I have to say, the new media guy at the athletic department--Chris Caskey for those that don't know--is pretty stellar. I'm going to cut the corners of the recap and let him have those honors...
But what a scrimmage. Pretty close despite a 2-0 final score. All three goalies looked pretty good. Both goals were scored on Keeney, but he settled down afterwards and made some good saves. Both goals though were great individual efforts, but Keeney wanted the goal from Huysmans back... A bit of a breakaway, and a great shot to sneak it inside the right goal post over Keeney's shoulder--a shot from the opposite side.
But Nolan Huysmans came back to play. He's back with some serious speed and skill. You can tell he's put a lot of time in to boost his game... Same with Peter Krieger. I expected more from the USHL scoring stud last season, but he lacked some speed. Certainly has the skill, but now he's got some more speed to go with it. Early prediction - Peter Krieger-Tyler Morley-Nolan Huysmans is the top line going into the season. If Dallas sees this though, he might change it to spite me (or balance out other lines...), but those three together--even if just on the power play--could be scary good.
What a return for Justin Woods too. As soon as his name was announced, the Fairbanks native was greeted with a rousing ovation. Touching, really. Shows how much this community really cares for its own.
As far as the recruits go, John Mullally is the real deal. Truth be told, I haven't had a lot of time to dig into the research on these guys to see how they would play. And during the scrimmage with all that was going on for me in the box, note taking was at a minimum as well. But Mullally really stood out, not just because of his goal (which was a good shot from just inside the circle) but because of his presence. He has some of that Cody Kunyk-esque flair for seeing the ice. I made that comparison a couple of times throughout the evening. Ryker Leer also struck a few chords with grit and tenacity. Jesse Jenks looks quite good between the pipes too, but I think it's David Jones' job to lose at this point.
But I bet all three of the tendys will see some action this Sunday, athe boys get to beat up on someone other than themselves hopefully.
Mt. Royal University out of Calgary, Alberta is a very large school. Just shy of 40 thousand enrolled students, they've got some great resources as an educational institution. Working for UAF myself, I find that I take a lot of the things UAF has to offer for granted. Mt. Royal's Bisset School of Business is highly regarded, as is their aviation program. However, they do not offer any graduate level programs.
On the ice thus far, they're just coming off a two-game exhibition series against the familiar Northern Alberta Institute of Technology including a 5-4 OT win, and a 8-4 loss. From what I can tell, they play with speed and have some tenacity. Looks like defense is lacking a bit, but they can score goals.
The Cougars take on the Seapups in Soldotna (of all places) on Friday. Saturday, Mt Royal will spend all day on a bus to make it up here for Sunday. Should make for some fresh legs... Be sure to check for the game on the new WCHA.tv. I just got my subscription for the year, I'm pretty excited to see how it turns out.
I heard the video quality from the Blue/Gold game was good, but the audio feed was not. Trust me, even the crowd at the game couldn't even understand the PA for most of the night. Talking to Bruce Cech, they didn't have a direct line from him over to the media table either, so they relied on some short run FM transmitters to make it happen. It worked, but not incredibly well. The Carlson Center is of course much better equipped. I imagine it may take some time on Sunday to get things sorted out with the new provider, but the techies do a good job getting those kinks straightened.
I'm quite ready for the season though. Amped even. GO 'NOOKS
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