A tough weekend for Minnesota State. The Mavericks had chances to score. Before Saturday's game, MSU head coach Troy Jutting said his team had plenty of "Grade-A" opportunities to score, but didn't capitalize. He told me twice last week that taking advantages of those chances would be one of the keys at Tech. I guess he was right.
Jon Kalinski had trouble scoring on the breakaway at times last season, and missed a couple chances this weekend to light the lamp. His shorthanded attempt Friday that sailed over the net could have changed the tempo of that game.
Mike Zacharias was great Friday and one must wonder why Jutting did not come back with him Saturday. It's early in the season, so obviously he wanted to see what Dan Tormey could do. But Zacharias kept the Mavericks in the game Friday. Tormey struggled in the first period before eventually being replaced by Zacharias. What Jutting decides to do this weekend against Alaska-Anchorage will be the main storyline as MSU looks to gain its first victory of the season against a UAA team that, through four games, hasn't lost yet.
I was also surprised by the decision to sit sophomore defenseman Nick Canzanello Saturday in place of freshman Channing Boe. Dressing Boe was not a shocker, as Jutting said last week he would play. But sitting Canzanello? I'm not questioning the move, I was just a little shocked to see it. Maybe I'm alone there, though.
Now, onto a little WCHA discussion.
Only six teams have played a conference game thus far, but here are some things I picked up on this weekend. Please feel free to chime in with your thoughts as well.
• Michigan Tech’s goalies are for real.
Okay, so they played Minnesota State — a team known for notoriously slow starts. But Michael-Lee Teslak and Rob Nolan played pretty solid hockey. Anytime you hold a WCHA team to one goal in a two game series, you are doing something right. If the Huskies continue to get that kind of goaltending, Tech will have a chance every single night. With their style of play, the Huskies will never get run out of a building. But if Teslak and Nolan are going to be unbeatable, then perhaps everyone’s preseason love affair with Michigan Tech will ring true. We may get a barometer of just how “for-real” Tech is this weekend; North Dakota goes to Houghton for a pair Friday and Saturday.
• Colorado College is fast.
Really fast. Minnesota — normally one of the fastest teams in the conference, wasn’t in the same league as CC for much of the weekend, especially Friday. For as much success as the Gophers have had against the Tigers in recent years (Minnesota had won the last six meetings), you wouldn’t have known it this weekend. Bill Sweatt and Eric Walsky were all over the ice. Remember Walsky, the former Alaska-Anchorage Seawolf? The move to Colorado Springs may prove to be a brilliant one for him and the Tigers.
• Wisconsin can score.
Not only do the Badgers have two of the conference’s top forwards in Kyle Turris and Ben Street, now Wisconsin is getting offense from its blueline. Freshman Ryan McDonagh scored his first career goal against Robert Morris Friday and added an assist later in the weekend. Kyle Klubertanz was a massive disappointment last season but has started this year on fire. The senior captain scored more goals this weekend (two) than he did all of last season (one). After a 21-point sophomore season during the Badgers’ national championship run two years ago, big things were expected from Klubertanz last season — but he only scored 13 points. After a five point effort against Robert Morris, maybe he will finally live up to the hype. And don’t forget about forwards Blake Geoffrion and Patrick Johnson; as I recall, their father’s played a bit of hockey in their day. The sophomore Geoffrion might be one of the most underrated, unheralded players in the WCHA this season.
• St. Cloud State is overrated.
Should they have been rated to begin with? After only coming away with three points last weekend at home against Canisius, the Huskies went to the North Shore and laid an egg against Minnesota-Duluth. For as inconsistent as Bobby Goepfert was in net for SCSU over the years, he always seemed to step up in big games. But with him gone, the untested sophomore Jase Weslosky will step in. The loss of Andrew Gordon and Dan Kronick will hurt SCSU, as teams can now focus in on sophomore Andreas Nodl. Many expected the Huskies to take a step back this season. But getting swept at Duluth? Yuck.
• North Dakota might go undefeated.
Okay, that might not be entirely true. But the Fighting Sioux are really good. Those that questioned UND’s pre-season standing atop the WCHA and national polls are now silent. The Sioux do everything well. They have college hockey’s top-line, and perhaps its two best overall players in Ryan Duncan and T.J. Oshie. They have big physical defensemen and the nation’s top overall defenseman in Taylor Chorney. The only question mark heading into the season was whether Jean-Philippe Lamoureux could handle the load in net. Out east this weekend, the senior shut out No. 4 Boston College through two periods (the game was called after 40 minutes because of poor ice) and followed with a 21 save performance the following night against Northeastern in a 3-0 UND win. Whatever physical shortcomings Lamoureux has, he makes up for in experience; and that counts for a lot in the WCHA.
• Alaska-Anchorage might not be really bad.
The Seawolves took a pair of games this weekend against in-state rival Alaska. And while the Nanooks aren’t going to be competing for national titles anytime soon, UAA also tied Boston University the weekend before and are off to a 3-0-1 start. They might be an after thought by the time February rolls around, but does anybody really enjoy the long road trip to Anchorage? It’s always one of the tougher weekends for any team. If UAA can split at home, and occasionally steal a couple on the road, the Seawolves might be a pesky team for opponents all season.
Player of the week: Kyle Klubertanz — Wisconsin
Nobody likes an offensive threat from the blueline more than I do. A two goal, three assist weekend against Robert Morris is by far the weekend’s most impressive performance.
Stock rising: Michigan Tech
Allow only one goal while scoring nine in two games? The Huskies couldn’t have asked for a better start to the season.
Stock falling: Minnesota
Outplayed much of the weekend at the Icebreaker, Minnesota responded by being outworked by Colorado College. When did Kyle Okposo decide to become a figure skater? After a solid, not spectacular, opening weekend, the sophomore was invisible against CC.
Feel free to chime in with any thoughts and insight! Come back Thursday for my weekend preview of the Mavericks trip to Alaska-Anchorage and more WCHA previews. Thanks for reading!
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2 comments:
I made the trek to Houghton from the Twin Cities for the first time and was impressed with everything but my Mavs. I am very frustrated with Coach Jutting and the direction of this program. Once again the Mavs took too many dumb penalties (an annoying staple of Jutting coached teams). And when actually skating with the man advantage there was no creativity. Everyone was standing around playing catch, and when the shots finally did get taken they were so slow & telegraphed that the shot rarely got through to the net. After the Saturday night game I am convinced Channing Boe should be starting every game on the blue line. I see a lot of potential with this freshman. Good skater, good size with good body control which makes it hard to take him off the puck, makes the smart decision with the puck, and is a physical presence. Youds and Davis show above average skill with the puck on their stick but both lack confidence in their shot and struggled to make the correct play with the puck in the offensive zone. Lack of communication/chemistry on the ice was obvious as well, there were multiple times Maverick skaters would skate into each other or completely misfire on breakout passes. Zacharias looked good between the pipes and kept the Friday game from getting out of hand. There is a disturbing trend of bad Octobers in the Troy Jutting era. Hopefully things get turned around up in Anchorage, it can't get any worse (knock on wood).
I actually have a story I'm going to post about the Mavericks penchant for taking undisciplined penalties and Jutting's plan to reduce them...
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