Teenage Angst

A wild Friday evening at the John MacInnes Student Ice Arena, filled with penalties and much whining by the U-18 Team. They supposedly have some of the best talent in junior hockey, but they sure as hell don't have the sportsmanship or class. I guess that's what happens when you put a bunch of prima donnas on the same squad.

Tech started strong out of the gate, picking up an early PP goal off a rebound that was buried by freshman Brett Olson, with assists from Alex Gagne and Deron Cousens.

John Kivisto made it 2-0 early in the second period with an awesome shot from the inside the top half of the left circle. Who knew the guy had it in him? Olson and Geoff Kinrade picked up assists on the play.

RPI recruit Jerry D'Amigo cut Tech's lead in half on a shot that evaded Robinson with just over five minutes left to play in the second, but the Huskies regained the two-goal lead when sophomore Eric Kattelus wristed a bullet over Haxwell's left shoulder. The goal again came on the powerplay, with assists from Drew Dobson and Eli Vlaisavljevich (yes, I looked up the spelling).

The third period scoring began with Gwilliam capping off Tech's scoring, apparently poking in a puck that Haxwell mishandled (my interpretation from what I could see sitting in Section N). That turned out to be the game-winner, when UNH commit Ryan Bourque scored twice in the final two minutes of regulation to bring the U-18s within a goal, but not close enough.

Haxwell? He's not just a goaltender, he likes rough play too! He hauled down a Tech player (once again, I didn't see who it was from my end of the ice) and held him there for a good five seconds while the refs stared off into space and didn't call anything. Of course, a makeup call came a bit later on, but still, pretty funny shit. I'm sure Jerry York will approve of such play when he shows up at BC. (/sarcasm)

The game was a penalty-fest, with the high schoolers acting like a bunch of little pussies once they had dug themselves into a big hole, hacking it up all over the ice. Of course, Russell wisely did not allow the Huskies to throw any serious punches (for obvious reasons), though I was pretty sure Ryan Bunger would've been more than happy to rearrange BC commit Kenny Ryan's face, after he jumped on Bunger's back and started cheapshotting him without even taking his own helmet off.

*sigh*

Kids these days...

Anyway, exhibition hockey is finally over with, and next week we're hosting the Alaska-Anchorage Seawolves for a pair of WCHA games in Houghton. UAA is 4-1-1 through their first six regular season games, including a 3-1 defeat of Maine, and a 3 pt. weekend at home against the Bulldogs of Duluth. This is shaping up to be a tough Anchorage squad that MTU should not take lightly, like they did last season. Coming out flying and playing a consistent, strong 60 minutes of hockey should be the goal for both nights.

"Pat, I'd Like To Buy A Goal..."

Make that multiple goals.

This weekend was not the greatest way to start conference play, but it could've been much worse. Indeed, the Huskies were swept by the #3 Colorado College Tigers, 2-0 and 4-2.

On Friday evening, the stellar play of senior goaltender Rob Nolan kept the Huskies alive for most of the game. He stopped 36 of 38 shots, including 18 shots alone in the 2nd period, making several outstanding saves. Unfortunately, the offense gave him absolutely no support after the first 10 minutes of the game, with the Tigers spending a majority of the time in the MTU zone. CC's Scott McCulloch capitalized on a shorthanded breakaway after poking the puck away from Deron Cousens at the blueline and skating it down the ice, deking right and beating Nolan five-hole with a backhand. That goal turned out to be the game winner. Alex Gagne fanned on what was probably the best opportunity all night for the Huskies to beat reigning WCHA Player/Rookie of the Year, CC sophomore goaltender Richard Bachman, taking just one second too long to shoot the puck.

Saturday evening, Tech started out slow, handing the Tigers a goal in the first five minutes of the game and beginning the parade to the sin bin that has become all too familiar with Husky teams as of late. Bachman robbed Ryan Bunger with a diving save on Tech's best offensive chance in the first period. Finally, in the second period, sophomore Jordan Baker got MTU on the board, poking the puck home in the midst of a crease fustercluck, with freshman Alex MacLeod picking up his first collegiate assist after scoring two PP markers last weekend, and sophomore Bennett Royer also grabbing his first assist of the year. Unfortunately, a mistake by the Tech defense early in the third allowed Bill Sweatt to capitalize on a pass from Eric Walsky, skating in behind the defenders and wristing a shot into the top-corner of the net over Nolan's left shoulder. Steve Schultz extended CC's lead to two goals with a PP marker about halfway through the third.

The Huskies called their TO and pulled Nolan with 2:31 to play in regulation. The move paid off when freshman Brett Olson scored his first collegiate goal, firing the puck through traffic and past Bachman with 21 seconds remaining. Unfortunately, CC iced the game with a long-range ENG that slipped into the empty net with about 2 seconds left on the clock, leading to the final score.

Overall, Tech played two tough road games against the pre-season favorite to repeat as WCHA champions. On Friday the offense failed to get anything going, and on Saturday the Tigers' talent simply prevailed. I'm looking forward to the Winter Carnival matchup slated between these two teams here in Houghton. Maybe all it'll take is a little of the Huskies Pep Band and the Misfits to get Bachman to cough up five goals again. ;)

The U-18 kids are in town next weekend, which should be a good exhibition tune-up to help ensure we don't completely embarass ourselves by not sweeping the Seawolves out of the MacInnes the following weekend. It'll also allow time for lingering injuries to do some healing before four straight WCHA series against Anchorage, Wee-sconsin, Arrogance!!1!11, and the Landcows.