OK. I can't take anything away from Palmisano this weekend at Michigan State. He's a great goaltender, and he helped the Spartans to 2 pretty thrilling victories this weekend. But, contrary to that, he allowed 7 goals among those two wins, and at least 3 of those goals he probably should have had.
Seth Helgeson's goal in the Minnesota game was a pretty good example. He was in perfect position and had the angle to make the save, but he got beat high stick side.
Now one could make the argument that Greenham wasn't really tested this weekend, but at the same time, he hasn't allowed a goal in over 120 minutes. How can you not give him the goaltender of the week performance, CCHA? I know Alaska's record isn't as good, and Greenham's numbers haven't been as sharp as they have been or could be, but two back to back shutouts should say something. Palmisano did get nods as the first star both nights, but that doesn't carry a lot of weight in my opinion. I'm kinda curious to hear from someone who was at MSU's series this weekend. The camera work in all honesty was not very good from what I saw, and it didn't look like anything special from my point of view. Before someone tears my head off, I'd like to hear some rebuttal.
Aaron Gens got recognized for his 3 point weekend, and rightly so. He created at least two of those chances (I didn't get to see the second goal in Saturday's game in full as I had to board a plane) and had the secondary helper on the 2nd power play goal on Saturday. Gens has been playing really well lately, and his stick has really improved over the course of this season transitioning into a more offensive defenseman role since Sova left. Over the last few weeks, I think he's felt more confident coming down and helping out offensively. With the growth of guys like Justin Tateson and Trevor Campbell, and certainly with Michael Quinn and Kaare Odegard back in the lineup, and the always dependable Scott Enders he's got plenty of partners that are very solid defensively to slow things down a bit should the puck start going the other way.
That said, I guess I'm just irritated that Scottie didn't get the recognition that at least I thought he deserved. If you ask him about it, his always humble demeanor will tell you that it's all about the team, and getting the win. Sure, awards are superfluous, but they should compliment a good series performance. Like I said earlier, if Palmisano's performance was really out of this world, I'd like to hear from someone. Otherwise, I'm going with Greenham was snubbed.
Also, for what it's worth, Kevin Walrod went off in that first game against Minnesota. That shorty was pretty impressive.
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