW/Duluth tie was expected. Both of those teams are pretty even. Blake Geoffrion is on a tear offensively, now he needs to stop gift wrapping giveaways to the other team.
-The "good" version of St. Cloud showed up last night to take it to DU. If The Huskies can play to their potential they will be a force.
-CC is starting to look like a one trick pony having to rely on Bachman every game. Mankato is a good team this year and they could have put a whipping on CC since they outshot them 37-26.
-I'm not surprised Alaska won with a combination of NoDak not being too good and AA being pretty good. It's shocking seeing the perenial doormat so high in the standings. The parity in the conference is better this year than it has been in a long time, so far Tech is the only real pushover and they are capable of playing close games with anyone. Stinkin' Hockey East is the better conference top to bottom this year but the W is pretty good in terms of depth.
With some of the early season results, this league is shaping up to be exactly what most predicted, very tight with no team being an easy win.
Spot on, Rabid. Tech served notice last night they will not roll over. Here are the standings so far. I think the biggest surprises are the Goofs and AA.
Team WCHA Record Points
Colorado College 5-2-1 11
Minnesota 4-0-3 11
Wisconsin 4-4-2 10
Denver 4-3-1 9
Alaska-Anchorage 3-3-2 8
Minnesota State 3-3-2 8
North Dakota 4-4-0 8
Minnesota-Duluth 1-4-2 4
St. Cloud State 2-3-0 4
Michigan Tech 1-5-1 3
* Landeskog * Tulowitzki
