In an a near duplication of last Saturday's game against Northern, the Nanooks found themselves on their heels, despite having the early 2 goal advantage.
The Nanooks still have yet to lose on Saturday, but we are getting close as we are now 5-0-3 against Saturday opponents, and we definitely escaped one last night, pulling Greenham to take the 6 on 4 power play to bury the tying goal with just 14 seconds remaining. It's a game of bounces, and about 20 seconds after Western got their first goal, the Nanooks figured that out as all of a sudden its knotted at 2-2.
Same thing happened at Northern, got two goals early, then they battled back to tie it. There isn't really anyone or anything to blame, but we got that lead by attacking. On the attack, we can't be stopped. Keeping that momentum going, despite having a lead, we'd beat Denver 5-1, easy. We just have a tendency to back off and drop the intensity, then let opponents keep taking shots. Well, eventually they're gonna get one. In some cases two, like we saw last night, before we start attacking again.
Oh, yeah, who scored the shoot out winner? My pick for rookie of the year, Andy Taranto.
Can we get back on track before next weekend? I hope so. The UNO Mavericks have a long flight to get here (which UA doesn't pay anything for, mind you), and with the last Friday victory to our name was against Ferris State back in October, who just swept UNO this weekend, we have got to end the first half of the season on a positive note.
Sunday, December 6, 2009
Saturday, December 5, 2009
Nanooks Intro Videos
Cory Weibel is a saint. A good kid who loves hockey, and who happens to be Jamie Foland's Media Relations Intern. He got his paws on a quality copy of the new introduction video that Mike Martinez, formally of Tanana Valley TV, and creator of the previous intro video (also included below), made that is pretty rockin'.
Hopefully these lift your spirits up after this weeks loss and will get you pumped up and excited to go to the last home Nanooks game of 2009 next week.
Way to go Cory, even for a Penguins fan...
And... Here's the original as it was supposed to be. This is the video that G4's Attack of the Show got a hold of and kind of destroyed, as far as information accuracy goes. They didn't even get Mike's name right, let alone the story of what was actually rejected about that video... Whatever, still a classic.
Hopefully these lift your spirits up after this weeks loss and will get you pumped up and excited to go to the last home Nanooks game of 2009 next week.
Way to go Cory, even for a Penguins fan...
And... Here's the original as it was supposed to be. This is the video that G4's Attack of the Show got a hold of and kind of destroyed, as far as information accuracy goes. They didn't even get Mike's name right, let alone the story of what was actually rejected about that video... Whatever, still a classic.
Nanooks 1, WMU 3 - Friday Disappointments Continue
OK, so maybe Paula Weston has her moments. Scoring was definitely a problem for us tonight, and though we held the Broncos to two goals, we failed to achieve that feat for the second time this season. The first time was against the then-winless and last place ranked Bowling Green Falcons. This time, its against the now-last ranked Western Michigan Broncos.
Since I blatantly refused to give WMU's athletic department money to watch a video stream, with multiple reports of sub-par quality, and some shady billing practices, I stuck with good ol' Bruce Cech, something I do quite frequently, even when watching over B2, audio will be muted as inferior commentators are not tolerated. Especially when name pronunciations are clearly not a job requirement.
But not actually seeing the game, Bruce does a good job painting a picture, and it sounds like we just weren't clicking. We have this issue on Fridays, regardless of location, where passes tend to get intercepted more often than normal. Sounded like almost every offensive rush, a pass gets picked and its going the otherway. It's like watching Charles Woodson in football, we're in the offensive zone (the "red zone", if you will), and bam, all of a sudden, it's been taken away from you and you're now on your heels, and it shouldn't be that way. We are a better team than this, we are averaging 3 goals per game, why can't we seal the deal on Friday? We have just one CCHA win on Friday under our belts against Ferris State (who shut out our next weeks opponent tonight, by the way), and we have a loss to Notre Dame, a loss to Lake State, a loss to Bowling Green, a tie against Northern, and now a loss against Western. What are we doing so differently? We're winning on Saturday. Is it a coaching thing? Sure, you watch game film to prepare then make some adjustments to the game plan on the ice. Is the team just not ready to play Friday? I don't think so, sounded like they were all out there working for 60 minutes, and there was some great effort put out by a lot of talented individuals, but as a team, I think we failed.
Let's compare our regular season games (including the two tournaments, excluding exhibition).
Friday - 3-3-1
Saturday - 5-0-2
Seriously, what is different? I fail to understand why those numbers are so staggering. Northern was doing a good job of keeping us back on our heels during the game, and maybe Western picked up on that, but we've got to attack the puck and be aggressive on BOTH sides of the ice. It's a two way game, and the Nanooks know that, perhaps better than anyone out there. Just didn't execute as well tonight. Sad loss for UA, as Ferris' defeat tonight now ties FSU and UA for 3rd place in the CCHA. Tomorrow, I hope will be a typical Saturday, and a much needed 3 points will go on the standings.
Since I blatantly refused to give WMU's athletic department money to watch a video stream, with multiple reports of sub-par quality, and some shady billing practices, I stuck with good ol' Bruce Cech, something I do quite frequently, even when watching over B2, audio will be muted as inferior commentators are not tolerated. Especially when name pronunciations are clearly not a job requirement.
But not actually seeing the game, Bruce does a good job painting a picture, and it sounds like we just weren't clicking. We have this issue on Fridays, regardless of location, where passes tend to get intercepted more often than normal. Sounded like almost every offensive rush, a pass gets picked and its going the otherway. It's like watching Charles Woodson in football, we're in the offensive zone (the "red zone", if you will), and bam, all of a sudden, it's been taken away from you and you're now on your heels, and it shouldn't be that way. We are a better team than this, we are averaging 3 goals per game, why can't we seal the deal on Friday? We have just one CCHA win on Friday under our belts against Ferris State (who shut out our next weeks opponent tonight, by the way), and we have a loss to Notre Dame, a loss to Lake State, a loss to Bowling Green, a tie against Northern, and now a loss against Western. What are we doing so differently? We're winning on Saturday. Is it a coaching thing? Sure, you watch game film to prepare then make some adjustments to the game plan on the ice. Is the team just not ready to play Friday? I don't think so, sounded like they were all out there working for 60 minutes, and there was some great effort put out by a lot of talented individuals, but as a team, I think we failed.
Let's compare our regular season games (including the two tournaments, excluding exhibition).
Friday - 3-3-1
Saturday - 5-0-2
Seriously, what is different? I fail to understand why those numbers are so staggering. Northern was doing a good job of keeping us back on our heels during the game, and maybe Western picked up on that, but we've got to attack the puck and be aggressive on BOTH sides of the ice. It's a two way game, and the Nanooks know that, perhaps better than anyone out there. Just didn't execute as well tonight. Sad loss for UA, as Ferris' defeat tonight now ties FSU and UA for 3rd place in the CCHA. Tomorrow, I hope will be a typical Saturday, and a much needed 3 points will go on the standings.
Friday, December 4, 2009
Andy Taranto Name HCA NCAA Division I Rookie of the Month
Image courtesy of AlaskaNanooks.com
Here is a snippet from the press release:
Andy Taranto, a 6-foot, 213 pound forward at the University of Alaska, has been named the HCA National Rookie of the Month for November.[CCHA Press Release]
Taranto finished the month on a five-game scoring streak to rank first in CCHA rookie scoring with 18 points, including seven goals. He recorded five goals and seven assists in the month of November alone. Three of Taranto’s goals during November came with the man advantage. His 1.29 points-per game average puts him in second place in the nation among rookies who have appeared in more than one game.
The Woodridge, Ill. native, who led the USHL with 34 goals last season for the Fargo Force, was named CCHA Rookie of the Week on Nov. 30 and CCHA/CCM Rookie of the Month for November. Taranto notched the game-winning goal in a 3-1 victory over then No. 9 Notre Dame on Nov. 7. He earned at least a point in every game but one during the month. He also registered two goals on Nov. 27 in a 3-3 tie with Northern Michigan. Taranto’s play helped Alaska compile a 3-3-2 record in November, including a 2-1-2 mark during his current five-game point streak.
Way to go, Andy! Check out my previous post as Andy was named this week's Skater of the Week.
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